MI5

20 Stories

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...

MI5 Had 'Significant' Chance to Stop Manchester Bombing
MI5 Had Chance to
Stop Manchester Bombing
NEW REPORT
Mar 3, 2023 7:54 AM CST

MI5 Had Chance to Stop Manchester Bombing

But Director General Ken McCallum describes the opportunity as 'slim'

(Newser) - An inquiry into the 2017 suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in the UK has found British intelligence missed a "significant" opportunity to stop it. Influenced by the Islamic State, Salman Abedi detonated the bomb in the foyer of Manchester Arena as attendees left, killing 22 people and...

Beware of Chinese Spying, Heads of FBI, MI5 Warn

Tech is most at risk, directors tell business, education leaders in London

(Newser) - Seeking maximum impact, the heads of the FBI and Britain's MI5 stood together Wednesday to warn of the danger of Chinese espionage. Western technology companies are especially at risk of losing intellectual property, the two told chief executives at Thames House, headquarters of the British domestic security agency, in...

Secret Details of Mata Hari's Final Days Released

MI5 files posted online this month

(Newser) - Details of infamous spy Mata Hari's final interview before her execution have been released by MI5, and the once-secret files show a woman unruffled by questions about her list of lovers. And according to those files, that list was a lengthy one, encompassing Germans, French, Russians, Swiss, and Spaniards...

Editor: I Wouldn't Have Published Snowden's Secrets

2 UK newspapers slam the Guardian for risking national security

(Newser) - Snaring access to Edward Snowden, and all the documents in his possession, has generally been regarded a huge coup for the Guardian newspaper. But at least two other British newspapers don't agree. Following claims by MI5's new chief that the paper's exposes have been a "guide...

UK Slaying Suspect Detained in 2010 —in Kenya

Over suspicion of seeking to train with al-Qaeda-linked militants

(Newser) - Yesterday we learned that London slaying suspect Michael Adebolajo may have been questioned by Britain's domestic spy agency, MI5, last year. Today, more questions about just how much UK authorities knew (or should have known) about the man are emerging, with news that he was detained in Kenya in...

MI5 Investigated London Suspects Before Killing

Sources identify one of the attackers as a 28-year-old who was raised Christian

(Newser) - UK intelligence had previously investigated the men accused of hacking a soldier to death in the streets of London yesterday, and determined that they weren't a threat requiring "immediate intervention," Sky News reports. BBC sources, however, said that while the men were known to security services, reports...

MI-5 to Put All 4K Agents on Olympic Watch

Called biggest security operation in England since WWII

(Newser) - The London Olympics looks to be the biggest security operation in England since World War II, with nearly all 3,800 of Britain's MI-5 agents staff mobilized in the capital against potential terrorist attacks, reports the Independent . With 540,000 people and 120 heads of state expected to attend...

UK, CIA Linked to Rendition Plot With Gadhafi Regime

One victim is now head of anti-Gadhafi forces

(Newser) - Today's bloodthirsty dictator was apparently yesterday's Western helpmate. Documents discovered in an abandoned Libyan government office reveal that the Brits, CIA and Libya were involved in a plan to deliver a terror suspect—with his wife and children—to a Tripoli prison where they likely faced torture, reports...

Brits Fear Irish Terrorists Will Attack Royal Wedding

There are no concrete threats, but they think it's a tempting target

(Newser) - British authorities are on high alert, afraid that the wedding of Prince Williams and Kate Middleton represents an all-too-juicy target for the so-called " Real IRA, " or another Irish militant group. Though there have been no specific threats, security officials tell ABC News that they have “concrete intelligence”...

Brits Warned of 'New Wave of Terror'

Militants from different nations appear to be joining forces

(Newser) - Britain should brace for a "new wave of terror" as the threat from both dissident Irish Republicans and Islamic radicals rises, the chief of the MI5 security agency warns. Militant Irish groups—one of which has threatened to blow up banks in Britain and Ireland—are showing worrying "...

Living Costs for UK Terror Suspects Top $1M

House arrest program for dangerous extremists under fire

(Newser) - Terror suspects have been paid over $1 million in living expenses in the last two years under a controversial British program that keeps them under virtual house arrest. The suspects—who security services say pose a threat, but who can't be prosecuted because evidence against them is too sensitive to...

British Intelligence Had Mussolini on WWI Payroll

Dictator-in-training got $9,500 a week to help convince Italians to keep fighting

(Newser) - Britain’s overseas intelligence service helped Benito Mussolini finance his first forays into Italian politics, newly uncovered documents show. Hoping to keep Italy on its side in 1917, during World War I, MI5 gave Mussolini, then 34 and editor of a right-wing newspaper, the equivalent of what’s now $9,...

007 Hot to Score With Dark-Haired Yanks

(Newser) - Leave it to professors to nail down exactly what type of woman James Bond wants in bed. A team of pop culture researchers have pored over the mythical MI-5 spy's list of 195 female contacts in the first 20 Bond movies to determine the sex partner he most prefers: women...

Brits Missed Chances to Nab Leader of London Attacks

But he was never called a threat: report

(Newser) - UK authorities crossed paths with the top planner of the 2005 London bombings six times, but never labeled him a threat, a parliamentary report out today concludes. Almost every time Mohammad Sidique Khan appeared on police and MI5 records, it was in connection with possible extremists, the Guardian reports. But...

Brits Condoned Torture, Aided Extraordinary Renditions: UN

UK a full partner in US terror effort, report says

(Newser) - Binyam Mohamed, a recently released Gitmo detainee, alleges that he was tortured in Morocco while asked questions on behalf of Britian’s MI5. His story so far has amounted to his word against MI5’s, but a new report supports the former detainee’s claim, the Economist reports. A UN...

Brits: Russia Played Role in Ex-KGB Agent's London Murder

'Clear indications it was state action'

(Newser) - The murder of a former KGB agent in London 2 years ago was carried out with the support of the Russian government, British government sources have told the BBC. There are "very strong indications it was a state action," said one senior official. Alexander Litvinenko, who was mysteriously...

MI5 Implicated in F1 Chief's Nazi Orgy

Spy canned after wife is revealed as one of Mosley's hookers

(Newser) - A British spy is out of a job following his admission that his wife was one of the five prostitutes who participated in Max Mosley's Nazi-themed orgy, reports the Times of London. Worse yet, the wife was purportedly behind the camera, though MI5 yesterday denied Mosley's accusation that it set...

UK Intelligence 'Sent Citizens to Be Tortured'

MI5 outsourced brutal interrogations to Pakistan, say lawyers

(Newser) - British intelligence officers have been accused of sending citizens to a Pakistani agency to be tortured, reports the Guardian. MI5 officials requested Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency to arrest British terror suspects in the country, where they were subjected to beatings, whippings, sleep deprivation and fingernail extraction, according to lawyers...

Brits Used Astrologer Against Hitler

Declassified files tell of 'star wars' strategy in WWII

(Newser) - Some British strategists saw the outcome of World War II written in the stars, according to newly declassified documents that reveal the role of an astrologer in predicting Adolf Hilter's moves. An intelligence agency employed a colorful character who claimed to be able to use astrological readings to, as one...

20 Stories