CNN — An Australian man has been refused bail after being charged with a foreign interference offense for accepting cash from suspected Chinese intelligence agents, with a Sydney court saying his close ties to China made him a flight risk. Magistrate Michael Barko said Alexander Csergo was a “sophisticated, worldly businessperson” who had been on … Read more
Watch Alex Marquardt’s report on the sting operation on Erin Burnett OutFront on Monday, April 10, at 7 p.m. ET. CNN — A team of South Korean spies and American private investigators quietly gathered at the South Korean intelligence service in January, just days after North Korea fired three ballistic missiles into the sea. For … Read more
CNN — While China and Russia have strengthened ties since the Kremlin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, the US has not seen evidence that China has provided systemic material support to the Kremlin as Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government look for avenues to evade Western sanctions and backfill its military, according to senior US … Read more
CNN — US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told Congress Wednesday that Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to press Taiwan and try to undercut US influence in the coming years as he begins a third term as president. While Beijing has stepped up its public criticism of the US, Haines told the Senate … Read more
Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Meanwhile in China newsletter, a three-times-a-week update exploring what you need to know about the country’s rise and how it impacts the world. Sign up here. Hong Kong CNN — The US Department of Energy’s assessment that Covid-19 most likely emerged due to a laboratory … Read more
CNN — A former graduate student in Chicago was sentenced to eight years in prison Wednesday for spying for the Chinese government by gathering information on engineers and scientists in the United States. Ji Chaoqun, a Chinese national who came to the US to study electrical engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2013 … Read more
CNN — Alireza Akbari, a dual British-Iranian citizen and former Iranian official, has been sentenced to death in Iran for spying for the United Kingdom, according to Iranian judiciary-affiliated outlet Mizan on Wednesday. Akbari previously served as Iran’s deputy defense minister and was the head of the Strategic Research Institute, as well as a member … Read more
Islamabad, Pakistan CNN — Pakistan on Thursday named former spy chief Lt. Gen. Syed Asim Munir as chief of the South Asian country’s army, ending weeks of speculation over an appointment that comes amid intense debate around the military’s influence on public life. In a Twitter post, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said Munir’s appointment would … Read more
CNN — Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan says three bullets were taken from his right leg from the shooting which injured him last week. Khan survived the shooting at a political rally in Gujranwala on Thursday, an incident that his party has called an assassination attempt. In an interview with CNN’s Becky Anderson in … Read more
Islamabad, Pakistan CNN — Tensions escalated in Pakistan on Friday as former Prime Minister Imran Khan blamed establishment figures for a plot to kill him – a claim strenuously denied by governing and security officials. A day after after he survived a shooting at a political rally outside the town of Gujranwala, Punjab province, Khan … Read more