spy

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After 8 Months, Cops Release This Suspicious Bird

Pigeon caught in May near port in Mumbai, India, had been suspected of spying for China

(Newser) - Indian police cleared a suspected Chinese spy pigeon after eight months' detention and released it into the wild Tuesday, reports the news agency Press Trust of India. The pigeon's ordeal began in May when it was captured near a port in Mumbai with two rings tied to its legs,...

Spy Chiefs in 5 Nations Sound Warning on China

Five Eyes intelligence chiefs say Chinese spies are operating at an 'epic scale'

(Newser) - Spy movies have taught us to suspect figures lurking around military bases and federal buildings, yet the focus of Chinese spying in the US looks quite different, according to the heads of spy agencies in the Five Eyes coalition—US, Canada, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand—who gathered for an...

MI6 Chief Extends Offer to Russians 'Watching in Horror'

Richard Moore's message: join us

(Newser) - MI6 has a message for Russians who are "watching in horror" as their soldiers "pulverize" Ukrainian cities and kidnap children: work for us. In a Wednesday speech in Prague, Richard Moore invited Russians "to do what others have already done this past 18 months and join hands...

US Releases 'One of the Most Damaging Spies'

Ana Belen Montes provided classified intelligence to Cuba for years

(Newser) - After more than 20 years in prison, an American convicted of spying for Cuba, has been freed. The US Bureau of Prisons said Ana Belen Montes, 65, was released Friday in Fort Worth, Texas. Montes was the Defense Intelligence Agency's senior Cuba analyst when she was arrested in 2001...

German Prosecutors: We Found a Russian Spy

British citizen allegedly passed information while working at embassy in Berlin

(Newser) - German prosecutors said Wednesday they have detained a British citizen accused of spying for Russia while working at the British Embassy in Berlin. Federal prosecutors said in a statement that the 57-year-old was detained Tuesday in Potsdam, southwest of the capital, based on cooperative investigations by German and British authorities,...

After 30 Years Behind Bars, Spy Is Now 'Home'

Jonathan Pollard, ex-analyst for US Navy, has been granted citizenship in Israel

(Newser) - Jonathan Pollard, who spent 30 years in US prison for spying for Israel, arrived in Israel early Wednesday with his wife, triumphantly kissing the ground as he disembarked from the aircraft. "We are ecstatic to be home at last after 35 years," Pollard said as he was greeted...

Report: Chinese Spy Slept With 2 Midwest Mayors
Report: Chinese Spy Slept
With 2 Midwest Mayors
investigation
Dec 8, 2020 10:20 AM CST

Report: Chinese Spy Slept With 2 Midwest Mayors

Axios investigation uncovers alleged espionage of woman based in Bay Area

(Newser) - Axios is out Tuesday with the results of a yearlong investigation that makes some big claims about Chinese espionage tactics. The story by Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian focuses on a young woman identified as Christine Fang, or Fang Fang, who established herself as a presence in Bay Area politics, first as...

Ex-Green Beret Admits He Spied for Russia

Peter Rafael Dzibinski Debbins pleads guilty, faces life in prison

(Newser) - The former Green Beret officer accused of spying for Russia is admitting to the crime. Peter Rafael Dzibinski Debbins, 45, pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to more than a decade of conspiring with Russian intelligence officers. He confessed to joining the US Army's Special Forces because they persuaded...

US: Former Green Beret Sold Out His Country

Peter Rafael Dzibinksi Debbins is accused of sharing secrets with Russian operatives

(Newser) - A former Green Beret was collared Friday and accused of conspiring with Russian intelligence agents for over 15 years, the Hill reports. Peter Rafael Dzibinksi Debbins, 45, allegedly gave operatives of the GRU—Russia's foreign intelligence agency—sensitive information between 1996 and 2011. That included "details of his...

