Zero Hedge

"Spy Center": China Plans Secret Room Near Sensitive Cables In London Mega Embassy

"Spy Center": China Plans Secret Room Near Sensitive Cables In London Mega Embassy

Chinese officials plan to construct a concealed underground chamber adjacent to some of Britain's most sensitive communications infrastructure as part of their proposed new "super embassy" in London, according to planning documents reviewed by The Telegraph.

Illustration via The Telegraph

The chamber forms part of an extensive subterranean complex comprising 208 rooms beneath the embassy site at the former Royal Mint.

The Telegraph reports:

The drawings show that a single concealed chamber will sit directly alongside fibre-optic cables transmitting financial data to the City of London, as well as email and messaging traffic for millions of internet users.

The same hidden room is fitted with hot-air extraction systems, possibly suggesting the installation of heat-generating equipment such as advanced computers used for espionage. The plans also show that China intends to demolish and rebuild the outer basement wall of the chamber, directly beside the fibre-optic cables.

The revelations have prompted sharp criticism from senior UK Conservative figures, including Alicia Kearns, the shadow national security minister, who described approving the plans as providing “a launchpad for economic warfare at the heart of the central nervous system of our critical national infrastructure”.

Illustration via The Telegraph

“The unredacted plans reveal a concealed room running immediately alongside the fibre-optic cables critical to the City and Canary Wharf. Telegraph readers don’t need me to spell out the obvious threats posed, nor China’s subterfuge – so why does the Labour Government?” Ms. Kearns told the newspaper.

Illustration via The Telegraph

The Telegraph further reports on why the proximity to the cables is cause for national security concerns:

Carrying signals bearing the innermost financial secrets of the British economy, the cables stretch between the Telehouse group of data centres in Docklands and other centres around the capital. Linked together, these form the core of the London Internet Exchange (Linx). Beyond London, they connect to Atlantic cables linking to the US.

Linx is one of the biggest internet exchange points in the world, handling vast volumes of data spanning everything from financial transactions to instant messages and emails.Its cables carry the financial transaction data relied upon by banks to update withdrawals and deposits, such as ordinary people’s salary packets and payments for goods bought online.

Professor Alan Woodward, a security expert at the University of Surrey, told The Telegraph that China's plans pose a “red flag.”

“There’s a long history of cable-tapping by East and West alike. Anyone who can do it has done it," Woodward said. “Espionage isn’t just about state secrets. Economic intelligence is central to the mission of foreign intelligence services."

“If I were in their shoes, having those cables on my doorstep would be an enormous temptation,” he added.

Dominic Cummings, who served as then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s chief aide, said MI5 warned him China was “trying to build a spy centre underneath the embassy”.

Illustration via The Telegraph

Nonetheless, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is reportedly expected to approve the embassy construction plans ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s high-stakes visit to Britain.

Just bloody brilliant, mate!

Tyler Durden Wed, 01/14/2026 - 04:15

West Africa Under Jihadist Threat: Sahel States Surrendering Sovereignty To Islamic Terrorist Groups

West Africa Under Jihadist Threat: Sahel States Surrendering Sovereignty To Islamic Terrorist Groups

Authored by Lawrence Franklin vi The Gatestone Institute,

Al-Qaeda's branch in Africa's Sahel region has been laying siege to Mali's capital city, as well as other areas of the country. The Algerian-based Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and its affiliated Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (Support Group for Islam and Muslims, JNIM) are cutting a wide swath of terrorist operations across West Africa's Sahel region. This coalition of Jihadist groups now threatens the sovereignty of Mali and several other Sahelian states.

Islamist operatives now control all the main routes in and out of Bamako, Mali's capital city, cutting it off from fuel, food, and friendly neighbors. JNIM militants have also targeted Mali's transport, communications, educational network, and economic infrastructure in rural regions. Some towns in Mali are negotiating deals with Jihadist groups to secure some semblance of liberty and save their lives by agreeing to adopt Islamic Sharia law and pay "protection taxes" (jizyah) to Islamic officials.

