Latest news with #intelligence
Bloomberg
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Israeli Officials Warn Iran Is Hijacking Security Cameras to Spy
Iran is tapping into private security cameras in Israel to gather real-time intelligence about its adversary, exposing a recurrent problem with the devices that has emerged in other global conflicts. Earlier this week, after Iranian ballistic missiles tore through high-rise buildings in Tel Aviv, a former Israeli cybersecurity official went on public radio to issue a stark warning: Turn off your home surveillance cameras or change the password.
Spectator
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Spectator
Palestine Action's RAF vandalism was no protest
Members of an activist group called Palestine Action have broken into the Royal Air Force's largest base, RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, and vandalised two Airbus Voyager refuelling aircraft. With breathless self-congratulation, the organisation said its members 'used electric scooters to swiftly manoeuvre towards the planes', sprayed red paint into the turbine engines and used crowbars to damage the fuselages of the aircraft. The red paint, of course, is symbolic of Palestinian bloodshed. BREAKING: Palestine Action break into RAF Brize Norton and damage two military aircrafts. Flights depart daily from the base to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. From Cyprus, British planes collect intelligence, refuel fighter jets and transport weapons to commit genocide in Gaza. — Palestine Action (@Pal_action) June 20, 2025 If you are wondering why RAF aircraft in Oxfordshire were targeted by a group concerned with events in the Middle East, allow Palestine Action to remove the scales from your eyes: 'Despite publicly condemning the Israeli government, Britain continues to send military cargo, fly spy planes over Gaza and refuel US/Israeli fighter jets. Britain isn't just complicit, it's an active participant in the Gaza genocide and war crimes across the Middle East. By decommissioning two military planes, Palestine Action have directly intervened to break the chains of oppression.' Flights leave Brize Norton daily, our heroes explain, to fly to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, and 'from Cyprus, British planes collect intelligence, refuel fighter jets and transport weapons to commit genocide in Gaza.' What is not legitimate, nor can ever be legitimate, is breaking into a UK military facility and damaging equipment The Royal Air Force begs to differ on at least some of these assertions. An RAF source told the media that, 'the UK is not supporting Israeli operations and these aircraft have not been used in support of Israeli forces in any shape or form.' There is certainly a defence and security aspect to the relationship between the UK and Israel, as set out two years ago in a '2030 roadmap for UK-Israel bilateral relations.' The armed forces minister, Luke Pollard, stated in a debate in the House of Commons in March that the RAF conducted unarmed surveillance flights over the eastern Mediterranean, including Israel and Gaza, 'solely in support of hostage rescue'. Only intelligence relevant to the rescue of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza – nearly 21 months after the savage pogrom of 7 October 2023 – is shared with Israel. The UK suspended a range of arms exports to Israel in September last year. However, we continue to contribute components for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning strike aircraft to a global spares pool and the common production line for new aircraft; as Israel is also a partner in the F-35 programme, it is entirely possible that some UK-manufactured parts may be supplied for the Israeli Air Force's aircraft, but it is not possible for the UK to monitor or prevent that because of the way components are shared. The claim that the RAF is supporting Israeli operations in Gaza is at best overegged. But it would be a mistake to think that Palestine Action is especially interested in the intricacies of Britain's operations in the eastern Mediterranean or the precise role of aircraft based at RAF Akrotiri. Doubtless every member of Palestine Action is deeply grieved by the loss of Palestinian lives in Gaza. But the group makes no pretence of its agenda. Its website refers to its activities being 'geared towards harnessing the strength of the grassroots and directing it towards bringing down Israel.' It has focused its attention on the Israeli technology and defence contractor Elbit Systems Ltd, the business model of which, the group claims, 'relies on the destruction of Palestine and the genocide of it's [sic] population'. It moves into a full lower-sixth activism fury register when it continues that Elbit 'use Palestinians as test subjects, before selling these technologies on to fuel imperialism and colonialism elsewhere.' For Palestine Action, Elbit is a proxy for Israel, and the group makes little effort to hide that conflation. That is their right: we live in a free and open society and it is legitimate for a campaign group to oppose a foreign state (though the logic of that can carry people to some dark places). It is also legitimate for members of that group to pursue peaceful protest. What is not legitimate, nor can ever be legitimate, is breaking into a UK military facility and damaging equipment. It is, of course, against the law and it is to be hoped that Thames Valley Police catch, charge and prosecute those responsible for the vandalism at Brize Norton. It goes further than that, though. However much members of Palestine Action think they know about RAF operations in the Mediterranean, they have attempted –seemingly without a great deal of success – to reduce the operational capability of the armed forces. The RAF has 14 Voyager refuelling aircraft: Palestine Action vandalised two of them. Those aircraft could be required to support UK operations anywhere in the world, at any time. Anti-Israel activists cannot damage them in relation to activities in the Mediterranean without potential consequences for the whole force. Protest is a desperately precious right, more now than ever. Palestine Action crossed a very clear line in order deliberately to weaken the capacity of British armed forces. There is a word for that, and it is not 'protest'. Catch them, find the heaviest book, and throw it at them.
