Counterterrorism
A London jury on Monday unanimously found Islamic State group follower Ali Harbi Ali guilty of murdering British lawmaker David Amess in a ferocious knife attack in October last year. Ali told the trial that he had no regrets about killing father-of-five Amess after he voted…
A concerted focus on “social media warfare” is critical to advance on the ideological battlefield but also in order to counter the pull of “enchanting” social media influencers, ISIS Khorasan declared in a new issue of the group’s English-language magazine…
Military & Defense
A Ukrainian battalion said Monday that Russia has used chemical weapons against Ukraine's military and citizens, causing victims to develop respiratory failure and other illnesses. The Azoz Regiment, a unit of the National Guard of Ukraine, said the chemicals were of an…
The EU on Monday decided to halt its military training missions in Mali but will keep a presence in the Sahel, the bloc's top diplomat said on Monday. "We are halting the training missions for the (Malian) armed forces and national guard," EU foreign policy chief Josep…
Cybersecurity
Hacker collective Anonymous continues to monitor Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and reports that it will continue its cyber war until Russia’s aggression stops. In a recent tweet, Anonymous said it will continue hacking and releasing confidential information…
The US extradited last month a man from the Netherlands who is accused of working for Anom — the encrypted communications platform used by global organized criminals that was the subject of a lengthy undercover FBI investigation dubbed “Operation Trojan Shield.”…
Counterintelligence & Espionage
Six Russian spies were declared "persona non grata" Monday and expelled from France following an investigation. The spies were posing as foreign diplomats, the Foreign Ministry said. "Six Russian agents operating under diplomatic cover and whose activities proved…
A complex spyware attack hit nearly half a dozen of the European Union’s top legal officials last year. Reuters reports that the phones of at least five EU officials were hacked with invasive malware between February and September of 2021. One of the targeted officials was…
Transnational Organized Crime
María Jesús was grilling tortillas. Patricia was frying pork ribs. Adriana was sipping a cup of tea to calm her nerves. For the Martínez sisters, that Friday was shaping up like most Fridays in their mountain village, the women preparing lunch in their simple homes as their husbands…
Elements of the Venezuelan underworld, whether drug cartels, street gangs or illegal mining groups, have hit upon a unique way of establishing social control: creating "foundations" to act as quasi-charitable arms, helping to improve relations with the population and strike…