Saudi Arabia, Syria
Saudi Arabia's earthquake aid reveals Riyadh's changing posture towards Syria

Syria
Hossam Louka active across all fronts, from Syrian countryside to Riyadh and Moscow

Now Bashar al-Assad's top spymaster, Hossam Louka has begun to quietly take the lead on Syria's normalisation processes, both on the international scene and at a local level.

The Agencies' Gazette
Taiwanese in Milan, Damascus and the Arab League, Russian customs chief

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

Italy/TaiwanTaipei uses business to renew political dialogue in Milan

SyriaArab League invitation but not reintegration on the cards for Damascus

RussiaCustoms chief succession causes headache

Iran, Syria
Tehran pulls its militias from Syria to beef up domestic fronts

Now in difficulty on their home turf, the Revolutionary Guards are reviewing their militia system in order to adapt it to the evolving situation. Fighters in Syria, Iraq and even Lebanon are being redeployed to the most tense Iranian zones.

Syria, Turkey
Turkish intelligence plays ambiguous game in north-west Syria

Following the capture of the district of Afrin by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Turkish intelligence service MIT is unsure whether to condemn the group, with which it maintains relations, or turn a blind eye to its activities.