Free Republic

Venezuelan security forces surrounded the Argentine embassy in the capital Caracas on Friday after two opposition members took refuge inside, according to posts by the opposition duo on social media. The pair joined four other Venezuelan opposition figures who have taken refuge in the embassy this year. One of the men, Pedro Urruchurtu, the international coordinator for opposition leader María Corina Machado, wrote on X that there were patrols of hooded and armed officials surrounding the diplomatic building. The other, former deputy Omar González, also posted on X, writing: “They cut off the electricity service to the Argentine embassy in...

The Justice Department under the Biden administration opened an investigation into Representative Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, in 2024 to scrutinize her finances, campaign spending and interactions with a foreign citizen, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The inquiry, initiated by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington and the department’s public integrity unit in June of that year, appears to have stalled for lack of evidence, according to one of the people who requested anonymity to discuss internal department matters. The investigation appeared to be thrust into the public spotlight on Monday, when President Trump blindsided department officials...

Major banks closed accounts and refused credit to MAGA merchants, pro-life causes, religious groups, conservative organizations and sectors disfavored by the Biden administration, such as firearms, oil and gas, and private prisons, a bombshell report from the federal banking regulator has found. The Debanking Review by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) investigated 100,000 complaints and scrutinized 50,000 internal bank records to reveal how customers were “debanked” based purely on their political, social, or religious beliefs. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC, TD Bank, and BMO Bank were found to...

Panamanian authorities have a 1994 bombing’s suspected Iranian-backed Hezbollah mastermind in custody, with a trial ensuing soon. For more than three decades, the mystery of who blew Alas Chiricanas Flight 901 out of the Panama sky, killing all 21 aboard, including 12 top Jewish businessmen and three U.S. citizens, remained unsolved and mostly forgotten by the outside world. The small commuter plane to Panama City exploded July 19, 1994, shortly after takeoff from Colon, leaving only one body in the wreckage, not positively identified for years: a Middle Eastern male thought to have carried the bomb aboard. But now...

Ecuador has erupted into a 'civil war' with cartel thugs after the president ordered the army onto the streets and declared a state of 'internal armed conflict'. Crazed criminals have rampaged through the South American country's cities today after President Daniel Noboa, 36, ordered a state of emergency. Hooded gangsters seized a state TV news studio today, while a university was attacked and jail guards reportedly executed by prisoners. Ecuador has been rocked by a series of attacks including explosions and the abduction of several police officers after the government imposed a state of emergency in the wake of the...

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, it lost access to many world markets, including much of Europe. Countries like Germany, which for years had relied on Russian gas and oil, now turned sharply away and sought to rid themselves of any vestiges of Russian dependence. (Source) Into the breach stepped China. Always thirsty for new supplies of gas and oil, China quickly notified Russia that it was interested in receiving Russian gas and in developing a pipeline from Siberia for that gas. (Source). Recently, however, that lifeline looks more like a noose, at least for Russia. Beijing is taking...

VIENNA (AP) – Russia’s state-owned natural gas company Gazprom stopped supplies to Austria early Saturday, according to the Vienna-based utility OMV after it said it would stop payments for the gas following an arbitration award. The official cutoff of supplies before dawn Saturday came after Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer on Friday held a hastily called news conference to emphasize his country has a secure supply of alternative fuel for this winter.

Russia's under-pressure economy and Vladimir Putin have been dealt a devastating blow after state-controlled gas giant Gazprom recorded a huge net loss of $12.89B (£9.9bn) in 2024. The company's financial woes were compounded by plummeting share prices in its subsidiary Gazpro Neft and an increased income tax rate of 25%. This greatly raised tax liabilities for the company, leading to billions of pounds lost and follows a historic 2023 where Gazprom revealed a net loss for the first time in 25 years, recording a historic deficit of 629 billion rubles ($7.6 billion). The huge financial blow has had a knock...

The Trump Justice Department has arrested a California technology-company owner accused of smuggling more than $300 million in restricted American computer servers to China. Prosecutors say the operation used false paperwork and stops in other countries to get around U.S. export controls. That is the central issue here: a shipment’s first destination is not necessarily its final customer. The national-security division announced the arrest while emphasizing the strategic importance of the chips involved: California Man Arrested for Smuggling More Than $300 Million in Export-Controlled Computer Servers to China“SI is the defining technology of the era,” said Assistant Attorney General John...

KOLWEZI, Democratic Republic of Congo — Little about Kolwezi, a small city in southern Democratic Republic of Congo, hints at its global importance. Nondescript and ringed by slag heaps, pits and quarry lakes, the city is home to some of the largest copper and cobalt mines in the world. Now, Kolwezi is at the center of U.S.-Chinese competition over critical minerals. Earlier this year, mining firms began shipping ore along a U.S.-backed railway that terminates in Angola's Atlantic port of Lobito. A massive infrastructure project is focused on this rail line -- which is viewed as a bid to counter...

