For the first time in four centuries, it’s good to be a beaver. Long persecuted for their pelts and reviled as pests, the dam-building rodents are today hailed by scientists as ecological saviors. Their ponds and wetlands store water in the face of drought, filter out pollutants, furnish habitat for endangered species, and fight wildfires. … Read more
NEW DELHI — Qatar’s Court of Appeal reduced Thursday the death sentence handed in October to eight retired Indian navy officers on spy charges, the Indian foreign ministry said. Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said in a statement the detailed verdict has not been received yet. “We are in close touch with the legal team as … Read more
“Did you learn things in CIA training about withstanding interrogation that are going to make it harder for me to interview you?” I asked Joe Weisberg, creator of the TV espionage drama The Americans and onetime CIA agent. He looked momentarily startled, as though he’d expected this to be easier. Good, I had him where … Read more
MIAMI — A former career American diplomat was charged Monday with serving as a secret agent for communist Cuba going back decades in what prosecutors portrayed as one of the most brazen and long-running betrayals in the history of the U.S. foreign service. Court papers alleged that Manuel Rocha engaged in “clandestine activity” on Cuba’s … Read more
Comment on this storyCommentAdd to your saved storiesSave The Justice Department unsealed charges Monday against a retired ambassador, accusing him of being a “clandestine agent” for decades — allegedly betraying his country by acting covertly on behalf of Cuba’s spy agency. The arrest of 73-year-old Manuel Rocha capped an undercover sting operation that lasted more … Read more
Some of the United States’ largest civil liberties groups are urging Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer not to pursue a short-term extension of the Section 702 surveillance program slated to sunset on December 31. The more than 20 groups—Demand Progress, the Brennan Center for Justice, American Civil Liberties Union, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice among … Read more
Last May in Yellowstone National Park I observed more bears in three days (14) than I observed during all prior trips later in the season. I spent hours in “bear jams,” standing outside my vehicle while trying to spot and photograph bruins at various safe distances. During one sighting, involving a cinnamon-colored black bear and … Read more
In 1763, the radical journalist and colonial sympathizer John Wilkes published issue no. 45 of North Briton, a periodical of anonymous essays known for its virulent anti-Scottish drivel—and for viciously satirizing a British prime minister until he quit his job. The fallout from the subsequent plan of the British king, George III, to see Wilkes … Read more
A Russian-born Swedish businessman has been acquitted of collecting information for Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU, for almost a decade ByThe Associated Press October 26, 2023, 6:08 AM FILE – A police tape cordons off an area outside a house where Swedish Security Service allegedly arrested two people on suspicion of espionage in a … Read more
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s top spy agency said on Sunday a Chinese citizen who worked for a defense institute had been accused of spying for the United States and his case had been transferred to a court in the southwestern city of Chengdu for trial. The case is the latest to underscore Beijing’s heightened commitment … Read more