Spotlight | Europe, Russia

How AI can help European intelligence services recruit Moscow moles

Several European intelligence services are currently testing an AI tool that runs on a dataset from Bauman University, the Russian military intelligence academy. This tool could enable spy agencies to accurately identify potential recruits within Moscow’s intelligence apparatus.

As the country emerges as a fresh gold mine for the private security sector, Damascus's new rulers are reorganising the sector to their liking. A man who acts as a conduit between Western security companies and the authorities appears to be playing a central role in this overhaul.

China

Xi Jinping hands over reins of banks to Party officials

Top jobs at Chinese financial institutions are now being filled based on political criteria, as recent hirings at the country's leading investment bank's research arm demonstrate. This reshuffle has been accompanied by disciplinary investigations and new governance rules.

Deep Dive | Pakistan

The ‘Islamabad syndrome’ that poisoned relations between Western and Pakistani spies

At odds over nuclear proliferation but united in the fight against terrorism, Western intelligence agencies have long had a bumpy relationship with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). For some this has come at a very personal cost. Intelligence Online reveals one of the most dramatic and mysterious episodes involving France’s DGSE and the CIA in Pakistan.

Top British lawyer Lord Pannick provided services to China National Gold, a state owned mining concern involved in multi-billion dollar arbitration.

Published on 13/10/26 at 13:25 GMT: The withdrawal of all its military forces engaged in Iraq means that Paris is now able to redeploy its capacity to the Gulf. High on Macron's agenda are new anti-aircraft defence deployments to support the five Gulf countries he plans to visit next week.

After establishing a new political platform in which the more powerful ethnic armed forces are most prominent, the Burmese resistance is now focusing on intelligence. Covert operations have shifted to building networks of informants and a joint intelligence framework is being set up.

Spotlight | Ukraine, United Kingdom

Kraken Technology Group and British services involved in Ukrainian naval war

At least eight naval drones from the British company Kraken have been deployed to Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency, Intelligence Online can reveal. These platforms, which were used in strikes on Sochi in September, are being tested in the Black Sea with the support of UK operators.

Deep Dive | Pakistan

Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence, answerable only to Asim Munir

Formidable to foreign intelligence services and their spies stationed in Pakistan, the ISI is also feared within the country’s own intelligence apparatus. As all-powerful military chief Asim Munir's enforcement arm, the agency has asserted itself as the only one able to safeguard national security.

Thailand

Thai navy's new chief toughens stance against Hanwha Ocean

South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean's contract with the Royal Thai Navy for its future frigate is under serious threat due to budgetary constraints and looming legal risks.

This week, Intelligence Online paid a visit to Le Président, an iconic Chinese restaurant in the Belleville neighbourhood of Paris.

A high-level Indonesian defence delegation is expected to visit the French capital in early November, providing an opportunity for France to revive sluggish bilateral contracts between both countries.

The recent resignation of influential US ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle, who was close to Donald Trump, has taken place as Washington continues to push two important energy deals in southeastern Europe. Her ousting is likely to play in favour of her counterpart in Ankara.

Spotlight | United States

Despite move to Pentagon, intelligence community college still struggling to find leadership

As well as scaling back its course offerings, the new National Intelligence College, which has been taken over by the Pentagon, remains without a director. Yet there is no shortage of candidates.

Published on 19/10/26 at 15:00 GMT: The French DNRT territorial intelligence agency, which vastly underestimated the scale of the protests in France on Saturday which were followed by rioting and looting across the country, finds itself under intense scrutiny. All the more so after President Emmanuel Macron highlighted “failures in foresight and intelligence” in his national televised address on Sunday.

The deputy director of the international department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party has chosen Reykjavik as the first stop on his European tour, scheduled for later this month.

France's 2027 draft budget reveals the French intelligence services' degree of technical cooperation with other European agencies. Most of their current programmes are designed to support a major shift towards Eastern and Northern Europe.

Spotlight | Bangladesh, India

Dhaka and New Delhi sideline Sheikh Hasina issue in bid to resume strategic talks

India and Bangladesh are keen to resume talks on water-sharing and cross-border cooperation, despite India having granted asylum to the former Bangladeshi leader, who was ousted from power by protests in August 2024.

The rift between Kyiv and Warsaw has not prevented Polish defence contractors from being in contact with the Ukrainian front line. WB Electronics supplies the elite Omega unit with FlyEye drones, while former Formoza commandos are contributing to the fight against Russian drones.

Senior staff at the French foreign intelligence agency feel they are not being given their fair share of management and executive posts.