Free Republic

U.S. officials told media outlets on Thursday that they believe the plane presumed to be carrying mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was deliberately taken down, though there was some disagreement as to how exactly the plane was destroyed. Russian air authorities have said Prigozhin, his right-hand man Dmitry Utkin, and eight other people were on the private plane that crashed with no survivors north of Moscow on Wednesday. Two U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters that it was likely a surface-to-air missile originating from inside Russia shot down the plane. The officials stressed that the information was...

CBS reportedly seized files from Catherine Herridge, the network’s recently laid-off senior investigative correspondent. This action included materials that may reveal information about confidential sources, according to an article by Jonathan Turley, Shapiro Chair of Public Interest Law at George Washington University, in The Hill. Catherine Herridge, an Emmy-winning and nominated reporter known for her work on national security and intelligence, was among the 800 employees Paramount Global laid off in a bid to streamline operations amid financial strain. Her firing has since escalated into a broader controversy. In his article titled “CBS faces uproar after seizing investigative journalist’s files,”...

Regardless, China-Russia relations grew more strained than outsiders might imagine, with Russia finally taking a big gamble: It would drop an informational bomb on Beijing. The subject of that information was then Foreign Minister Qin, who had been tapped for the post by Xi. It's easy to see what might have motivated Russia. Being China's top diplomat, Qin would have been the person responsible for sending the Chinese delegation to Ukraine. Russia labeled Qin as pro-U.S. as he had served as ambassador to the U.S. for a short period before being tapped as foreign minister. So it "passed on internal...

Special counsel Jack Smith’s team has asked the Supreme Court to step in and decide the issue of presidential immunity regarding former President Donald Trump’s federal election interference charges. Smith is asking the court to immediately resolve the issue, to prevent any delay of the March 4 trial date. “Respondent’s appeal of the ruling rejecting his immunity and related claims, however, suspends the trial of the charges against him, scheduled to begin on March 4, 2024,” the special counsel wrote in a filing Monday. “It is of imperative public importance that respondent’s claims of immunity be resolved by this Court...

The pastoral center of Christ the King Cathedral in Loikaw, Myanmar, was bombed on Nov. 26 and occupied by the Burmese military the next day, according to reporting by Agenzia Fides, the news arm of Pontifical Mission Societies. Though no one was killed in the bombing, the pastoral center’s ceiling collapsed and Bishop Celso Ba Shwe and the 80 refugees taking shelter in the church were forced to flee, per the Hong Kong Catholic news service UCA News. Shwe said in a statement published by Agenzia Fides that “the Burmese army tried to take the Christ the King Cathedral complex...

some 55 Chinese sailors aboard a submarine designated 093-417 are presumed dead after an accident in the Yellow Sea, off of China’s Shandong Province. British intelligence reports the submariners died after a “catastrophic” failure of the vessel’s oxygen systems on August 21, 2023.

A “radical” Jordanian national living in Texas was allegedly plotting an attack on Houston’s Jewish community before he was arrested on gun charges. Sohaib Abuayyash, 20, had been studying how to build bombs and posted about his support for killing Jews, federal officials claim. “He has viewed specific and detailed content posted by radical organizations on the internet, including lessons on how to construct bombs or explosive devices,” FBI Director Chris Wray told the Senate Homeland Security Committee, though he declined to identify Abuayyash by name. “And that defendant has made statements to others that support the killing of individuals...

China poised to take over U.S. base at Ecuador's invitation Ecuador’s president has offered the Chinese government an airbase currently serving as one of the last U.S. military outposts in South America. Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said during his recent visit to China that he would offer Beijing a lease on the Manta Airport, the presidential website reported last week. Currently, Manta is used by U.S. military forces for operations. The contract is up in 2009 and Correa will not renew it, a transport and public works ministry communications official told BNamericas. Correa said access to the air base is...

Ecuador presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was shot dead during a campaign event in northern Quito on Wednesday night, according to Reuters. A suspect in the killing of Villavicencio later died from injuries sustained during a shootout, the attorney general's office said on Twitter. "A suspect, who was injured during the shootout with security personnel, was apprehended and moved, badly injured, to the (attorney general's) unit in Quito. An ambulance from the fire department confirmed his death, the police are proceeding with collection of the cadaver," the attorney general's office said. Villavicencio's party Movimiento Construye said on armed men attacked its...

Unknown gunmen killed presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio – running on a strong-on-crime, anti-corruption, anti-China platform – on Wednesday night before a massive crowd outside of a campaign event in Quito, Ecuador. Villavicencio was one of eight candidates vying for the presidency of Ecuador. The election remains scheduled to take place on August 20, the result of current President Guillermo Lasso, a conservative, using a constitutional provision to dissolve the National Assembly (the federal legislature) in May and call for general elections. Lasso claimed the unprecedented measure was necessary because leftist lawmakers’ incessant attempts to impeach him had made the regular...

