espionage

Former French embassy employee Bernard Boursicot, 41, left and Shi Pei Pu, 47, a singer in Chinese traditional opera face the judge as their trial began in Paris, May 5, 1986.

At 83, the embassy worker at the center of the 'M. Butterfly' story is still an enigma

The director of a new Baltimore production of "M. Butterfly" got to meet the real French embassy worker at the heart of the story. And he came away with even more questions.

At 83, the embassy worker at the center of the 'M. Butterfly' story is still an enigma
The Elysee Palace, the French president's official residence, in Paris, France.

'Russians are actively involved in the French elections,' warns US Senate intelligence chair

'Russians are actively involved in the French elections,' warns US Senate intelligence chair
Detainees in orange jumpsuits sit in a holding area under the watchful eyes of military police during inprocessing at the temporary detention facility at Guantanamo Bay's Camp X-Ray in this January 11, 2002 file photograph.

He blew the whistle on CIA torture, and now he's finally home from jail — and talking

He blew the whistle on CIA torture, and now he's finally home from jail — and talking
Alexander Litvinenko in the hospital shortly before his death in 2006.

Moscow gets formal blame for the 2006 killing of a dissident in London

Moscow gets formal blame for the 2006 killing of a dissident in London
Argentina's President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, sitting in a wheelchair, addresses the nation during a televised speech in Buenos Aires announcing an attempt to disband SIDE, the country's intelligence agency.

Argentina's president declares war on 'the power behind the power' — her country's spies

Argentina's president declares war on 'the power behind the power' — her country's spies
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with his Kazakh counterpart, Nursultan Nazarbayev, on December 22, 2014.

Russia's 'incompetent' spies get nabbed in New York, but here's why it doesn't matter

The FBI has uncovered a Russian spy ring in New York and arrested one of its members — even though the spies didn't accomplish much at all. So are the arrests just a way for the US to distract from its lack of bargaining power as Russia steps up its involvement in Ukraine again?

Russia's 'incompetent' spies get nabbed in New York, but here's why it doesn't matter
A cyber security analyst works in a watch and warning center at a Department of Homeland Security cyber security defense lab at the Idaho National Laboratory.

A huge intelligence screw-up turned the government and private companies into cyberwarfare partners

Today, many private companies have serious cybersecurity chops — but it hasn't been that way for long. Journalist Shane Harris describes the major hacking incident that forced corporations to get serious about cyberwarfare in an excerpt from his book, "@WAR: The Rise of the Military-Internet Complex."

A huge intelligence screw-up turned the government and private companies into cyberwarfare partners
A tense moment during a game of "Mafia" in Kiev, Ukraine.

Entrepreneurs around the world love this Soviet-era storytelling game

The psychological game "Mafia" pits a well-connected minority against a civilian majority. It was invented in the Soviet Union as sort of spoof of KGB thinking, but it has gone global. The Russian government uses it to train spies, and would-be entrepreneurs around the world play it to practice their negotiating skills.

Entrepreneurs around the world love this Soviet-era storytelling game
Demonstrators gathered for a rally for American detainee Alan Gross in Washington, DC, during December 2013.

After five years in a Cuban jail, an American contractor is 'literally wasting away'

USAID contractor Alan Gross completed his fifth year in a Cuban jail on Wednesday, and his family says his mental state is deteriorating rapidly. But a proposal for a prisoner swap with Cuba is still too much of a political lightning rod.

After five years in a Cuban jail, an American contractor is 'literally wasting away'
The fictional film TRUE LIES featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis bears an uncanny resemblance to a real case of some British police officers who stand accused of deceiving and having sexual relationiships with women while working undercov

Here's what happens when a spy sleeps with his targets

This is the story of Bob and Jacqui — Bob Lambert was a British police spy who worked in counterterrorism and Jacqui fell in love with the man she thought was a Greenpeace activist. Now, decades later, their relationship is at the center of a lawsuit over "rape by the state."

Here's what happens when a spy sleeps with his targets
Hamas militants grab a Palestinian suspected of collaborating with Israel before being executed in Gaza City on August 22, 2014. Hamas militants killed seven Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel in a public execution in a central Gaza squar

Hamas tries to send a message to Israel — with an unprecedented mass execution

Hamas' public execution of suspected Israeli spies sent a clear message: If you work with Israel, you'll pay the steepest possible price. But the killings come after top commanders died in Israeli airstrikes, which could mean that the group is deeply vulnerable to Israeli intelligence.

Hamas tries to send a message to Israel — with an unprecedented mass execution
Security officers stand outside the U.S. Embassy in Berlin July 10, 2014. Germany asked the top U.S. intelligence official at the Berlin embassy on Thursday to leave the country, a highly unusual step reflecting the deep anger within Angela Merkel's gover

Spying on friends doesn't necessarily make them enemies

Germany says it has uncovered American spies, and Chancellor Angela Merkel is "unamused." But even after the Germans ordered the removal of a CIA official in Berlin, the flap is unlikely to change much in the US-German relationship.

Spying on friends doesn't necessarily make them enemies
Rubik's cube doole by Google

I'll never think of Rubik's Cube in the same way again, after Snowden

On the 40th anniversary of the Rubik's Cube, PRI's The World Host Marco Werman muses on how icons like Rubik's Cube and Jell-O have forever been altered by the roles they played in history.

I'll never think of Rubik's Cube in the same way again, after Snowden

John Ridley on Spies

John Ridley on Spies

Theremin

Theremin