spying

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Dad Asks Son to Join Family Business—Spying
Dad Asks Son to Join
Family Business—Spying
longform
Apr 20, 2025 9:00 AM CDT

Dad Asks Son to Join Family Business—Spying

Guardian details the story of former KGB agent in the US recruited by his father at age 16

(Newser) - In one sense, it was a fairly typical conversation between a father and son. When Peter Herrmann turned 16, dad Rudi sat him down to talk about his life plans. But the conversation took quite a twist, as recounted by Shaun Walker at the Guardian :
  • "I am not who
...

MI6 Could Get Its First Woman Spy Chief

It seems that the James Bond series got there a lot faster than the real-world British spy agency

(Newser) - Real-life spies say their world is nothing like that of James Bond, but the AP reports that in one way, truth may soon follow fiction: MI6 could be about to get its first woman leader. Britain's foreign intelligence agency launched a search for its next chief on Tuesday, and...

Queen Only Later Learned Her Art Adviser Led a Double Life

Declassified MI5 files show she wasn't told about Anthony Blunt was a spy until 1973

(Newser) - Queen Elizabeth II wasn't told details of her long-time art adviser's double life as a Soviet spy because palace officials didn't want to add to her worries, newly declassified documents reveal. The files about royal art historian Anthony Blunt are among a trove from the intelligence agency...

Prince Andrew: I've 'Ceased All Contact' With Accused Spy

Chinese national was invited by Andrew himself to royal residences, as revealed in court hearing

(Newser) - A businessman who's been accused of being a Chinese spy has had quite a tour of Britain's royal residences—all at the behest of Prince Andrew, according to recent reports. Per the UK Times , which cites info that emerged at a Thursday hearing, the 64-year-old younger brother of...

Spy Agency's Xmas Card Is 'Riddle Wrapped in an Enigma'

GCHQ's annual greeting features 'fiendishly difficult' puzzles to excite the minds of UK kids

(Newser) - What does a spy agency give for Christmas? How about a riddle wrapped in an enigma inside a mystery? GCHQ, Britain's electronic and cyberintelligence agency, on Wednesday published its annual "Christmas Challenge" —a seasonal greeting card that doubles as a set of fiendishly difficult puzzles designed to...

UK Official: Putin Had to Have Ordered Hit on Skripals

Jonathan Allen testified that assassination attempt on ex-spy, daughter was 'a warning' from Russia

(Newser) - While America celebrated Thanksgiving, the UK's senior official responsible for Russia policy was testifying across the pond about the assassination attempts against former spy Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia Skripal . Among the biggest revelations from Jonathan Allen, who spoke in London at the inquiry into the 2018 Novichok poisonings:...

Drones Snooped on US Base in Virginia for 17 Straight Days
Drones Visited Air Force Base
for 17 Straight Nights
in case you missed it
Oct 19, 2024 2:00 PM CDT

Drones Visited Air Force Base for 17 Straight Nights

Pentagon doesn't know who was behind the mysterious visitors to Langley

(Newser) - The Wall Street Journal has a strange scoop involving Virginia's Langley Air Force Base. It seems that in December of last year, a sophisticated fleet of drones flew over the base for 17 straight nights—and the military was powerless to stop them. Were they the work of China?...

Russia Is Really Cranking Out the Spying Charges

Prosecutors seek 39-month sentence for French national Laurent Vinatier

(Newser) - Prosecutors asked a Russian court on Monday to deliver a prison sentence of three years and three months to a French citizen arrested on charges of unlawfully collecting information on military issues. Laurent Vinatier, who was arrested in Moscow in June, earlier admitted guilt, setting the stage for a fast-track...

Russia Boots 6 UK Diplomats for Spying

Britain denies espionage accusations, calling them 'completely baseless'

(Newser) - Russia on Friday accused six British diplomats of spying and said it decided to expel them, an announcement that comes as tensions between Moscow and the West grow during an intensified push by Ukraine to loosen restrictions on using weapons provided by the US and Britain to strike Russia. Russia'...

