Latest news with #spy
New York Times
6 hours ago
- New York Times
Sneaking Into the Spy Museum's New Vault
To get into the International Spy Museum's new fourth-floor vault, we bore a hole in the ceiling, lowered ourselves using a rope and put a guard to sleep with a drug-tipped dart after taking down the surveillance camera with just two keystrokes. OK, they just let us in. The museum, which opened in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington in 2002 and moved to a bigger space in L'Enfant Plaza in 2019, has more than 10,000 objects in its collection, including statues, pens, disguises, listening devices and books used all over the world in the service of professional espionage. As with most museums, a vast majority of those objects are not on display. And until a few weeks ago, they were far away, stored at a location outside the capital — making it a challenge for museum historians to reach the objects for study and preservation. In 2020, the museum began consolidating its collection in its new building, a project that it completed this year. Many of the artifacts in the vault came from one man: H. Keith Melton, a founding board member of the museum, who became one of the world's renowned spy collectors. He is not a former intelligence agent himself; rather, he made his money as one of the country's largest McDonald's franchise owners. A condition of his donation, which he first pledged in 2016, was that the collection would eventually be moved to the museum itself, Mr. Melton said. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Times
a day ago
- Times
Britain's top IRA mole left more than £500,000 in his will
Britain's top spy inside the IRA is believed to have left more than £500,000 in his will, details of which were sealed for 70 years by the High Court this week. Freddie Scappaticci — who is suspected of have committed several murders while also spying for army intelligence as an agent codenamed Stakeknife — lived in England under MI5 protection for 20 years until his death in 2023. During that time he is known to have bought and sold houses for six-figure sums, and received substantial payouts after taking legal action against newspapers. A senior judge ruled this week that Scappaticci's will should be kept secret until 2095, a level of confidentiality previously made available only to senior royals, including Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.
The Sun
22-07-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Dad faces jail after handing sensitive information on ex-Tory MP to men he thought were Russian agents
A DAD of four who 'dreamed of being like James Bond' faces jail after being convicted of offering to spy for Russia. Scheming Howard Phillips, 65, gave personal details on then-Defence Secretary Grant Shapps to two undercover British officers. 3 3 3 The former insolvency worker, whose ex-wife told of his 007 fixation, was struggling financially after retiring. A court heard he thought it would be 'easy work for easy money' to provide agents 'Dima' and 'Sasha' with a USB stick containing personal details about his local MP. The authorities had launched an investigation after Phillips, who had applied to join the UK Border Force, made contact with Russia's embassy. He became 'deeply involved' with the undercover men, who spoke to him in fake Russian accents, promising '100 per cent loyalty' with 'no questions asked'. He offered details on Mr Shapps, who he had met at a synagogue, and was nicked after handing the USB stick to 'Sasha' for £1,000 in April 2024. Phillips, of Harlow, Essex — who claimed his aim was to 'expose' a Russian agent — was convicted of assisting a foreign intelligence service at Winchester crown court. Jocelyn Ledward KC, prosecuting, told the court that it is possible Shapps will provide a victim impact statement which would be read out at Phillips's sentencing. Phillips shook his head just before being led down to the cells, and appeared to mouth the words 'can't believe it'. He will be sentenced later.
Reuters
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Iran warns citizens of growing recruitment attempts by enemies, state media say
DUBAI, July 22 (Reuters) - The intelligence unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guards has warned Iranian citizens of an increase in recruitment attempts by enemy intelligence agencies, state media reported on Tuesday. Entangled in a decades-long shadow war with Israel, which was able to assassinate numerous military commanders and nuclear scientists in its 12-day air war on Iran last month, Iran is ever more concerned about infiltration by the Israeli Mossad spy agency. (This story has been refiled to change 'intelligence service' to 'intelligence unit' in paragraph 1)
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iran warns citizens of growing recruitment attempts by enemies, state media say
(Changes intelligence service to intelligence unit in paragraph 1) DUBAI (Reuters) - The intelligence unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guards has warned Iranian citizens of an increase in recruitment attempts by enemy intelligence agencies, state media reported on Tuesday. Entangled in a decades-long shadow war with Israel, which was able to assassinate numerous military commanders and nuclear scientists in its 12-day air war on Iran last month, Iran is ever more concerned about infiltration by the Israeli Mossad spy agency. Solve the daily Crossword
