An internal document seen by Intelligence Online listing the Central Military Commission’s leadership posts, shows that 20 out of 26 remain vacant. Analysis of the six positions that have been filled indicates that Xi Jinping has not yet started rebuilding the army’s governing body, instead sticking to the bare minimum to ensure the purge progresses.
The EU has been trying behind the scenes to drastically bolster its security presence in the country, as its foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas plans to possibly visit over the next few days. Damascus has set up a system to facilitate relations between service providers and those close to the new regime.
The exit last week of the head of Georgian counter-intelligence – the fourth such departure in the space of 18 months – is indicative of chronic instability within the country’s intelligence services, over which Georgia’s strongman, oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, exercises total control.
The arrival of Columbia’s new president Abelardo de la Espriella, who shares the Trump administration’s vision for Latin America, has rekindled a security cooperation between the two governments.
The French luxury firm’s head of security by day, consultant for the company’s subcontractors by night: besides Heracles group, Intelligence Online has identified other service providers to Louis Vuitton that Gaël Marchand invoiced as a consultant while in charge of security at the leather goods maker.
Published on 23/09/26 at 12:37 GMT: A fierce diplomatic battle waged by Paris behind the scenes has resulted in the lifting of sanctions against Russian-Uzbek businessman Alisher Usmanov. But France’s intense lobbying has revealed divisions and posturing both within the EU and French diplomacy. Intelligence Online has the inside story.
The GUR military intelligence has noted an increase in false positives of high-value targets on its SAR satellite imagery, attributed to a new generation of Russian decoys. With a difficult winter for Kyiv approaching, Ukrainian intelligence is seeking help from its Finnish supplier, Iceye.
The US State Department is investigating allegations of corruption regarding the development of a port in Belize. One of Honduras’s richest men has already caught Washington’s eye, but now members of the Belizean government are also finding themselves in the crosshairs of US investigators.
Xi Jinping has put the People’s Liberation Army’s leadership reshuffle on hold while the purge is still ongoing. But he has already begun to reveal the new faces that will be taking control of the Party at the 2027 Congress.
The French tech firm ChapsVision, whose legal woes over its judicial interceptions activity put a strain on the company’s 2025 finances, appears to have found a new lease of life thanks to its platform for intelligence services. It has forecast double-digit growth over the next few years.
Steering the British domestic intelligence service through turbulent times, Ken McCallum finds himself regularly in front of cameras to explain mistakes made by the MI5. Praised for his competence and steadfast commitment, the career spy is said to have ministerial backing. So what might be going wrong at the agency?
Located at the heart of a ‘chip triangle’, the German city will soon welcome thousands of Taiwanese engineers to the factory of semiconductor giant TSMC, which is due to open in 2027. The Taiwanese foreign ministry is also set to establish a cultural centre there. This move will serve as a test for deepening relations with Europe.
The French foreign intelligence service is set to recruit engineers and Master’s graduates with specific qualifications for the first time, through a specialised competitive examination. The specialisms and areas targeted – including less common languages such as Korean and Hebrew – speak volumes regarding foreign intelligence priorities.
France’s DGA defence procurement agency wants several dozen long-endurance surface drones to extend intelligence-gathering operations around French Navy warships. The high turnover threshold required excludes the start-ups that drive the sector.
A reshuffle at the top of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research has begun, only a month after Michael Vance officially took over the reins of the Washington-based intelligence agency.
Published on 25/09/26 at 09:40 GMT: The Baku Security Forum, whose 4th edition was held in the Azerbaijani capital this week, is turning into a key event for master spies across the globe. The summit has become a rare space for these spy chiefs, many of them political foes, to meet one another under the guise of a common fight against terrorism.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief is set to visit the Syrian capital on 29 September, where she is due to have a meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
The activities of the woman, who runs a business club for CEOs and senior executives in Paris and Brussels, have caught the attention of a Western intelligence service and are causing concern at the top of European institutions. The Brussels-based Chinese national has managed to infiltrate the small circle of NATO cybersecurity contractors and posed with Bernard Arnault this summer.
The US defence department is looking for a new contractor to run the US base on Diego Garcia. That search is taking place against a backdrop of major strategic upheaval: Washington has signalled its desire to take the island off the hands of its long-standing governor, the United Kingdom.
The geopolitical climate is having an impact on the agreements designed to cement the comprehensive strategic partnership between France and Vietnam.
Saudi Arabia has requested help from its allies, including London, Paris and Washington, to tackle the crisis in Yemen. It is once again recruiting foreign militiamen and delivering arms to Yemen’s internationally recognised government in an attempt to deal with the emergency on the ground.
The company, which has close ties to the Pentagon, is looking to explore investment opportunities in the Caucasus and Central Asia region. This new focus comes as the US government is actively promoting greater private investment in the area.
The anti–Islamic State alliance is set to meet on 1 October in Rome to set out its next priorities. For the past few months, the Trump administration has been trying to align the 90 member-strong alliance with its own new counter-terrorism strategy.
Faced with growing threats to the nuclear submarine partnership between Australia, the US and the UK, Canberra’s security services have stepped up their efforts and are already thwarting manoeuvres attributed to Beijing.
A specialist in strategic affairs who previously worked for France’s DGSE foreign intelligence service, Martin Briens was promoted to secretary general at the foreign ministry in January.
Since Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis tightened their grip on the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait by seizing further Red Sea islands, the European Union and its member states have been scrambling to agree on a suitable response.
