Stockholm, Sweden | AFP | Wednesday 4/19/2023 A documentary aired by Nordic public broadcasters Wednesday claimed Russia is suspected of having a spy programme in the North Sea planning the sabotage of energy infrastructures in Northern Europe. The Kremlin on Wednesday dismissed the media claims as a “mistake” and “without basis”, reiterating its appeal for “a transparent and impartial international inquiry” into the sabotage of the Baltic Sea Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022. […]
Tag: espionage
Kim orders launch of North Korea’s first spy satellite
by Claire LEE Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the country has finished building its first military spy satellite and gave the green light for its launch, state media said Wednesday. The report of its completion comes about a week after Pyongyang launched what it said was a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, marking a major breakthrough in its banned weapons programs. Analysts have said there is […]
US accuses 4 Black nationalists of acting for Russian intelligence
(AFP) Washington, United States The US Justice Department on Tuesday charged the founder and three members of a half-century-old Black nationalist group with working with Russian intelligence to influence elections in the United States. Omali Yeshitela, the founder of the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP) and the Uhuru Movement, and two other party members, Penny Joanne Hess and Jesse Nevel, were charged with acting as unregistered agents of Russia, which carries a maximum […]
China allegedly gave Australian a spying ‘shopping list’
Sydney, Australia | AFP | Monday 4/17/2023 by Steven TRASK Chinese spies allegedly gave a “well-connected” Australian businessman cash-filled envelopes in exchange for handwritten reports about lithium mining and the AUKUS security pact, a Sydney court was told Monday. Australian police allege that Alexander Csergo sold information to two Chinese spies known as “Ken” and “Evelyn” while he worked in Shanghai as a marketing executive. The 55-year-old — who has spent more than two decades […]
South Korea says ‘significant’ number of leaked US docs are fake
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea on Tuesday said a “significant portion” of leaked US intelligence documents indicating concerns in Seoul about arms supplies to Ukraine were fake. The documents are part of a broader leak the Pentagon has described as a “very serious” national security risk. It has also created a diplomatic headache for Washington as they appear to show US spying on close allies including South Korea and Israel. Some files reportedly […]
US seeks to deflate Chinese balloon worries
Washington, United States | AFP | by Sebastian Smith The White House sought Tuesday to take the air out of an escalating diplomatic crisis with Beijing, saying that preliminary evidence suggests three unidentified aerial objects shot down by US jets were not involved in a broader Chinese spy balloon program. The United States has been in a state of alarm since a huge white balloon from China was spotted tracking over a series of […]
US not flying any balloons over China: White House
Washington, United States | AFP | Monday 2/13/2023 The White House on Monday denied Beijing’s accusation that the United States has been sending balloons over China to conduct surveillance, as tensions about espionage rise between the two superpowers. “Any claim that the US government operates surveillance balloons over the PRC is false,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said on Twitter. “It is China that has a high-altitude surveillance balloon program for intelligence collection, that […]
China accuses US of sending balloons into its airspace
Beijing, China | AFP | Monday 2/13/2023 by Ludovic EHRET China on Monday accused the United States of flying balloons over its territory, hitting back against Washington’s claims that Beijing has been operating a fleet of surveillance aircraft around the world. Washington strenuously denied Beijing’s charges as “false” and insisted it was China alone that has surreptitiously flown spy balloons, as tensions ramped up between the two superpowers. The downing of an alleged Chinese airship […]
China says US shooting down balloon ‘damaged’ relations
BEIJING, China (AFP) — A US decision to shoot down a Chinese balloon that Beijing claimed had veered off course has “seriously impacted and damaged” relations between the two countries, China’s foreign ministry said Monday. The aircraft, which Washington said was a spy balloon, had spent several days flying over North America, leading the United States to call off a planned visit to Beijing by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Washington on Saturday said a […]
Pentagon tracking Chinese spy balloon over US
by Paul HANDLEY Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Pentagon said Thursday it was tracking a Chinese spy balloon flying high over the United States, reviving tensions between the two countries just days ahead of a rare visit to Beijing by the top US diplomat. At President Joe Biden’s request, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and top military officials considered shooting the balloon down but decided doing so would endanger too many people on […]
Ex-US Marine questions ‘political nature’ of Australian arrest
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A former US marine accused of illegally training Chinese military pilots believes his arrest was politically motivated and will fight extradition from Australia, his lawyer said Tuesday. Daniel Edmund Duggan was arrested in Australia late last year and now faces extradition to the United States, where he is accused of violating an arms embargo. The 54-year-old was a highly-regarded jet pilot who spent 12 years in the US Marine Corps, reaching […]
Iran executes 4 over links to Israeli intelligence: judiciary
Tehran, Iran (AFP) Iran on Sunday put to death four people accused of working with Israel’s intelligence service, the judiciary said. “This morning, the sentences of four main members of the gang of mobsters related to the Zionist intelligence service were executed,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website reported. Iran carried out the sentences four days after the Islamic republic’s supreme court upheld the penalty of capital punishment for “their intelligence cooperation with the Zionist regime […]
