ISI and CIA cooperate again under Pakistani army chief of staff Qamar Javed Bajwa

ISI chief Nadeem Anjum in hot water over Pakistan Taliban attacks  Free

Faced with a resurgence in deadly attacks by the TTP, the head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence is in a delicate spot, having to cooperate with the Taliban in Kabul to curb terrorism by its Pakistan offshoot.

• FRANCE/SYRIA - French company Smart Pegasus remains under sanctions for participating in Syrian chemical weapons program.
  

• UNITED KINGDOM - Opposition MP's push parliamentary Economic Crime Committee project.

• SWEDEN/LATVIA - Swedish anti-fake news agency shines at NATO's StratCom. 

• PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN - ISI investigates attempted assassination of Pakistani ambassador in Kabul. 

• NORTH MACEDONIA - Skopje intelligence chief learns the rope at NATO. 

• CHINA - People's Liberation Army tests modern urban warfare techniques to hone Taiwan strategy. 

Saudi spymaster Khaled bin Ali Al Humaidan mediates between Islamabad and Kabul 

Keen to resolve tensions with its Taliban neighbours, Pakistan has called on Saudi Arabia's help to mediate but those efforts have been unsuccessful for the moment.

• UNITED STATES/AFGHANISTAN - Islamabad and Doha aid CIA-Taliban meeting.

• UNITED KINGDOM - Intelligence issues in British space strategy.

• RUSSIA - Intelligence services at heart of new Ukraine coordination council.

• SERBIA - Vucic blends geopolitics with internal security.

Army chief Qamer Javed Bajwa wants more time to improve relations with Saudi Arabia 

A key figure in the Pakistani state hierarchy, chief of the army staff Qamer Javad Bajwa wants his tenure extended so that he can continue to work on improving Pakistan's relations with Saudi Arabia and deal with pressing security issues, like the growing influence of the Pakistani Taliban movement.

Emirati bankers extra-vigilant in Islamabad after fall of Imran Khan 

In the space of just 10 days, Pakistan saw the deadline for repayment of a $2bn loan from the Emirates extended, Prime Minister Imran Khan brought down and Shebhaz Sharif appointed in his place. In this unstable period, the Emirati business community is keeping a close eye on its key assets in the country.

Taliban seek funds to finance new army 

Still persona non grata in international politics, the Taliban are hoping to negotiate their first contracts with the West and shed sanctions paralysing their ambitions in Afghanistan. The Biden administration does not, for the moment, have any plans to shift its position.

Pakistan's ISI steers establishment of Taliban security and intelligence apparatus  Free

With the Taliban government under construction, Islamabad is determined to maintain its central role in Afghanistan's affairs and is using its intelligence service to shape the new security apparatus in Kabul.

Pentagon seeks fake news automated detection grail 

For one of the components of its counter-disinformation programme INCAS, US defence research agency Darpa is betting on artificial intelligence to combat foreign influence campaigns, with help from high-tech firms Sift and Protagonist.