Daily Intel Brief
China sends troops to Russia for a joint exercise, North Korea fires two more cruise missiles, and the U.S. warns of increased gun smuggling into Haiti...
Counterterrorism
A bombing at a mosque in the Afghan capital of Kabul during evening prayers on Wednesday killed at least 10 people, including a prominent cleric, and wounded at least 27, an eyewitness and police said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, the latest to…
UK police lifted the lid Wednesday on a years-long probe into the notorious Islamic State (IS) kidnap-and-murder cell dubbed the "Beatles" by their captives. Counter-terrorism officers said the hostages' recollections helped "zero in" on three of the British captors. The IS cell…
Military & Defense
Chinese troops will travel to Russia to take part in joint military exercises led by the host and including India, Belarus, Mongolia, Tajikistan and other countries, China's defence ministry said on Wednesday. China's participation in the joint exercises was "unrelated to the current…
North Korea fired two cruise missiles from the west coast town of Onchon early on Wednesday, a South Korean military source said. The source added the South Korean and the United States military authorities are analysing details of the missiles' flight, including the…
Cybersecurity
The Department of Energy announced on Wednesday that it is investing $45 million in cyber technology that will protect the power grid sector from cyberattacks. The investment will fund up to 15 research projects that will focus on developing new cybersecurity technologies…
The US Securities and Exchange Commission this week announced charges against 18 individuals and entities for their roles in a pump-and-dump scheme that involved account hacking. As part of the scheme, the participating individuals allegedly conspired with others…
Counterintelligence & Espionage
At first glance, NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) website does not look like something that can help track a war. Originally built to help firefighters and other officials keep track of global wildfires, the FIRMS webpage shows something that looks…
A Chinese military survey ship has docked at Sri Lanka's Chinese-built port of Hambantota after a delay of several days because of opposition to the visit from India. India had opposed the docking of the Yuan Wang 5, which analysts describe as a high-tech ship for tracking…
Transnational Organized Crime
Ecuadoran police on Wednesday arrested a suspect in a weekend blast that killed five people in the port city of Guayaquil and was blamed by the government on organized crime, the interior minister said Wednesday. The suspect "admitted to being involved in the…
U.S. investigators say they have noticed an uptick in the amount and caliber of weapons being smuggled from Florida to Haiti in recent months. Anthony Salisbury, chief of the Miami Homeland Security Investigations office, said agents are increasing their efforts to stop the…