• Christian Science Monitor

As cities lay off police, frustrated neighborhoods turn to private cops. With cities cutting their police to balance budgets, some well-to-do neighborhoods are hiring private security, marking an expansion of unarmed guards beyond office parks and gated communities. By Chris Stein, April 5, 2013: TEXT | PICTURE

Iraq war 10 years later: Was it worth it? A war that lasted far longer and was more costly than Americans were told to expect by their military and political leaders has led to much public questioning as well as private soul-searching. By Brad Knickerbocker, March 17, 2013: TEXT | Iraq Timeline In Pictures

Thomas Friedman, Iraq war booster. The New York Times columnist broke down what the Iraq was really about for Charlie Rose on May 29, 2003. By Dan Murphy, March 18, 2013: TEXT | PICTURE

Prince of Blackwater heads to Africa. Erik Prince, who made a fortune in Iraq thanks to his politically connected and controversial Blackwater military contractor, is leading a group of Chinese investors on a hunt for natural resources and investment opportunities in Africa. By Dan Murphy, November 20, 2012: TEXT | PICTURE

• CNN

CNN team was tracked by Russian operatives in Central African Republic, Bellingcat investigation shows. August 20, 2020: TEXT | PICTURES

Delegation leaves Cuba without winning release of American contractor. Alan Gross is serving a 15-year sentence for bringing in banned communications equipment to Cuba. He has been held since 2009.By Patrick Oppmann, February 20, 2013: TEXT

Bigger than the army: South Africa's private security forces. There are nearly 9,000 companies and 400,000 registered active private security guards. From Victoria Eastwood, February 8, 2013: TEXT | VIDEO

• Daily Maverick (South Africa)

SADC facing limited legal options for military action in Cabo Delgado. The country has so far preferred bilateral and non-state support – including using private military companies – to formal SADC help. By Marko Svicevic & Timothy Walker, Daily Maverick, April 22, 2021: TEXT | PHOTO

• Defense News

.US contractors rush to get former employees out of Afghanistan. By Marjorie Censer, August 19, 2021: TEXT | PICTURE

QDR Dead in 2017 Defense Policy Bill. House Armed Services Committee chairman Mac Thornberry introduced legislation Monday to scrap the Pentagon's main public policy document, the beleaguered Quadrennial Defense Review, and replace it with two major strategy documents from Pentagon leadership. By Joe Gould , April 25, 2016?: TEXT

• DefenceWeb (South Africa)

UN findings on PMCs in Africa “a bit rich”. “Given the Mozambique government’s unwillingness to admit they are in a hole, there is not much others can do. That leaves PMCs when government is willing to hire them. April 21, 2021: TEXT | PHOTO

Dyncorp rolls out first 16 armoured personnel carriers for UN mission in Mali. Dyncorp International and its partner OTT Technologies Mozambique, a subsidiary of South Africa's OTT Technologies, unveiled the first of 115 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) to be used by African Union personnel, By Oscar Nkala and Guy Martin, March 31, 2014: TEXT | PICTURE (Pinned)

• DNA (India)

First of battle of Hisar: Godman Rampal's 'army' takes on police, CRPF. Over a 100 policemen were injured when the private army of a self-styled godman of Barwala village took on the might of Haryana police, CRPF and the RAF. By Sushil Kutty, DNA India, November 19, 2014: TEXT | PICTURE

India: Is that guard licensed to carry arms? The sight of an armed guard may give one a sense of security, but more often than not, the private security agency that has deployed him, has done it in violation of norms. June 6, 2014: TEXT

India: Security guards: An underpaid and overworked lot. There are 22,000 registered security guards in Mumbai, and around 3,200 registered private security agencies. Of these, around 1,700 agencies are currently functional and 19,406 security guards have been posted in various societies and commercial offices across the city. By Manish K Pathak, June 6, 2014: TEXT | TABLE

India: No decision yet on firearms for private security. The government is yet to take a decision on allowing private security guards to carry firearms, K Vijay Kumar, senior security adviser at the home ministry, said at the "Private Security Industry Conclave 2013". November, 15, 2013: TEXT

India: Guarded government stops issuing licences to private security firms. The home department has ordered the city police to not issue fresh licences to any security firm and also ordered the police to not renew any licence without scrutinising the criminal antecedents of every guard. March 16, 2013: TEXT

India: Private security firms in Karnataka told to get licence. If you want to start a private security agency, get a licence from the additional director general of police (internal security division) or end up in prison. July 20, 2011: TEXT

• Federal Times

U.S. Port-of-entry demands have fueled private partnerships for Customs and Border Protection. (GSA and CBP) Partnerships were established in California, Florida, Nevada, Colorado, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Texas in 2014, following five agreements set up throughout Texas in 2013.By Carten Cordell, November 4, 2015: TEXT

New bill arms security contractors in federal buildings. The legislation, passed by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee May 20, would give the Federal Protective Service the ability to let private security contractors working for the agency carry firearms in federal buildings. By Andy Medici, May 26, 2015: TEXT

