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    Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Already a Leader in Satellites, Gets Into the Spy Game

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    The Pentagon needs what the company offers to compete with China even as it frets over its potential for dominance and the billionaire’s global interests.The breakthrough came last month, about 600 miles above Earth.For the first time, the Pentagon’s Space Development Agency used lasers transmitting data at light speed to communicate between military satellites on a secure network, making it easier to track enemy missiles and if necessary shoot them down.It was a milestone not only for the Pentagon. This was a defining moment for a certain up-and-coming military contractor that had built key parts of this new system: Elon Musk’s SpaceX.SpaceX over the last year started to move in a big way into the business of building military and spy satellites, an industry that has long been dominated by major contractors like Raytheon and Northrop Grumman as well as smaller players like York Space Systems.This shift comes as the Pentagon and U.S. spy agencies are preparing to spend billions of dollars to build a series of new constellations of low-earth-orbit satellites, much of it in response to recent moves by China to build its own space-based military systems.SpaceX is poised to capitalize on that, generating a new wave of questions inside the federal government about the company’s growing dominance as a military space contractor and Mr. Musk’s extensive business operations in China and his relations with foreign government leaders, possibly including President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. Mr. Musk is also unpredictable in a sector in which security is often perceived to be synonymous with predictability. He chafes at many of the processes and rules of government, saying they hold back progress, and wants to make his own calls.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Leaked U.S. Intelligence Suggests Israel Is Preparing to Strike Iran

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      American officials are trying to determine the source of the leak, which describes military drills and weapons placement, and how damaging it might be.The leak of a pair of highly classified U.S. intelligence documents describing recent satellite images of Israeli military preparations for a potential strike on Iran offers a window into the intense American concerns about Israel’s plans. It also has U.S. officials working to understand the size of the improper disclosure.The two documents were prepared in recent days by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which is responsible for analyzing images and information collected by American spy satellites. They began circulating on Friday on the Telegram app and were being discussed by largely pro-Iran accounts.The documents, which offer interpretations of satellite imagery, provide insight into a potential strike by Israel on Iran in the coming days. Such a strike has been anticipated in retaliation for an Iranian assault earlier this month, which was itself a response to an Israeli attack.One of the documents is titled “Israel: Air Force Continues Preparations for Strike on Iran,” and describes recent exercises that appeared to rehearse elements of such a strike. The second document details how Israel is shifting the placement of its missiles and weapons in case Iran responded with strikes of its own.Officials were divided over the seriousness of the leak, which did not appear to reveal any new American capabilities. The documents describe but do not show the satellite images. If no further documents come to light the damage would be limited, some of the officials say — besides revealing, once again, the degree to which the United States spies on one of its closest allies. Other officials say that any exposure of an ally’s war plans is a serious problem.Officials privately acknowledged that the documents were authentic, although the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Sinwar’s Final Moments: On the Run, Hurt, Alone, but Still Defiant

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      Israeli forces had been steadily closing in on Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader, for weeks before he was cornered and killed in a ruined house in the Gaza Strip.At the end, the fearsome militant leader who had helped unleash a vicious war seemed barely a threat.In video captured by an Israeli drone, a man sat alone, badly wounded and caked in dust amid the ruins of a building in the Gaza Strip, wrapped in a kaffiyeh and staring directly into the camera. The man, Israeli officials say, was Yahya Sinwar, the chief of Hamas.The stare-down lasted some 20 seconds, then the man limply but defiantly hurled a broken piece of wood toward the drone. Not long afterward, officials say, an Israeli soldier shot him in the head, and a tank shell flattened part of the building.So ended the long hunt for one of the world’s most wanted men. It began hours after the brutal Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that Mr. Sinwar helped orchestrate, and concluded amid the destruction of a Rafah neighborhood resembling so many parts of Gaza, leveled by the Israeli military in the year since.The manhunt involved Israeli commandos and spies, as well as a special unit established inside the headquarters of Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence service, and at the Central Intelligence Agency. It used a sophisticated electronic surveillance dragnet and ground-penetrating radar provided by the United States.New details about Mr. Sinwar’s movements over the past year have emerged since his death, including the fact that Israeli intelligence officers had seen mounting evidence since August that Mr. Sinwar, or possibly other top Hamas leaders, might be in Rafah’s Tel al-Sultan neighborhood.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Justin Trudeau’s Accusations Spotlight Reach of India’s Intelligence Agencies