Sons: Memo Proves Ethel Rosenberg 'Wasn't a Spy'

Document from what later became the NSA indicates she did not engage in husband's work

(Newser) - A top US government codebreaker who decrypted secret Soviet communications during the Cold War concluded that Ethel Rosenberg knew about her husband's activities "but that due to illness she did not engage in the work herself," according to a recently declassified memo that her sons say proves...

Philippine Mayor Accused of Being Chinese Spy

Alice Guo said to be in hiding following allegations of fraud, human trafficking

(Newser) - Philippine officials are searching for a local mayor accused of being a Chinese spy. Alice Guo, mayor of the town of Bamban, has gone into hiding after refusing multiple requests to appear at investigative hearings centered on scams operating out of a casino facility "on land partially owned by...

The Secret Trial of Evan Gershkovich Has Begun

The US and 'WSJ' vehemently deny the reporter was spying

(Newser) - Fifteen months after his arrest in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg on espionage charges, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich's closed-door trial has begun. The AP reports the 32-year-old attended court in a padlocked glass defendants cage, his head shaved. Details:
  • The charges: Both the US government and the
...

Gershkovich Accused of Spying on Military Factory

He's to stand trial in Yekaterinburg on an unknown date

(Newser) - US journalist Evan Gershkovich, who has been jailed for more than a year in Russia on espionage charges, will stand trial in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg, authorities said Thursday, per the AP . An indictment of the Wall Street Journal reporter has been finalized and his case was filed...

Someone Really Wanted to Listen to Poland's Cabinet Meet

Eavesdropping devices discovered in Cabinet meeting room

(Newser) - Someone planned to listen in as Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk met with his Cabinet on Tuesday, according to security officials, who say they found and "dismantled" bugging devices in the meeting room. "The State Protection Service, in cooperation with the Internal Security Agency, detected and dismantled devices...

US Offers Assurances on Assange. His Wife Is Skeptical

'Blatant weasel words,' Stella Assange says of vow from US that's meant to jump-start extradition

(Newser) - The United States made its deadline Tuesday, providing London's High Court with the assurances needed to jump-start Julian Assange's extradition from the UK. The WikiLeaks founder's wife, however, isn't exactly buying it, reports Reuters .
  • Backstory: Last month, two judges said that Australia's Assange—who was
...

Julian Assange Gets a Break on His Extradition

High Court says it will grant WikiLeaks founder new appeal if US can't grant certain 'assurances'

(Newser) - A British court says Julian Assange can't immediately be extradited to the United States on espionage charges, in a partial victory for the WikiLeaks founder. Two High Court judges said they'd grant Assange, 52, a new appeal unless US authorities give further assurances about what will happen to...

Ex-US Ambassador Pleads Guilty to Spying for Cuba

Victor Manuel Rocha, former diplomat to Bolivia, is said to have helped communist nation for decades

(Newser) - For more than four decades, a diplomat working in the US State Department secretly funneled information to Cuba's communist government. That's according to prosecutors, and now to Victor Manuel Rocha himself, a former ambassador to Bolivia who on Thursday switched his initial plea of not guilty to guilty...

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,...

Gershkovich's Detention Extended After 8 Months Behind Bars

'Wall Street Journal' reporter to remain in Russian custody until at least Jan. 30

(Newser) - A court in Moscow on Tuesday extended the detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, arrested on espionage charges, until Jan. 30, Russian news agencies reported. The hearing took place behind closed doors because authorities say details of the criminal case against the American journalist are classified, the AP...

Ex-NSA Worker Admits Guilt in Russia Spy Case

Defendant sent a thank-you note to fake contact before trying to turn over files

(Newser) - A former National Security Agency employee from Colorado pleaded guilty Monday to trying to sell classified national security information to Russia. Federal prosecutors agreed to not ask for more than about 22 years in prison for Jareh Sebastian Dalke when he is sentenced in April if he adheres to the...

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