Burkina Faso and Niger, two other Sahel states, landlocked like Mali, are also under severe pressure by the al-Qaeda affiliated JNIM to surrender their sovereignty to hardcore Sunni Islamic extremists. All three countries, once colonies of France's West African Empire, have in the past five years expelled French troops who had been assisting the host governments. All three are governed by non-democratic military juntas with little popular support, and thus have been unable to deal effectively with their common Jihadist threat.

These military regimes, which have formed the "Alliance of Sahel States," brought in mercenaries from Russia's Wagner Group and Africa Corps to replace French troops. Yet the Russians have been failing in their mission to shore up the juntas. Moscow's mercenaries suffered a major defeat in July 2024, near Mali's border with Algeria, at the hands of Tuareg rebels, who are also allied with the Al-Qaeda-linked Jihadists. Reportedly, dozens of Russian troops were killed during an ambush that occurred during a desert sandstorm.

Jihadist recruits in the Sahel are primarily ethnically Tuareg, some of whom desire to establish an independent state in what is now northern Mali. The region's other minorities, particularly in Mali, are also attracted to Islamist terrorist groups, including semi-nomadic Fulani tribesmen who populate the semi-deserts of the Sahel. Criminal networks have similarly thrown their lot in with the Jihadists, making money from kidnap ransoms and the sale of purloined gold shavings from Sahelian mines.

The Jihadist threat is not limited to the Sahel, but exists in the entirety of West Africa. For example, JNIM attacks now include assaults on the coastal African countries of Togo and Benin. There is even a report of a JNIM-sponsored foray across the border into Northwest Nigeria.

While most of the terrorist violence can be attributed to al-Qaeda-affiliated groups, Islamic State militants are also a predatory agent in the region. Fortunately, Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State jihadists also clash against one another.

Unless there is some urgent military assistance from the West, the success of the terrorists will continue. Logistical requirements of such external-based military aid would probably necessitate the establishment of a rescue corridor inside the territory of Ghana or the Ivory Coast. Alternatively, the juntas may be able to strike a temporary deal with either the Al-Qaeda or Islamic State proxies over sharing governmental powers -- further delegitimizing the junta regimes and deteriorating the future of West Africa. Unless there is an immediate Western intervention, one or more of these military regimes is likely to suffer a terrorist takeover in 2026.

Tyler Durden Wed, 01/14/2026 - 03:30

Venezuela Begins Gradual Release Of Imprisoned Americans Post-Maduro

Venezuela Begins Gradual Release Of Imprisoned Americans Post-Maduro

After US forces on January 3rd helicoptered into Caracas as Navy warships and aircraft bombed Venezuelan territory, and seemingly effortlessly nabbed President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, one wonders what took so long?

"The Venezuela government has started releasing prisoners with US citizenship, people with knowledge of the situation said," Bloomberg reports Tuesday evening. "The authorities on Tuesday released at least one US citizen who already left the country, the people said, declining to identify the individual for security reasons."

via AP

There is a planned for gradual release of American prisoners, of which there are not believed to be many. 

Just ahead of the Trump-ordered military strikes and brief invasion, various reports indicated at least 5 Americans were being held, including a New York man who only recently went missing after entering Venezuela (it's not known whether he had a visa or not). 

As The NY Post detailed:

At least five Americans, including a New Yorker, are being detained in Venezuela following the Trump administration’s latest military and economic pressure campaign against Caracas, according to a new report.

James Luckey-Lange, 28, of Staten Island, is among the recently US citizens imprisoned in Venezuela, with the New Yorker deemed to be wrongfully detained, officials told the New York Times.

Luckey-Lange, whose family reported him missing earlier this month, disappeared soon after entering Venezuela’s border as part of a long trip across Latin America that was inspired by the death of his mother, musician Diane Luckey.

The latest reports after Maduro's ouster indicate he's still in the custody of the country's federal police, and that the new administration of acting President Delcy Rodríguez has not released him. Lucky-Lange's family is pleading for his release, and has appealed to both Trump and the Rodríguez government.

