The Beat
Transparency International criticises UK
Transparency International’s latest report Don’t Look, Won’t Find: weaknesses in the supervising of the UK’s anti-money laundering rules calls for a radical overall of the UK’s anti-money laundering mechanisms, questioning the system’s oversight, lack of transparency, ineffective sanctions and independence.
Receiving the lion’s share of the criticism are the 22 supervisory bodies within the UK which oversee industries where the most cash is laundered; only one of which appears to enforce the rules over the levels of ‘low’ or ‘unreported’. The report also found considerable conflicts of interest, in that 15 of these 22 bodies also lobby for the companies they oversee.
Paw enforcement
In a gesture of solidarity, Russia has offered France a German shepherd puppy named Dobrynya following the death of Diesel in last week’s terror raid in Paris. Dr Binoy Kampmark articulates the overwhelming sentiment behind Diesel’s passing among the many human lives recently lost as part of the terror attacks.
CT Scan
Counterterrorism post-Paris
As the world recovers from 13/11 Paris attacks, Leah Farrall from the United States Studies Centre discusses the future of counterterrorism in the wake of the attacks in a new podcast. Farrall looks at how countries can better allocate CT resources post-Paris and stresses the need for a more strategic, rather than reactive, approach to counterterrorism. Meanwhile, Malcolm Turnbull has made his first national security statement as Prime Minister, declaring daesh ‘weak’ and outlining Australia’s new terrorism-alert system.
Malaysia and the US: CT partners?
A new feature article by Prashanth Parameswaran on The Diplomat explores the blossoming partnership between the US and Malaysia, united in the fight against daesh. The article takes a look at the countries’ joint interests and the ways in which KL and Washington are cooperating—check it out here.
Meanwhile in Brussels—cats fight terror
On Sunday evening Brussels went into lockdown as authorities launched counterterrorism raids across the city in a bid to track down those involved in the Paris attacks. As authorities requested people refrain from posting information that might expose or compromise police operations, Belgians opted to post pictures of cats on social media to cut the tension. Check out some of the best #cat tweets here, or view all the #BrusselsLockdown tweets here.
Checkpoint
Syria on speed
The war in Syria is fuelling the rise in popularity of a dangerous, new super-amphetamine called Catpagon across the Middle East. This Foreign Policy piece explains that the effects of the drug, to make users feel ‘invincible’, have increased its demand among those on the battlefield. Captagon use has been linked to ISIS fighters as various reports indicate they use the drug when they carry out their attacks. Check this Forbes piece to know more about the drug.
US travellers warned
In the wake of the Paris attacks, the US State Department has issued a worldwide travel alert, warning international travellers with US passports of increasing terrorist threats. Although issuing global travel alerts are rare, the US has done so four times over the last four years. With last week seeing an average of nearly one incident per day involving a ‘suspicious flyer’ in the US, domestic travellers have also been urged by the State Department to exercise vigilance when in public places or using transportation.
Suicide bombers detection technology
As the EU calls for full use of available technology to counter terrorism inside the Schengen area, Israeli Homeland Security may have the answer to catch a terrorist who is carrying an explosive vest. The CounterBomber, a system that can automatically detect suicide vests and other person-borne threats at a distance. Using video-steered radar sensor technology and video cameras, the scanner automatically tracks and assess subjects while wirelessly transmitting pictures to a remote handheld device. To see how it works, check this video here.