Maritime security needs more attention. Addressing the cyber risk in a multi-stakeholder environment like the ports will not be an easy task but the consequences of ignoring the threats are too significant. By Marc Pearl, November 26, 2014: TEXT

• The Financial Times

Stephan Crétier: the security boss with his eyes on the G4S prize. The man behind the hostile bid for the biggest security group, G4S. September 19/20, 2020: TEXT | PICTURE

Blackwater founder Erik Prince eyes opportunities with China. “Machiavelli would be amused, but not surprised” at Mr Prince's new China business, Frontier Services Group, said Peter Singer of the New America Foundation. April 10, 2017: TEXT | PICTURE

The web is a terrorist’s command-and-control network of choice. To those of us who have to tackle the depressing end of human behaviour on the internet, it can seem that some technology companies are in denial about its misuse. By Robert Hannigan, November 3, 2014: TEXT

UK Police tackle cyber criminals using counter-terrorism techniques. Hundreds of attempts to hack into bank accounts to steal money are being stopped every week by a new partnership between the City of London police and UK banks. By Martin Arnold, February 10, 2014: TEXT

Serco UK defence contracts worth £4bn. MoD figures show how hard it would be for Whitehall to disentangle itself from Serco given the group’s integral role in providing government services. By Kiran Stacey and Gill Plimmer, November 13, 2013: TEXT | TABLE | POLITICAL CARTOON (Pinned)

US military tested using Twitter to profile civilians in anti-terror scheme. Twitter has made public data accessible to anyone who wants to study it, including an arm of the US military best known for its raid to capture Usama bin Laden. By Carola Hoyos and April Dembosky, August 21, 2013: TEXT

More diplomat than bodyguard. A profile of Ted Allen, a close protection operator. By Emma Jacobs, March 14, 2013: TEXT | PICTURE

US spy chief warns on budget risk to security. James Clapper, director of national intelligence, said that the US risked the same sort of “downward spiral” in intelligence capabilities as before 9/11. By By Geoff Dyer, March 12, 2013: TEXT | PICTURE

Amazon fires German security firm. Workers were monitored by a security company called Hensel European Security Services, whose initials, the programme pointed out, spell out the surname of Hitler’s deputy, Rudolf Hess. By Chris Bryant, February 18, 2013: TEXT

FBI probes EADS unit claims. FBI is probing corruption allegations against EADS' subsidiary of EADS GPT Special Management Systems relating to a contract in Saudi Arabia for the UK’s Ministry of Defence. By Carola Hoyos, February 10, 2013: TEXT

Nestlé found liable over spying on NGO. A Swiss court last week ordered Nestlé and the Swiss security company Securitas AG to pay compensation to Attac, an anti-globalisation group. By James Shotter and Louise Lucas, January 30, 2013: TEXT

No US peace dividend after Afghanistan. The US has already borrowed $2tn to finance the Afghanistan and Iraq wars – a major component of the $9tn debt accrued since 2001. By Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes, January 24, 2013: TEXT

US cuts put ceiling on defence projects. The Pentagon switches spending from big new programmes towards maintenance and upgrades. By Robert Wright, January 10, 2013: TEXT

Defence cuts likely to hurt service providers. companies that offer day-to-day services to the Pentagon such as data processing would be more likely to see more immediate cuts. By Robert Wright, December 22, 2012: TEXT

British secret service recruits outside help on Q’s gizmos. MI5 and GCHQ are calling calling on small-scale technology companies to develop gadgets. By James Blitz, September 5, 2012: TEXT

US military contractors – war horses. This industry faces a tough battle, one that will not be won by financial engineers. September 3, 2012: TEXT

We already do police crime work, says G4S. G4S already with access to 20,000 former police officers. By Helen Warrell and Gill Plimmer, March 7, 2012: TEXT

Private contractors (G4S) to build and run British police stations: The deal with Lincolnshire Police Authority will see the company take over jobs previously handled by police officers, By Gill Plimmer and Helen Warrell , February 13, 2012: TEXT

G4S chairman to retire in wake of ISS flop. G4S under the chairmanship of Alf Dutch-Petersen failed on its £5.2bn bid for ISS. By Anousha Sakoui, January 13, 2012: TEXT

British Police to use G4S anti-terror work contractors. West Midlands police to use contractors to fill couter-terror gaps. By Helen Warrell, September 5, 2011: TEXT

British recruiting sergeants get their marching orders. Capita and Serco shortlisted to handle recruitment on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. By Gill Plimmer, October 9, 2011: TEXT

G4S targets emerging markets. Demand for single security providers across the world behind the strategy. By Alistair Gray and Mark Wembridge, August 27, 2011: TEXT

Lockheed Martin cyberattack exposes flaws. Cyber attack apparently targetted RSA database. By Joseph Menn, May 31, 2011: TEXT