Moscow shooting poses awkward questions for Russia's intelligence agencies
Security services appear to have been caught off guard. The Kremlin says no country is immune from terrorism. Ex-spies say Russia is too busy with Ukraine/internal dissent. Warning signs appear to have been missed.
Russia has been ruthlessly effective at detaining Vladimir Putin's opponents but was caught off guard by a mass shooting near Moscow, raising questions about its priorities, resources and intelligence gathering.
Charged with hunting down Ukrainian saboteurs inside Russia, with keeping anti-Kremlin activists in check, and with disrupting the operations of hostile foreign intelligence agencies, the FSB, the main successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB, has its hands full.
Robots Are entering the Ukraine Battlefield
Kyiv deployed drones to deadly effect in the air and at sea, but plans to repeat the strategy on the ground face challenges
In August, a Ukrainian assault team steered an armored vehicle silently for 2.5 miles before firing 300 bullets at a group of startled Russian soldiers.
The vehicle had no driver or gunner, and was instead a land drone, an early example of the robot-like vehicles that Ukraine is increasingly using to hit enemy forces, clear and lay landmines and rescue injured soldiers.
EU Seeks to End Russian Grain Imports With Steep Tariffs
New duties seek to appease European farmers and curb Russian revenues as war in Ukraine drags on
In a big shift, the European Union is planning to impose tariffs on Russian grain, part of an effort to curb Moscow’s export revenue and appease European farmers who are angry about imports of cheaper agricultural products.
The plan—the bloc’s first push to restrict food products from Russia during the war—comes amid protests over Ukrainian agricultural imports by farmers who have at times set up blockades at border crossings. The tariffs will apply to EU imports of cereals, oilseeds and derived products from Russia and its ally Belarus.
Bolstering Ukraine's Irregular War Against Russia
As Ukrainian forces assume a more defensive posture, Kyiv's irregular warfare behind enemy lines becomes even more important. Ukrainian irregulars are already active, even striking distant targets in Russia. With Western support and technology, these silent warriors could become even more potent.
‘A Ticking Time Bomb’: In Syrian Camps, Fears of an Islamic State Revival
The U.S. and its allies are struggling to repatriate civilians and militants as security risks grow
A recent security sweep inside a sprawling fenced refugee camp holding 44,000 people turned up a raft of weapons, dozens of Islamic State militants and a Yazidi woman who had been held by the group for nearly 10 years.
For many, the horrors of Islamic State ended when a U.S.-led military campaign collapsed the group’s self-styled caliphate in 2019. But five years later, tens of thousands of civilians are still being kept in camps including in Al-Hol, which are filled with the families of Islamic State militants and others inadvertently swept up in the chaos of northeast Syria.
Drugs, Internet crime, Gangs netting up to $3 trillion a year as Southeast Asia human trafficking becomes a global crisis, Interpol says
Human trafficking-fueled fraud is exploding in Southeast Asia with organized crime rings raking in close to $3 trillion in illicit revenue annually, the head of Interpol has said in comments that reveal the huge profits being earned by cartels.
One international organized crime group makes $50 billion a year, according to Interpol secretary-general Jurgen Stock, adding that $2 trillion to $3 trillion of illicit money flows through the global financial system annually. To compare, France’s economy is worth $3.1 trillion according to the International Monetary Fund.
While drug trafficking contributes around 40% to 70% of organized crime income, criminal groups are also using those smuggling networks to illegally move humans, arms and stolen products among other things, Stock said.
“Driven by online anonymity, inspired by new business models and accelerated by Covid, these organized crime groups are now working at a scale that was unimaginable a decade ago,” Stock told a briefing at the global police coordination body’s Singapore office on Wednesday.
“Today, a bank – or indeed anyone – is less likely to be robbed at gunpoint than via a keyboard by someone on the other side of the world.
“What began as a regional crime threat in Southeast Asia has become a global human trafficking crisis, with millions of victims, both in the cyber scam centers and as targets.”
Jaishankar's remarks over China's Zangnan disregard common sense, a vicious attempt to win votes, say Global Times
The claims made by India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar over the Chinese territory of Zangnan in Singapore on Saturday were slammed by Chinese analysts on Sunday as a brutal disregard of historic common sense, and the recent acts and remarks by the Indian government are viewed as merely a vicious attempt to help Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party to win re election, by establishing a hawkish image to court domestic nationalist voters.
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