Report: Russian Spies Posed as Plumbers in Davos

Though Russia raises some questions about the report

(Newser) - It sounds like the plot of a movie: Police in Davos, Switzerland, believe Russian spies attempted to infiltrate this week's World Economic Forum by posing as plumbers, according to a local report and the Financial Times . Suspicion first arose when police questioned two Russian men back in August, after...

Ex-CIA Spy Flees Italy Over Fear for Her Safety

Sabrina de Sousa is embroiled in a fraught rendition case

(Newser) - An ex-CIA spy says she has fled Italy for America—apparently to avoid getting tossed in prison, Reuters reports. Sabrina de Sousa was one of 26 people found guilty in Italy in the 2003 "extraordinary rendition" of Egyptian cleric Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr in Milan. But De Sousa, who...

CNN Alleges US Spy Was Exfiltrated From Russia

CIA, White House push back at report

(Newser) - If you aren't familiar with the word "exfiltration" that's to be expected: It's the rare removal of an intelligence asset who is thought to be in imminent danger—and CNN reports one such exfiltration allegedly happened in 2017 in Russia. It reports one of America's...

American in Russian Prison: I'm Being Abused

'This is typical,' Paul Whelan tells reporters

(Newser) - A Russian court on Friday extended the arrest for a former US Marine charged with espionage, who complained in court about abuse in custody. Paul Whelan was arrested at the end of December in a hotel room in the Russian capital of Moscow where he was attending a wedding. He...

DOJ: She Knew US Secrets and Gave Them to Iran

Ex-Air Force counterintelligence specialist Monice Witt is charged

(Newser) - "It is a sad day for America when one of its citizens betrays our country," said the head of the Justice Department's national security division, on what is apparently such a day. A former Air Force counterintelligence specialist who defected to Iran has been charged with revealing...

Lawyer: Paul Whelan Thought He Was Getting Vacation Pics

But the American's lawyer says he thought he was getting vacation photos

(Newser) - In early January, Russian authorities claimed the American arrested in Moscow over an alleged "espionage operation" received a flash drive containing a list of employees of a secret Russian agency. Now Paul Whelan's attorney says he did indeed receive a drive that held "state secrets," but...

'A Pretty Good Spy' Who Inspired Argo Is Dead at 78

Tony Mendez was awarded the Intelligence Star for his imaginative exfiltration scheme

(Newser) - The CIA mastermind behind the so-called "Canadian caper"—which got six US diplomats out of Iran during the 1979-80 hostage crisis—died Saturday the age of 78, the Washington Post reports; he had Parkinson's disease. A 25-year CIA veteran, Tony Mendez was also an impressionistic painter admired...

Marines Release Details on American Held by Russians

US officials have been granted access to Paul Whelan

(Newser) - The Russian government said Wednesday it has allowed an American citizen held on espionage charges to have access to US officials seeking answers about his arrest. The AP reports US consular officials were granted access to Michigan resident and former Marine Paul Whelan for the first time since his arrest...

Russian Spy Likely Worked at US Embassy Over 10 Years

The woman was reportedly having regular meetings with Russian intelligence

(Newser) - Reports have emerged that a Russian spy worked at the US embassy in Russia for over a decade before her regular meetings with the country's intelligence agency were uncovered during a security sweep. Per the Guardian , the woman had access to the Secret Service's files and emails and...

Paul Ryan Gives His Opinion on Trump Pardoning Himself

'No one is above the law'

(Newser) - House Speaker Paul Ryan is agreeing with another senior House Republican who says there's no evidence that the FBI planted a "spy" in Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. The comments contradict the president, who has insisted the agency planted a "spy for political reasons and to help...

A New Development in Ex-Spy Poisoning: 3 Dead Pets

Cat, 2 guinea pigs found on Sergei Skripal's property, though Skripal himself is improving

(Newser) - First good news on Yulia Skripal ; now an optimistic outlook for her dad. Doctors at the UK hospital where Sergei Skripal has been convalescing since his March 4 poisoning report the 66-year-old ex-Russian spy is "responding well to treatment, improving rapidly, and is no longer in a critical condition,...

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