Defence

The Agencies' Gazette
Criticism in the Sinai, drones in French skies, Astana nears Baku

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

FranceCommando unit drones in French skies.

Kazakhstan/Azerbaijan/TurkeyKazakh military intelligence moves closer to Azeri counterpart.

EgyptTimid criticism of Sisi's Sinai strategy emerges in Cairo.

China, East Europe, Russia, United States
Washington seeks to prevent Russian power grab at International Telecommunication Union

Both major parties in the House of Representatives recently joined forces to pass a law calling on the State Department to actively back "pro-democracy" candidates for the leadership of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). So as to counter Rashid Ismailov, a Russian former minister who has also worked for Huawei.

Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia
FSB keeps close watch on Caucasian borders

The FSB's border patrol is hard at work in the highly volatile Caucasus region, along Russian borders with Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The number of control sites is growing and growing.

China, United States
Beijing plots next move in Chinese groups' US audits

While the US is convinced that it has put pressure on China by requesting more information on companies listed on its territory, the CCP is actually making the most of the ongoing talks to advance its new global economic strategy.

Europe, Moldova, United States
West increases aid to boost Chisinau's cyber defence capacities

Since the unrest in Transnistria at the end of April, the media and international community have kept an eye on Moldova. Intelligence agencies in the country are worried about their cyber capacities, despite a boost from Chisinau's Israeli and Western allies, which has increased in recent weeks.

Argentina, China, United States
Washington launches political and security counter-offensive against Beijing in Argentina

To curb China's increasing influence in Argentina, the US has organised visits by delegations in the country, some of which have taken place secretly. After successfully freezing the Parana dredging project, Washington wants to block construction of a Chinese logistics centre.

The Agencies' Gazette
Afghan planes in Tashkent, Russian military engineers decorated, DNI

Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every Monday, we serve up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community. This week, we go from Paris to Tashkent, Washington, Brussels and Kabul.

Uzbekistan/AfghanistanTashkent refuses to return Afghan planes to Kabul.

RussiaMoscow decorates military engineers.

FranceMarc Burg lures more top spies to his degree course.

ParisSenators call for a law on facial recognition.

United StatesDNI tasked again to tackle China's support to Russia.

EuropeEuropol, future watchdog of foreign investment in the EU.

Afghanistan
Taliban out of favour with Islamabad over worsening security situation

A worsening security situation, the rise of the local branch of Islamic State and a cooling of support from Pakistan are just some of the difficulties facing Afghanistan's increasingly divided Taliban.

Israel, Russia, Syria
Russia threatens to end cooperation in Syria with Israel

Despite wanting to accommodate both the United States and Russia, Israel has provoked Vladimir Putin's ire by what Moscow sees as Tel Aviv's overly pro-Ukrainian stance. This has strained their relations to such an extent that Russia is questioning the highly sensitive matter of Israel's freedom of action in Syria.