NDTV
9 hours ago
- NDTV
Nigerian Woman Caught With Rs 5 Crore Drugs Hidden In Food Packs
New Delhi: In a significant operation, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has arrested a Nigerian national and seized narcotic substances worth approximately Rs 5 crore from her possession while she was travelling by bus from Delhi to Mumbai. According to an official statement from the DRI, the operation was based on specific intelligence inputs indicating that a Nigerian female was suspected to be transporting narcotic substances. DRI Mumbai officers mounted late-night surveillance and tracked the suspect for nearly 50 kilometres before intercepting her, along with her baggage. "Acting on specific intelligence regarding a Nigerian female suspected to be carrying narcotic substances from Delhi to Mumbai by bus, officers of DRI Mumbai mounted surveillance late at night and trailed her for approximately 50 km. The suspect was then intercepted along with her baggage," the DRI said in a statement. Upon examination of her luggage, officials discovered a sophisticated concealment method. Several food items, including oat packets and juice tetra packs, were used to hide a total of 2.56 kilograms of crystalline methamphetamine and 584 grams of ecstasy (MDMA) tablets. The contraband was confirmed by using a Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Field Test Kit, which tested positive for amphetamine-type stimulants. Following the woman's arrest, the DRI launched a follow-up operation and successfully apprehended the intended recipient of the consignment, adding another layer of success to the coordinated interdiction. "The contraband, valued at approximately Rs 5 crore in the international illicit market, has been seized. The Nigerian national has been arrested under relevant provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985. Further investigation is in progress," the DRI said. Authorities said the operation highlights the vigilance and proactive enforcement by DRI officers in disrupting transnational narcotics trafficking networks. Investigators are now probing the wider drug distribution network connected to the accused, with possible international links under scrutiny.
Malay Mail
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Malay Mail
New spy chief for Iran's Revolutionary Guards after predecessor killed by Israel
TEHRAN, June 20 — Iran appointed a new chief of intelligence at its Revolutionary Guards yesterday, the official Irna news agency said, after his predecessor was killed in an Israeli strike last week. Major General Mohammad Pakpour, the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), appointed Brigadier General Majid Khadami as the new head of its intelligence division, Irna said. He replaces Mohammed Kazemi, who was killed on Sunday alongside two other Revolutionary Guards officers — Hassan Mohaghegh and Mohsen Bagheri — in an Israeli strike. Pakpour had himself been recently appointed after Israel killed his predecessor Hossein Salami in a strike on June 13. 'During the years that our martyred commanders Kazemi and Mohaqeq led the IRGC Intelligence, we witnessed significant growth in all aspects of intelligence within the IRGC,' said Pakpour. Israel launched air strikes on nuclear and military sites in Iran last week, claiming that its arch enemy was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon, which Iran denies. Israel killed several top Iranian officials, prompting a counter-attack by Iran, which yesterday hit an Israeli hospital. Upon his appointment by Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei last Friday, Pakpour threatened to open 'the gates of hell' in retaliation for Israel's attacks. Top Israeli figures have openly talked about killing Khamenei. — AFP
CNBC
16 hours ago
- Business
- CNBC
Meta tried to buy Ilya Sutskever's $32 billion AI startup, but is now planning to hire its CEO
When Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg poached Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang last week as part of a $14.3 billion investment in the artificial intelligence startup, he was apparently just getting started. Zuckerberg's multibillion-dollar AI hiring spree has now turned to Daniel Gross, the CEO of Ilya Sutskever's startup Safe Superintelligence, and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. It's not how Zuckerberg planned for a deal to go down. Earlier this year, sources said, Meta tried to acquire Safe Superintelligence, which was reportedly valued at $32 billion in a fundraising round in April. Sutskever, who just launched the startup a year ago, shortly after leaving OpenAI, rebuffed Meta's efforts, as well as the company's attempt to hire him, said the sources, who asked not to be named because the information is confidential. Soon after those talks ended, Zuckerberg started negotiating with Gross, the sources said. In addition to his role at Safe Superintelligence, Gross runs a venture capital firm with Friedman called NFDG, their combined initials. Both men are joining Meta as part of the transaction, and will work on products under Wang, one source said. Meta, meanwhile, will get a stake in NFDG, according to multiple sources. The Information was first to report on Meta's plans to hire Gross and Friedman. Gross, Friedman and Sutskever didn't respond to CNBC's requests for comment. A Meta spokesperson said the company "will share more about our superintelligence effort and the great people joining this team in the coming weeks." Zuckerberg's aggressive hiring tactics escalate an AI talent war that's reached new heights of late. Meta, Google and OpenAI, along with a host of other big companies and high-valued startups, are racing to develop the most powerful large language models, and pushing towards artificial general intelligence (AGI), or AI that's considered equal to or greater than human intelligence. Last week, Meta agreed to pump $14.3 billion into Scale AI to bring on Wang and a few other top engineers while getting a 49% stake in the startup. Altman said on the latest episode of the "Uncapped" podcast, which is hosted by his brother, that Meta has tried to lure OpenAI employees by offering signing bonuses as high as $100 million, with even larger annual compensation packages. Altman said "none of our best people have decided to take them up on that." "I've heard that Meta thinks of us as their biggest competitor," Atlman said on the podcast. "Their current AI efforts have not worked as well as they have hoped and I respect being aggressive and continuing to try new things." Meta didn't respond to a request for comment on Altman's remarks. OpenAI, for its part, has gone to similar lengths, paying about $6.5 billion to hire iPhone designer Jony Ive and to acquire his nascent devices startup io. Elsewhere, the founders of AI startup were recruited back to Google last year in a multibillion-dollar deal, while DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman was brought on by Microsoft in a $650 million purchase of talent from Inflection AI. In Gross, Zuckerberg is getting a longtime entrepreneur and AI investor. Gross founded the search engine Cue, which was acquired by Apple in 2013. He was a top executive at Apple and helped lead machine learning efforts and the development of Siri. He was later a partner at startup accelerator Y Combinator, before co‑founding Safe Superintelligence alongside Sutskever. Friedman co-founded two startups before becoming the CEO of GitHub following Microsoft's acquisition of the code-sharing platform in 2018. NFDG has backed Coinbase, Figma, CoreWeave, Perplexity and over the years, according to Pitchbook. It's unclear what happens to its investment portfolio in a Meta deal, a source said.
