foreign intelligence

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We Distrust, Spy on Pakistan More Than You Think: Files

Snowden's 'black budget' shows 'no other nation draws as much scrutiny'

(Newser) - Included in the summary of the $52.6 billion "black budget" leaked by Edward Snowden: quite a bit of money spent keeping an eye on Pakistan. Despite the fact that Pakistan is technically a US ally, the documents reveal it is as much a target of US surveillance as...

Saudis Warned US 3 Weeks Before Mail Bomb Plot

Vague tip warned of plane attack, readied US for threat

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia tipped the United States about a terror plot some three weeks before the Yemen mail bombs exploded into the news, a vague warning that US officials are now crediting with having helped stop a potentially devastating attack. The October intel contained no mention of mail bombs, but warned...

New 'Profile' Screenings Set for US Airports

Guidelines replace nationality-only focus

(Newser) - Passengers entering the US will now be screened based on whether they fit intelligence profiles of potential terrorists, not solely on nationality, the Obama administration is announcing today. Under the new plan, passengers will be subject to special screening if they share characteristics that match the latest intelligence information about...

US Lets Allies Detain, Grill Terror Suspects

Program could lead to prisoner abuse, bad intel, critics say

(Newser) - The Obama administration is stepping up its reliance on foreign allies to capture, interrogate, and detain mid-level terror suspects seized outside of Iraq and Afghanistan, the New York Times reports. In the last 10 months, Middle Eastern governments have handled the cases of about six al-Qaeda operatives. “It’s...

Google Earth Helps Amateur Spies Map North Korea

Annotated map exposes graves, nuke facilities—and swimming pools

(Newser) - Spying on North Korea would seem to be a job for intelligence services, but one PhD student at George Mason University has exposed many of the secrets of the insular regime from his home computer. Piecing together clues from news reports, photos, and eyewitnesses, Curtis Melvin and colleagues have annotated...

Global Economic Crisis Threatens US Security

(Newser) - The global economic crisis is raising the threat to national security, the Washington Post reports. Experts and intelligence officials worry that mounting inflation and unemployment in Third World countries could spark radical movements and destabilize friendly governments. What’s more, strained budgets in the West mean less money to spend...

Pakistan Aided Kabul Embassy Attack: US

Messages between militants and spy agency intercepted

(Newser) - American intelligence has determined that members of Pakistan's powerful spy agency helped to plan July's bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul, reports the New York Times. US authorities based their findings on intercepted messages between the attackers and Pakistani intelligence officers. American officials also obtained new evidence that the...

US Throws Book at Chinese 'Sleeper' Spy

One of many highly skilled—and patient— agents for Beijing

(Newser) - Chi Mak, a Chinese-born engineer, lived quietly with his wife in the LA suburbs for more than two decades, slowly working his way up the ladder at a US defense contractor. Eventually, he gained a security clearance—and access to plans for Navy ships, submarines and weapons, which he secretly...

Bush Urges Congress to Pass Surveillance Bill
Bush Urges Congress
to Pass Surveillance Bill
UPDATED

Bush Urges Congress to Pass Surveillance Bill

Threat growing as House holds up bill over immunity for telecoms, prez charges

(Newser) - President Bush urged Congress this morning to pass an update to the terrorist surveillance bill that expired more than a week ago, CNN reports. Bush said the delay poses "a risk of opening a gap in our intelligence gathering." The bill stalled in the House over a provision...

Freed Scholar Recounts Iran Prison Ordeal

Esfandiari recalls determination not to 'succumb to despair'

(Newser) - It took a daily routine for Haleh Esfandiari to stay level-headed during her 105-day stint in Iran's notorious Evin prison. The Iranian-American scholar paced her room for 3 to 4 hours a day, read, and wrote a book in her head to ward off depression. She was treated respectfully, but...

Congress Spooked Into Passing Broad Spying Law

How a weak president scored a surprising win

(Newser) - It was a closed-door briefing last month, in which lawmakers were told of a stunning drop in intelligence, that suddenly broke the Democratic opposition to a new spying bill passed last week, the New York Times reports. The Times does a post mortem on the 11th hour passage of the...

11 Stories