Ukraine’s military intelligence has been monitoring the rising capabilities of naval drones operated by Russia’s 50th Varyag Brigade. The drones’ integration into its air capabilities has become increasingly alarming for the Ukrainian units operating on the river and in the Black Sea.
Financial Action Task Force experts recently traveled to Syria to further monitor the country which currently features on the global watchdog’s ‘grey list’. The new government in Damascus is eager to prove that it is making the necessary efforts to be removed from the list.
Lawmakers hope to boost the appeal of careers in cybersecurity by building stronger ties between the Department of Defense cyber operations units and NSA-accredited higher education institutions.
The terms for renewing France’s SURMAR maritime surveillance from space project are currently being negotiated. At the heart of these talks, set to last until the end of the year, are much wider concerns over sovereignty.
UAE entities are coming under increasing pressure to deliver results as the country seeks to build a sovereign defence sector. A newly established body is set to take over from a number of long-standing players.
Officials of the fighter jet joint venture between London, Rome and Tokyo are said to have specifically named the United States in warnings to staff about the dangers of travelling with professional laptops and phones.
Investigators have issued notices to leading crypto platforms instructing them to continue servicing accounts suspected of being part of Iranian sanctions-busting operations.
An Afghan former domestic intelligence officer, who has been in hiding from the Taliban since 2021 and is subject to a fatwa, has had his visa request rejected by the French interior ministry. A French court had earlier ruled in favour of issuing him a long-stay visa, which would open the door to seeking asylum.
Awarding the Legion of Honour or the Order of Merit to foreign spymasters is a long-standing tradition in France. However, the worsening geopolitical situation and the search for new strategic alliances are drastically accelerating the awarding of medals to Paris’s new friends.
Published on 01/10/26 at 07:50 GMT: Mohammed Al Shaibani, a long-term confidante of Dubai’s ruling Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has been accused of using his powerful positions to ensure UK businessman Ryan Cornelius’ continued imprisonment. Last week, Shaibani resigned as chairman of Dubai Islamic Bank, but he also lost almost all his duties in the emirate, Intelligence Online can reveal.
Before leaving Pakistan, former French ambassador Nicolas Galey quietly relaunched an exclusive French club in the city’s diplomatic enclave. The new venue is an iteration of another leisure establishment that was closed down a few years ago over concerns about its excesses.
Dale Bendler, a former CIA Paris station chief who was sentenced to one year in prison in 2025, was released after seven months and has reactivated some of his old contacts.
The secret “police stations” opened by China in Europe were operated by Chinese provincial units and acted without central guidance. Following recent scandals linked to these stations, the Chinese Communist Party has taken steps to bring its apparatus into line through its own channels and is trialling a new model for maintaining contact with overseas Chinese communities.
At the same time as the US’s financial intelligence system is being drastically shorn of powers by its president, the Financial Action Task Force is due to meet in Paris to present its evaluation of that very organisation. Fearful of retaliation, member countries are torn between being diplomatic and critical.
Kyiv’s counter-intelligence services are tracing the networks used by the FSB’s Fifth Directorate to organise acts of sabotage and assassinations in Ukraine and the European Union. Its investigators are, in particular, following a route through Belarus to Poland.
Signaling a diplomatic thaw between the European Parliament and China, Chinese diplomats have been seeking out its representatives in Strasbourg, going as far as offering some all-expenses-paid trips to Beijing. Meanwhile, France has stepped up its counter intelligence efforts in the city.
Secret negotiations for a new Saudi-Oman infrastructure project were exposed during a TotalEnergies investor presentation last week. Mooted many times previously, but now acquiring more urgency, the scheme is said to be facing financing challenges centring on Riyadh’s intransigence over repayment guarantees.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto appears to be leaning towards Rome to top up his defence procurement after having approached Paris, Ankara, Moscow and Beijing. This trend seems to be consolidating against a backdrop of competing business networks, all wide-eyed at the prospect of these lucrative deals.
Tenders and recruitment are gathering pace following the signing of the new agreement between Washington and Copenhagen on the use of bases in Greenland. Several contractors, including Inuit from Alaska, are working closely with their Danish partners.
A partner of a company which carried out OSINT investigations for Louis Vuitton, has teamed up with a former global head of security for the French luxury brand to carry out similar research. Intelligence Online has details on the steps leading up to this collaboration.
The French military intelligence directorate has focused heavily on ‘top-down’ intelligence in recent years, aiming to provide information to its supervisory authorities. It now wants to provide more intelligence to the French forces directly, which may have felt neglected by the service.
At the same time as the US’s financial intelligence system is being drastically shorn of powers by its president, the Financial Action Task Force is due to meet in Paris to present its evaluation of that very organisation. Fearful of retaliation, member countries are torn between being diplomatic and critical.
UAE entities are coming under increasing pressure to deliver results as the country seeks to build a sovereign defence sector. A newly established body is set to take over from a number of long-standing players.
Awarding the Legion of Honour or the Order of Merit to foreign spymasters is a long-standing tradition in France. However, the worsening geopolitical situation and the search for new strategic alliances are drastically accelerating the awarding of medals to Paris’s new friends.
An internal document seen by Intelligence Online listing the Central Military Commission’s leadership posts, shows that 20 out of 26 remain vacant. Analysis of the six positions that have been filled indicates that Xi Jinping has not yet started rebuilding the army’s governing body, instead sticking to the bare minimum to ensure the purge progresses.
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