National Security

Belarus, Russia
Russia's Rosvgardia trains new elite units in Minsk

Belarus's powerful deputy interior minister and Commander of the Belarusian Internal Troops Nikolai Karpenkov launched a collaboration with the Russian National Guard in January which is now in full swing.

United Kingdom, United States
Harvard law professor Matthew Stephenson retained by British embassy in Washington to monitor legislation impacting lawyers and advisers for oligarchs

The Establishing New Authorities for Businesses Laundering and Enabling Risks to Security (ENABLERS) Act, which would impact prominent players in lobbying, legal and corporate intelligence circles, will be reintroduced this year in Congress. British authorities are very interested in following the developments.

The Agencies' Gazette
Kovalchuk clan in Kremlin, INIS fights corruption, Washington in Riyadh, Beijing and its reservists, China's model ambassador in Paris

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

RussiaKovalchuk clan adds another link to Kremlin spymasters

IraqINIS helps with Sudani's crackdown on corruption

United States/Saudi ArabiaWashington calls for greater intelligence sharing with Gulf Cooperation Council

ChinaBeijing relies on reserves to expand PLA

ChinaLu Shaye, ambassador in Paris, in Beijing's good graces

Australia, Japan, United States
Australia strengthens academic-security links with Indo-Pacific allies

The Australian defence ministry has asked a trilateral group of experts to look into harmonising AI capacities and norms between Australia, Japan and the US as part of a strategy to bolster security ties in the Indo-Pacific.

France
French intelligence services and financial prosecutors increase ties

Discussions between intelligence services and prosecutors probing financial crimes used to be carried out on an informal basis - but now they are intensifying, with an increasing focus on security risks raised by outsourcing anti-corruption work.

The Agencies' Gazette
Intelligence Academy seeks director, Abbas Ibrahim's mandate, Moscow's anti-drone battle, CIA's PCRB problem, Bulgarian intelligence

Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community. This week we look at Moscow, Washington, Paris, Sofia and Beirut.

France Intelligence Academy advertises for new director

Lebanon Berri joins push to extend Ibrahim's mandate

Russia Intelligence at forefront of fight against drones

United States CIA publication review process questioned

Bulgaria Internal security under scrutiny

Kazakhstan, United States
Kazakh opposition turns to US courts to hasten asset recovery efforts

Kazakh political activists have trained their sights on companies registered in Nevada as part of a drive to speed up ill gotten asset recovery investigations.

China, Hong Kong
From Hong Kong to Taiwan, Xi Jinping wants shift from 'one country, two systems' to single government

By setting up Hong Kong as a testing ground, the Chinese Communist Party is establishing itself as the definitive body for judging any form of resistance to the National Security Law. Xi Jingping is hopeful of shortly being able to apply that same governance in Taiwan.

Ukraine
Ukrainian military cyber gets into shape for NATO outpost role

Hastily put together with volunteers a few months before the start of the Russian invasion, Ukraine's cyber command is shaping up for its new role as part of NATO's Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE).

Indonesia, United Kingdom
Cyber Capacity Unit champions British cyber diplomacy in Indonesia

Then UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has turned to the consultancy firm Cyber Capacity Unit to present its cyber tools in Asia.

Israel
Israeli intelligence mobilised in response to renewed violence

Worried Israeli senior security officials have warned Benjamin Netanyahu that the country's new far-right government's punitive response to Palestinian strikes may worsen the security situation.

Kazakhstan
KazMunayGas seeks partners to help find Caspian Sea export routes

Kazakhstan's national oil company wants to make the most of the Caspian Sea as a source of strategic new oil transport routes. The company chairman Magzum Mirzagaliev has been reaching out to potential foreign partners able to assist in the task.

Australia, China, France, United Kingdom, United States
The West's scattered response to its ex-fighter pilots training Chinese counterparts

For some time, US, Australian, British and French pilots have been training their Chinese air force counterparts, as we revealed in May last year. Caught unprepared, their governments are now scrambling to find legal means to stop the practice from benefitting their strategic adversary.

United States
NSA banks on work-study contracts to meet hiring challenge

With plans to take on 3000 new staff, the NSA's ambitious recruitment drive reveals Washington's emphasis on electromagnetic and cyber intelligence. But filling these vacancies is also proving to be a challenge, which the agency plans to meet through significant investments in training.

UAE
OryxLabs, shelter for ex-DarkMatter and Digital14 cyber specialists

The Abu Dhabi-based OryxLabs' Abu Dhabi office is building a team of battle-hardened cyber-attack experts to pitch its zero-day exploit hunting and DNS cybersecurity services in the Middle East.

The Agencies' Gazette
Mossad attack on Iran, War economy discussed at French National Assembly, Rondot gets a biography, Russian mobilisation, Nippon Foundation head meets the Pope, Russian security council reshuffled

Appointments, reforms and key issues: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community. This week, we visit Tehran, Paris, Rome and Moscow.

Israel/IranMossad satisfied by latest operation against Iran

FranceNational Assembly studies defence group financing

FranceIntelligence veteran Rondot gets a biography

RussiaMobilisation and conscription continue to split the elites

Japan/VaticanNippon Foundation president meets Pope Francis

RussiaNikolai Patrushev's inner circle remodelled