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      The Canadian prime minster’s accusation of Indian government involvement in the killing of a Sikh nationalist signifies a sharp escalation in diplomatic tensions between India and Canada.The accusation by Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, that the Indian government orchestrated a campaign to threaten and kill Sikhs on Canadian soil has cast a spotlight on the potential reach of India’s shadowy intelligence network, which has been known to operate mainly in South Asia.Mr. Trudeau’s allegations have surprised many in diplomatic circles, who say that countries are typically reluctant to air allegations of espionage and assassinations against foreign intelligence services.India’s neighbors — especially its archrival, Pakistan, with which it has fought multiple wars — are well acquainted with Indian covert operations, which are widely understood to have involved targeted airstrikes and assassinations on foreign soil.But because of the public way Canada has laid out its case, the wider world is now getting a glimpse of how diplomats, spies, bureaucrats and police officers who work in Indian intelligence likely operate, and how senior government officials may direct their activities.Mr. Trudeau’s strongly worded statements on Monday escalated a diplomatic row between the two countries that had been brewing for more than a year, over the killing of a Canadian Sikh citizen in Canada.The Canadian authorities said on Monday that they believe six diplomats were part of a broad criminal network, spread across the country, involved in intimidation, harassment and extortion aimed at Canadian Sikhs, as well as homicides.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Germany Accuses Woman of Spying for China on Arms Exports

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      The woman, who worked at an airport that is one of Europe’s largest cargo hubs, is accused of passing along “flights, freight and passengers” related to arms exports.A 38-year-old Chinese woman living in Germany has been arrested on accusations of supplying China’s intelligence services with sensitive information on Germany’s weapons exports. It is the latest spying-related arrest amid increasing worry in Germany about intelligence gathering by China and Russia.Germany’s federal prosecutor said in a statement on Tuesday that the woman, identified only as Yaqi X. in keeping with strict privacy rules, worked at Leipzig/Halle Airport in eastern Germany. She is accused of passing along information about “flights, freight and passengers” related to arms exports, as well as information on employees of a German weapons manufacturer, the statement said.The airport, roughly 90 miles southwest of Berlin, is one of Europe’s largest cargo hubs, handling over 1.5 million tons of freight each year. The authorities said that Ms. X. worked for a logistics company that operates out of the airport.The authorities said she also had close links to a Chinese man, identified as Jian G., who was arrested in Germany in April and accused of being a spy in Germany and Brussels.The police arrested Ms. X. on Monday and searched her apartment in Leipzig and her workplace at the airport.Berlin has become concerned with the number of active spies in Germany since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine as well as intelligence gathering by China, Germany’s largest trade partner.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      As Hezbollah Threat Loomed, Israel Built Up Its Spy Agencies

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      In the immediate days after the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, Israeli intelligence officials feared a pre-emptive strike was imminent from another longtime enemy, Hezbollah. They frantically prepared to stop it with plans to strike and kill Hassan Nasrallah, the powerful Hezbollah leader who the Israelis knew would be in a bunker in Beirut.But when Israel informed the White House of its plans, alarmed administration officials discounted the imminent Hezbollah strike. President Biden called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told him that killing Mr. Nasrallah would set off a regional war and asked him to hold his fire, current and former senior American and Israeli officials said.On Saturday, Israel announced that it had killed Mr. Nasrallah after warplanes dropped more than 80 bombs on four apartment buildings in Lebanon, where the Hezbollah leader of more than three decades had gone to meet his top lieutenants. Mr. Biden was not informed ahead of time, aggravating the White House.Smoke rose over buildings in Beirut after Israeli airstrikes on Saturday.Diego Ibarra Sanchez for The New York TimesBut the more salient outcome for both Israel and the United States was how successfully Israeli intelligence had pinpointed Mr. Nasrallah’s location and penetrated Hezbollah’s inner circle. In a matter of weeks, Israel has decimated the senior and midlevel ranks of Hezbollah and left the group reeling.That success is a direct result of the country’s decision to devote far more intelligence resources in targeting Hezbollah after its 2006 war with the Iran-backed terrorist group. It was a defining moment for Israeli intelligence. The Israeli army and the intelligence agencies failed to score a decisive victory in that 34-day conflict, which ended with a U.N.-brokered cease-fire and allowed Hezbollah, despite heavy losses, to regroup and prepare for the next war with Israel.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Trump Is Briefed on Iranian Assassination Threats

