Spotlight | China, Colombia, France, Vietnam
French domestic spy agency's role in citizenship applications under judicial scrutiny

France, Saudi Arabia
French court files against Muslim association which sacked its imam for being in pay of Saudi Arabia

In 2020, an association which manages the Lumière et Piété Mosque in the southern French city of Nimes dismissed its recently appointed imam on the grounds that he had kept up financial links with Saudi Arabia.

Algeria, France
French court overturns Algerian's nationality ruling over vague intelligence memo

A French administrative court has reversed an interior ministry decision to deny an Algerian's naturalisation that was based on a memo from the DGSI domestic intelligence agency claiming he worked with Algerian intelligence.

The Intelligence Gazette
MEIO left out, Hezbollah ties, changes at Pentagon, purges in Beijing

Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community.

France/MalaysiaMalaysian intelligence feels cold shoulder from Paris

FranceNo French nationality for Hezbollah-linked CEA researcher

United StatesPentagon's new data-savvy intelligence boss

ChinaCCP prepares to expel Qin Gang and Li Shangfu

France, Syria
DGSE memo on Syrian chemical programme upholds justification for French sanctions against Beirut-based firm

According to a French foreign intelligence service memo, the Beirut-based company Electronic Katrangi Trading has been engaged in chemical proliferation operations for the Syrian government since July 2020. The firm, which denies that, has been under French and US sanctions since 2018.

China, France
Chinese woman refused French naturalisation over husband's ties to Beijing intelligence

A French court has upheld the refusal to naturalise a Chinese national over her husband's involvement with Beijing's intelligence operations in France.

France, Russia
Intelligence 'notes blanches', a black box of visa refusals for Russian nationals

There have been a string of visa refusals for Russian nationals suspected of being spies based on "notes blanches" prepared by the French intelligence services. Those unsigned memos can sometimes lack detail or even have inaccuracies.

Spotlight | Australia, France, Israel, United States
Paris tightens red tape on employees of US, Australian and Israeli embassies

Some embassies in France are questioning the increase in red tape their employees are having to go through amid geopolitical and security tensions.

France, Ukraine
French domestic intelligence service keeps Ukrainian community in France under surveillance

France's domestic intelligence service, the DGSI, is taking a close interest in the Ukrainian community in Paris. Tips provided by some members of the community are providing it with knowledge on Ukraine as well as counter-intelligence data.

Spotlight | France, Ukraine
French intelligence service kiboshes naturalisation of Ukrainian potential asset

Despite Paris's support for Kyiv, France's domestic intelligence service remains concerned about counter-espionage. France's refusal to grant citizenship to a Ukrainian professor, based on a note from the DGSI, shines a spotlight on the service's interests in Ukraine's State representations in the French capital.