Daily Intel Brief
China intercepts an Australian plane over the South China Sea, Deutsche Bank feared Russian spy insiders, and Mexican drug traffickers turn their attention to Spain...
Counterterrorism
A U.S. woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to organizing and leading a female military battalion in Syria, which experts said is rare. Allison Fluke-Ekren, 42, a former resident of Kansas, traveled overseas and engaged in terrorism-related activities in Syria, Libya, and Iraq…
An 18-year-old man has been charged with terrorism offences linked to extreme right-wing ideology. Oliver Riley is accused of possessing documents likely to be useful to a person preparing or committing an act of terrorism and enabling others to access such a publication…
Military & Defense
A Chinese fighter jet careened in front of an Australian military plane over the South China Sea and released debris that were ingested into the engine, forcing the aircraft to return to base, Australia’s defense ministry said Sunday. The incident happened on May 26 involving a…
Russia on Tuesday claimed to have taken control of 97% of one of the two provinces that make up Ukraine’s Donbas, bringing the Kremlin closer to its goal of fully capturing the eastern industrial heartland of coal mines and factories. Russian Defense Minister Sergei…
Cybersecurity
The Irish Embassy in Turkey is temporarily unable to process visa applications due to “persistent” cyber attacks, according to the embassy. Additionally, it has warned that it cannot “effectively” respond to consular queries. The embassy issued a notice on social media this…
The Biden administration gets darker in its assessment of the nation's cyber threat More frequent cyberattacks are the “new normal” for U.S. companies and individuals, the Biden administration’s top cyber officials are warning. It's a significant messaging shift for the…
Counterintelligence & Espionage
The lower house of Russia’s parliament has given initial approval to a bill further tightening the country’s laws against “foreign agents”, at a time when President Vladimir Putin has warned the Russian people to look out for “traitors”. Russia’s first law on foreign agents was…
Deutsche Bank was so concerned Russia would plant government spies among hundreds of IT workers that it relocated from Russia to Berlin in the months following the invasion of Ukraine, a senior manager at the bank told The Financial Times. "We have been operating…
Transnational Organized Crime
A Mexican drug trafficking ring with connections to the country's cartels operated marijuana plantations and cocaine processing labs in Spain, demonstrating how Mexican crime groups are embedding themselves further in Europe's booming drug trade. More than 200 officers…
The Australian Federal Police is targeting Italian crime gangs across Australia with some already known to be connected to the Ndrangheta organised crime syndicate. As many as 5,000 Italian members of organised crime groups have been identified across 51 clans with 14…