In a shocking incident that has sent shockwaves through Ecuador's political landscape, the notorious Los Lobos gang has carried out a violent action. Fernando Villavicencio, a prominent presidential candidate known for his staunch stance against corruption, lost his life in an armed attack just days before the scheduled presidential election on August 20th. The assassination of the presidential candidate was claimed by the Los Lobos gang, who released a video proudly displaying victory signs and shouting slogans of triumph. Villavicencio was fatally shot three times in the head by an assailant while getting into his vehicle after attending an event...

Six men suspected of killing Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio have been killed in prison. The prison authority in Ecuador reported this in a statement. Ecuadorian President Lasso writes on... Drug violence Villavicencio was shot dead in the capital Quito in August after speaking at a campaign rally, two weeks before the elections. The gunman was killed in a shootout after the attack. Shortly after Villavicencio's murder, six Colombians were arrested. They were linked to the Los Lobos drug gang. It is not clear whether these are also the six suspects who have now been killed. Villavicencio's death shocked the...

Hussein Mousavian headlined STRATCOM's Deterrence Symposium U.S. military leaders earlier this month hosted a former top Iranian official who came under fire last year for bragging about the hardline regime’s efforts to assassinate American leaders. U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) tapped Hussein Mousavian, a former member of Iran’s nuclear negotiating team who works as a Middle East security and nuclear policy specialist at Princeton University, to headline its 2023 Deterrence Symposium, a high-level powwow that brought the former Iranian official shoulder-to-shoulder with America’s top military brass. Mousavian’s appearance at the mid-August gathering, which came to light on Monday after STRATCOM posted...

What Did Jayden X Allegedly Do To Ashli Babbitt?Last Updated on August 21, 2023Leftist infiltrator John Sullivan, known as “Jayden X,” was part of a coordinated operation which included Ray Epps to create chaos at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2020, Jayden X’s brother James Sullivan told NATIONAL FILE in an exclusive interview.Jayden X’s brother told NATIONAL FILE that Jayden X helped plan the January 6 chaos on “Antifa Discord servers,” that Jayden X previously worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to target his enemies, and that Jayden X was a member of Antifa groups that started riots...

A New Jersey business owner used a drone to drop damaging dye into pools at homes and a motel in Atlantic County in recent weeks, authorities said. Patrick Spina IV, 45, of Absecon, was arrested at his business in Galloway on Friday after Absecon police and other law enforcement agencies tracked the drone back to Comfort Solutions Heating and Cooling, officials said. Absecon police began investigating Aug. 13 after homeowners called to say a drone hovering over their pool dropped a dye into it. The dye turned the pool water “an alarming shade of green.” Police then got reports from...

Over 200 US legislators will gather in the Dáil chamber this afternoon, alongside Irish politicians, for a meeting of the Ireland-United States Parliamentary Friendship group. Members of the US Senate and House of Representatives will be among those in attendance, as well as other legislators from across the United States. It is expected that matters such as economic relations between Ireland and the US will be discussed, with Minister for Finance Michael McGrath also due to address the delegation. Today’s visit has been organized to mark the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. The United States’ ongoing support of...

VIDEOOkay, Fani Willis probably won't be indicted for ELECTION INTERFERENCE but at the very least she should be investigated for COLLUDING with the White House and Jack Smith to weaponize her indictment against President Donald Trump. First place to start is to check Willis' phone data for Friday, August 11. Another place that promises to yield interesting results is to check the phone data of Valerie Jarrett for the same time period. Don't be surprised to find calls placed from Jarrett's phone to Atlanta that day. Who is the first brave reporter out there to ask about and investigate this...

The flight of money from Egypt has become a growing concern as many wealthy individuals seek to move money out of Egypt and keep their fortunes out of the eyes of the authorities. The Zambian Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) intercepted an aircraft carrying five million dollars in cash and over 100kg of suspected gold at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport near the capital Lusaka on August 14, according to several sources. Found on the plane were $5,697,700 in cash, five pistols, seven magazines, 126 rounds of ammunition, 602 pieces of suspected gold weighing 127.7 kg, and equipment for measuring gold. Later,...

8-09-23 Police Launch Arson Investigation into Ka‘ū Wildfire Published: August 9, 2023 Hawai‘i Police Department Area II Criminal Investigation Section Detective Donovan Kohara Phone: (808) 960-3118 Report No.: 23-076309 Media Release Hawai’i Island police have initiated an arson investigation after a brush fire in Ka‘ū was determined to have started under suspicious circumstances. On Wednesday, August 9, 2023, at 1:17 p.m., the Hawai‘i Fire Department received a report of several brush fires on Mill Camp Road in Pāhala. Upon arrival, firefighters determined there were two separate fires burning: one on either side of Mill Camp Road. Although they were burning...

Mohamed Bazoum is the president of the Republic of Niger.I write this as a hostage. Niger is under attack from a military junta that is trying to overthrow our democracy, and I am just one of hundreds of citizens who have been arbitrarily and illegally imprisoned. This coup, launched against my government by a faction in the military on July 26, has no justification whatsoever. If it succeeds, it will have devastating consequences for our country, our region and the entire world. Our government came to power through a democratic election in 2021. Any attempt to overthrow a lawful government...