Manual Rocha, a former U.S. ambassador in South America, has been charged with serving as a mole for Cuba’s intelligence services since at least 1981, according to Justice Department court documents unsealed today in a Miami court.
David Vigneault, the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, has launched a third-party assessment of its B.C. office in response to complaints about on-the-job sexual assaults by an officer. Vigneault said in a December 1 statement that action was taken immediately when the accusations were brought to his attention, including removal of the accused officer from the workplace.
Against the backdrop of a landmark deal to address climate change damage, agreed to at the global climate change summit in Dubai, Canada’s minister of environment and climate change today announced an initial $16-million pledge to the fund. “Canada has been arguing now more than a year that we should have a serious conversation about loss and damage after ignoring it for almost 30 years,” Steven Guilbeault said.
Faced with cyberattacks on critical infrastructure and interference with government agencies, NATO plans to upgrade its 2021 artificial intelligence strategy to include generative AI to clarify what is expected from members’ industries, institutions and operational end-users. David van Wheel, the alliance’s assistant secretary general for emerging security challenges, says the review will begin in 2024.
Two female surveillance officers in the Canadian Security Intelligence Service say that they were repeatedly sexually assaulted by a senior officer while on duty in B.C., but that nothing was done about it. They are among four officers who say it was a toxic workplace where bullying, harassment and worse went unchecked, and where young female officers were victimized.
Ending a long-running dispute with the federal government, California-based Google has agreed to share Canadian news online in return for paying domestic media companies about $100 million annually. The breakthrough was confirmed today by Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge.
The wife of Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov has been hospitalized after eating food officials say was laced with “heavy metals” not found in “ordinary civilian or military life.” Budanov has been the target of 10 failed assassinations and this latest incident evokes reports over the years about Russian assets targetting critics this way.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said today that Turkey has promised to ratify his country’s bid to join NATO “within weeks.” He said his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, had told him of the forthcoming support, which would leave only Hungary as the sole NATO member blocking unanimous approval by the alliance.
Reports that U.S. Customs & Border Protection officers facilitated migrants’ entry into Canada at a now-closed crossing into Quebec are unfounded, the CPB’s professional services oversight office said November 28. Its investigation into “allegations involving CBP employees transporting migrants to the Roxham Road area […] found no wrongdoing.”
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland gave notice in the House of Commons November 28 of the government’s plan to legislate a digital services tax. However, while enabling legislation would pave the way for the tax, it does not specify when it will come into effect because the government has been awaiting a treaty with other members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
