Counterterrorism

Drone blast near US consulate in Erbil injures three

A drone armed with explosives lightly injured three civilians near a US consulate building in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on Wednesday. A spokesperson for the Kurdistan Regional Government said the blast, which occurred on Pirmam-Erbil road in Erbil at 9:35 p.m. local…

Armed man arrested for threat to kill Justice Kavanaugh

A man carrying a gun, a knife and zip ties was arrested Wednesday near Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s house in Maryland after threatening to kill the justice. Nicholas John Roske, 26, of Simi Valley, California, was charged with the attempted murder of a Supreme Court…

Military & Defense

Military aircraft crashes in Southern California desert

A military aircraft crashed in a remote, desert area of Southern California on Wednesday, authorities said. Five people were on board an MV-22B Osprey when it went down, according to a Marine official, who did not have any further update on their condition. The Imperial…

China’s infrastructure buildup along border with India ‘alarming’, activities ‘eye-opening’: Top US general

China’s rapid build-up of military infrastructure along the Line of Actual Control with India is ‘alarming’, and adds to its overall `destabilising and corrosive behaviour’ in the entire Indo-Pacific region, a top US general said on Wednesday. Visiting US Army's Pacific…

Cybersecurity

Chinese hackers exploited years-old software flaws to break into telecom giants

Hackers employed by the Chinese government have broken into numerous major telecommunications firms around the world in a cyber espionage campaign that has lasted at least two years, according to a new advisory from American security agencies…

Anonymous Breaches Top Russian Law Firm With Global Clients, Dumps Data 'Protected By Attorney-Client Privileges'

Anonymous has done it again! The decentralized international hacktivist collective this time embarrassed a top Russian law firm, which counts several big corporations and global banks among its clients, with a massive data dump of confidential documents. The tons of…

Counterintelligence & Espionage

U.S. Government Ordered Travel Companies To Spy On Russian Hacker For Years And Report His Whereabouts Every Week

A Forbes legal challenge forces the unsealing of documents that reveal for the first time the scope of secretive surveillance orders that track the movements of individuals around the globe. Critics say the government isn’t doing enough to inform the public about the unusual…

China offers citizens up to $15,000 reward for national security tip-offs

China is to offer rewards of up to $15,000 for information on potential breaches of national security. Rewards for tip-offs on foreign spies have existed in China for years, but the new measures seek to regulate the incentives nationally and encourage more citizens to expose…

Transnational Organized Crime

Five Eyes must ramp up fight against rising organised crime, AFP commissioner warns

The Australian federal police commissioner has urged his Five Eyes counterparts to ramp up the fight against organised crime, declaring the pandemic has fuelled “the destabilisation of the world order”. Reece Kershaw issued a rallying call for closer coordination on law…

British man sentenced to 15 years in Iraq prison for smuggling artifacts out of the country

A British citizen was sentenced Monday by an Iraqi court to 15 years in prison after being convicted of attempting to smuggle artifacts out of the country, in a case that has attracted international attention. The verdict handed down to retired geologist Jim Fitton, shocked…