Hezbollah terrorists in Yemen received $157 million worth of weapons in 2024, most of it given freely by Iran, according to a new report from the Israeli nonprofit Center for Research of Terror Financing (CENTEF). The report, titled "Hezbollah Financial Statements," relied on open-source data as well as known valuations of Hezbollah's military assets, according to the Jerusalem Post. The report found that Hezbollah spent just $28 million on procuring weapons, and those were limited to small arms, ammunition, drone components, dual-use equipment and equipment obtained through its international procurement networks. Meanwhile, CENTEF said Iran provided roughly $129 million worth...

Shenghua Wen, 42, received around $2 million (€1.7 million) from North Korean officials to ship firearms and ammunition from California. A Chinese national in California has been sentenced to eight years in prison for shipping firearms and ammunition to North Korea. North Korean officials paid Shenghua Wen around $2 million (€1.7 million) to ship two containers of weapons and other items from Long Beach in California to North Korea via Hong Kong in 2023, according to the US Attorney's Office in Los Angeles. The 42-year-old pleaded guilty in June to one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic...

This is who Abdul El-Sayed is. He refused to disavow Hasan Piker, who had said that America deserved 9/11, he made excuses for the Muslim terrorist who tried to kill 100 Jewish preschoolers at a synagogue, and he continues attending events with outright supporters of terrorism. “I pray one day, Inshallah, Allah will bless us to raise an army and I’m serious about this. We were very close, recently. We had made intention to raise an army of 10,000 men in NY City. Muslim men to go fight…And the day is going to come, when that happens,” the ISNA speaker...

The White House is gearing up to hit the International Criminal Court with “sweeping sanctions,” months after President Donald Trump said his administration is aiming to dismantle the organization in order to “defend” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from bogus charges. Trump’s big move against the ICC: forbidding it from making transactions in U.S. dollars, The Wall Street Journal first reported on Sunday. The Trump admin would block most transactions with the ICC after a grace period of about six months — a move which could “potentially cripple” the court and isolate it from the global financial system, according to...

The White House said Wednesday it is as “as close” as it has ever been to reaching a cease-fire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas. “There is a good proposal before both sides, and they need to both accept that proposal so we can get this in place,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. “We are as close as we think we have ever been.” Kirby added that gaps have narrowed in the negotiations and the U.S. believes a deal can be reached, though he did not offer a timeline. The gaps are related to...

The FBI is searching the Delmar home of ex-UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter in connection with a federal investigation. A NewsChannel 13 photographer captured video of agents searching and taking pictures of both cars at the property on Dover Drive. Agency spokeswoman Sarah Ruane confirmed that they were searching the home, but would not provide details on the investigation – per standard policy.

Reporting Highlights Ready, Fire, Aim: In a rushed process exempted from normal rules, the Army hired General Dynamics, which brought on a Turkish subcontractor with little vetting, to make artillery shells. Money for Nothing: Despite being paid $533 million, General Dynamics did not produce a single usable shell at its new factory — and has not been held publicly accountable. Wages of Failure: Since the Army halted two production lines at the factory, the General Dynamics unit responsible for the debacle has received contract awards totaling $2.5 billion. A robot was on fire. Again. It was the summer of 2024,...

Iran used the satellite to monitor major U.S. military sites. Satellite imagery was taken in March prior to drone and missile strikes on the sites. Iran secretly purchased a spy satellite from China in 2024, which it then used to target U.S. bases. According to the Financial Times, Earth Eye Co, a Chinese company, built and launched a TEE-01B satellite in 2024. After it was launched into space from China, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Aerospace Corp purchased the satellite, leaked Iranian military documents show. Iran used the satellite to monitor major U.S. military sites. Satellite imagery was taken in...

Several explosions were heard in southeastern Iran on Thursday morning, according to local media. The Mehr news agency reported that several people were injured in an attack by drones and missiles. According to the report, the attack was carried by the Pakistani army in Iranian territory, and follows an Iranian attack in Pakistani territory...

The House Judiciary Committee, along with the House Administration Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, released an interim staff report on ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising platform. In that report, the Committees found that ActBlue failed to prevent illegal foreign political contributions, and it's being called an "explosive" insight into the organization's practices. Two years ago, the Committees began investigating ActBlue's fraud-prevention practices. In 2024, ActBlue changed its fraud policy twice during the presidential campaign, reportedly implementing "more lenient" standards that let foreign donors and other suspicious donor money flow into U.S. campaigns. Earlier this year, The New...