Trump has controversially praised the Rodríguez government, saying last week in a Fox interview: "they've been great. ... Everything we've wanted, they've given us."

However, Americans deemed wrongfully detained are still apparently in custody. Last week some 100 political prisoners of Venezuelan as well as foreign nationalities were let go.

"Venezuela released a number of imprisoned high-profile opposition figures, activists and journalists — both citizens and foreigners — Thursday in what the government described as a gesture to 'seek peace' less than a week after former President Nicolás Maduro was captured by U.S. forces to face drug-trafficking charges," The Associated Press indicated.

Tyler Durden Wed, 01/14/2026 - 02:45

In 2025, Germany Saw Bankruptcies Hit 20-Year High

In 2025, Germany Saw Bankruptcies Hit 20-Year High

Via Remix News,

The latest economic figures for Berlin are dramatic, revealing that 2025 saw more companies file for bankruptcy than at any point in the last two decades, all despite a promised economic turnaround from the Christian Democrat (CDU) government.

The wave of insolvencies grew significantly toward the end of the year, affecting the lives of thousands of employees. According to the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research Halle, the annual total reached a historically high 17,604 bankruptcies. This translates to an average of 48 partnerships and corporations going out of business every day in Germany, according to Bild newspaper.

“Even in the wake of the major financial crisis in 2009, the number was around 5 percent lower,” the institute explained.

December was particularly severe, with 1,519 insolvency applications filed. This figure was 75 percent higher than the average for December between 2016 and 2019, prior to the pandemic.

Jonas Eckhardt, an economic expert from the transformation consultancy Falkensteg, told Bild that “the German economy is no longer just struggling with headaches. She’s got a fever. That won’t change anytime soon.“

Professor Dr. Steffen Müller, Head of IWH Insolvency Research, observed that the “increase was broad and no one was spared, though sectors like hospitality, construction, and real estate suffered particularly heavily.”

He noted that the interest rate increase at the end of 2022 has put a stop to some of the plans in those industries.

Bild goes on to cite a number of companies hit with bankruptcies.

In Saxony, a sausage company dismissed its entire staff, while the Leifert bakery chain in Lower Saxony affected 220 employees with its insolvency. Other large bakeries like Hansen Mürwik also filed for bankruptcy, impacting 145 workers.

Large corporations are also struggling. A survey by Falkensteg found that 471 companies with annual sales exceeding 10 million euros filed for insolvency, a 25 percent increase over the previous year. Since 2021, these major insolvencies have nearly tripled.

Less than a week ago, Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that parts of the German economy are in a “very critical state.” In the article from Bloomberg, it notes that while Merz did not specify which sectors, the car industry is seen as especially hard hit. This is due in large part to Chinese competition slowly crushing German companies, a topic Remix News has written extensively on.

While Müller points out that insolvency can be a market adjustment that makes room for future-proof companies, many businesses continue to struggle for survival. Jonas Eckhardt emphasized to Bild that for many medium-sized companies, the situation is no longer just an economic downturn but a question of survival. Experts do not anticipate a turnaround in 2026 and instead expect a further increase in bankruptcies among large companies.

Germany is not the only country struggling in Europe. Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron went to China essentially to beg for help, saying, according to Politico, that “European industry is facing a ‘life or death’ moment.”

“I am trying to explain to the Chinese that their trade surplus is untenable and that they are killing their own customers, mainly by not importing much from us,” Macron said, according to Politico.

Now, after Europeans complained about Trump issuing tariffs against China and Europe, Europe is considering pursuing the same tactic. At least, that is the threat Macron just issued China if the country does not refrain from relentlessly outcompeting the EU on trade, exports, and innovation.

Following the meeting in China, notably, no major business deals were signed, and on most key points, analysts say Macron walked away mostly empty-handed in regard to the major issues.

Remarkably, China almost completely rejected mass immigration and has about as many foreigners in the country as just one German city, Berlin.

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Wed, 01/14/2026 - 02:00

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