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      U.S. intelligence agencies had previously tracked a potential Iranian assassination plot. The Trump campaign said in a statement that the threat is now heightened.Former President Donald J. Trump was briefed on Tuesday by U.S. intelligence officials about “specific threats from Iran to assassinate him,” according to his campaign.U.S. intelligence agencies had previously tracked a potential Iranian assassination plot earlier this summer, with officials stressing that they did not consider the threat related to the shooting in July that wounded Mr. Trump. Earlier this month, another man was arrested by the police after he was found lurking with a gun near Mr. Trump’s golf course in Florida. The federal government will pursue a charge of attempted assassination against that man, and there is no evidence to suggest that plot was related to Iran.Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, said that the threats from Iran were part of “an effort to destabilize and sow chaos” and that “intelligence officials have identified that these continued and coordinated attacks have heightened in the past few months.”A spokeswoman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence acknowledged the briefing took place but declined to answer questions or provide any specifics. It is not clear if the intelligence officials provided new details about existing threats by Iran against Mr. Trump or if spy agencies had gathered information about new plots against him.Iranian hackers seeking to influence the 2024 election breached Mr. Trump’s campaign and then sent excerpts from documents pilfered from the campaign to people associated with President Biden’s re-election campaign this summer, though law enforcement officials said that the recipients of those materials had not responded. Iranian hackers also tried to breach the Biden-Harris campaign.Iran has also engaged in an ambitious and brazen effort to spread disinformation about the election. The effort appears intended to undermine Mr. Trump’s campaign, according to officials, but they have also targeted Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, suggesting a wider goal of sowing discord and discrediting American democracy.Russia and China have also engaged in disinformation campaigns aimed at influencing American elections. American spy agencies have assessed that Russia favors Mr. Trump, seeing him as skeptical of U.S. support for Ukraine, and U.S. officials announced a broad effort to push back on Russian influence campaigns this month.Julian Barnes More

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      How Israel Built a Modern-Day Trojan Horse: Exploding Pagers

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      The Israeli government did not tamper with the Hezbollah devices that exploded, defense and intelligence officials say. It manufactured them as part of an elaborate ruse.The pagers began beeping just after 3:30 in the afternoon in Lebanon on Tuesday, alerting Hezbollah operatives to a message from their leadership in a chorus of chimes, melodies, and buzzes.But it wasn’t the militants’ leaders. The pages had been sent by Hezbollah’s archenemy, and within seconds the alerts were followed by the sounds of explosions and cries of pain and panic in streets, shops and homes across Lebanon.Powered by just a few ounces of an explosive compound concealed within the devices, the blasts sent grown men flying off motorcycles and slamming into walls, according to witnesses and video footage. People out shopping fell to the ground, writhing in agony, smoke snaking from their pockets.Mohammed Awada, 52, and his son were driving by one man whose pager exploded, he said. “My son went crazy and started to scream when he saw the man’s hand flying away from him,” he said.By the end of the day, at least a dozen people were dead and more than 2,700 were wounded, many of them maimed. And the following day, 20 more people were killed and hundreds wounded when walkie-talkies in Lebanon also began mysteriously exploding. Some of the dead and wounded were Hezbollah members, but others were not; four of the dead were children.Walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon on Wednesday, killing more than a dozen people and wounding hundreds, officials said. The Times verified footage from an explosion at a funeral that sent mourners fleeing for safety.Mohammad Zaatari/Associated PressWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Why House Republicans Are Targeting China Weeks Before the Election

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      The G.O.P. pushed through an array of legislation to get tough on China, seeking to persuade voters that they are the party that will protect Americans from economic and military threats from Beijing.The House this week tackled a long-promised package of bills to get tough on China, but few if any have a chance of becoming law after Republicans opted to prioritize a handful of politically divisive measures that Democrats oppose.For months, House leaders had promised a bipartisan show of force against the United States’ biggest economic and military adversary, including curtailing investments in sensitive Chinese industries, clamping down on data theft and espionage, and ensuring more Chinese imports were subject to taxes and forced labor standards.But only some of those proposals made it to the floor this week. Instead, Republican leaders added a handful of partisan measures that appear to be aimed at portraying their party as stronger on countering China and Democrats, including the Biden administration, as weak.It comes weeks before the elections in which the White House and control of Congress are up for grabs.“Because the White House has chosen not to confront China and protect America’s interests, House Republicans will,” Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, told reporters on Tuesday.Here’s a look at what the House did, and why.Subjecting international pandemic agreements to Senate treaty approval.Republicans, who have castigated the World Health Organization for its response to the coronavirus pandemic, pushed through a bill that would require Senate ratification of any W.H.O. agreement on pandemic preparedness. The organization is exploring ways to streamline the international response to the next pandemic.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More