Counterterrorism

Somali Spy Agency: Terrorist Group Plotting to Kill Top Leaders

Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) says terrorist group al-Shabab is plotting to assassinate the country’s president and prime minister. Somalia’s spy agency said Tuesday that al-Shabab is targeting President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and Prime…

Bennett says security forces recently foiled more than 15 terrorist attacks

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Tuesday that a string of recent deadly terrorist attacks in Israel should serve as a wake-up call, but that more than 15 other such attacks had been foiled recently. “The last two weeks, in which we have been dealing with severe terrorist attacks…

Military & Defense

Zelenskyy at the UN accuses Russian military of war crimes

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the Russians of gruesome atrocities in Ukraine and told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that those responsible should immediately be brought up on war crimes charges in front of a tribunal like the one…

Russian mercenaries and Mali army accused of killing 300 civilians

Suspected Russian mercenaries participated in an operation with Mali’s army in March in which about 300 civilian men were allegedly executed over five days, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says. Eyewitnesses and local community leaders said hundreds of men were…

Cybersecurity

$25 million confiscated by German authorities in takedown of Hydra dark web marketplace

German authorities said on Tuesday that they shut down Russian dark web marketplace Hydra in an operation that saw police seize more than $25 million worth of Bitcoin. The Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office, and the Frankfurt…

Cash App notifies 8.2 million US customers about data breach

Cash App is notifying 8.2 million current and former US customers of a data breach after a former employee accessed their account information. Block, Inc., the owner of Cash App, disclosed in a Form 8-K SEC filing that the breach occurred on December 10th, 2021…

Counterintelligence & Espionage

Denmark expels 15 Russian diplomats; Moscow to retaliate

Denmark said on Tuesday it would expel 15 Russian diplomats, in line with steps taken by other European Union countries, after reports of mass graves being found and of civilian killings in the Ukrainian town of Bucha. "This is another example of brutality, cruelty…

Italy says Ukraine war crimes must be punished, expels Russian diplomats

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said that "war crimes" carried out in Ukraine must be punished, while Rome said it was expelling 30 Russian diplomats on national security grounds. In a speech in Turin on Tuesday, Draghi also urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt…

Transnational Organized Crime

Illegal trade of Captagon reached $5bn last year in Middle East

Trade in the amphetamine-type stimulant Captagon in the Middle East grew exponentially in 2021 to top $5 billion, posing an increasing health and security risk to the region, a report said. Research by the New Lines Institute, to be released on Tuesday and seen by AFP, paints…

Expert warns virtual police may need to patrol metaverse to stop human trafficking

Virtual police may need to patrol the metaverse to keep users safe from abuse, according to a human trafficking expert. International human trafficking expert Matthew Friedman raised his concerns about criminals exploiting virtual reality in a recent article for the South China…