China
Propaganda Department reopens its doors to foreign-trained Chinese

China
French foreign minister's China visit takes shape

The French minister of foreign affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, will be in China today and tomorrow to discuss Ukraine and attempt to resolve a lingering trade dispute between Europe and Beijing.

France, India
Rafale deal prospects spur on aspiring local firm

New Delhi has yet to formally sign an order for a batch of Rafale Marine fighter jets, but one Indian electronic warfare group is already preparing to be part of the follow-up contracts. Its owner is a former contact of French defence firms in the Indian capital who appears to have prominent connections.

Qatar
KNDS on verge of losing huge Qatari armoured vehicle contract

KNDS looks set to lose out on a long-hoped for contract to supply Qatar's defence ministry with armoured vehicles, which would be a major setback for the Franco-German company.

Saudi Arabia
Inside Saudi Binladin Group's secret restructuring

The kingdom's ailing construction firm Saudi Binladin Group has chosen to resolve its creditor claims outside the courts rather than go through Riyadh's insolvency procedures. Saudi Finance Ministry, SBL's minority shareholder, has been overseeing a mediation process instead, drawing criticism from lawyers in the region.

United States
Pentagon's soft power holds strong in ex-USSR countries despite Trump purge

Donald Trump and Elon Musk are hunting down "waste" in US agencies providing support to former Soviet republics keen to break away from Moscow's influence. Meanwhile, the State Department and Pentagon continue to support a highly sensitive programme.

France, Saudi Arabia
Caisse des Dépôts/Alain Bauer case rocks Franco-Saudi business

A key leader in Franco-Saudi investments was sentenced in early March, along with the star defendants of the Caisse des Dépôts favouritism case. Intelligence Online understands that the Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF had quietly anticipated the situation.

Saudi Arabia
WPP-owned comms group rues messy split from sports minister

Heeding the government's call to set up in the kingdom, a raft of new PR agencies have beefed up their Riyadh operations. But Hill & Knowlton, the dominant player in the region, has a cautionary tale to tell its competitors about how to transact with the kingdom's power brokers, in its case, the sports minister himself.

United States
Russian businessman hopes DoJ changes herald end to covert influence charges

Alexander Ionov recently hired a US lawyer to push back against charges of foreign influence, hailing changes at the Justice Department as a positive sign.

Ukraine, United States
Maxar and Google's data siphoned in Ukraine

Turkey
Ankara secretly sponsoring Uzbekistan's drone development

Tashkent is developing its tactical drone innovation and production capabilities with active support from Ankara, which is helping train engineers at the Uzbek Lochin state research and production centre.