Free Republic

Iran is systematically crippling Starlink, the satellite internet service said to be almost impossible to jam. Military-grade GPS jammers deployed since January 8 have cut satellite internet performance by as much as 80% in parts of the country, according toAmir Rashidi, director of digital rights at the Miaan Group, a U.S.-based nonprofit focused on Iranian internet censorship and digital rights.

First, the country was a Nazi ally; then it became a NATO stooge. The latest allegation: It’s a reckless Russia-basher that deserves a ruthless response from the Kremlin. Who said Finland was boring? Amid all the focus on Russia’s war against Ukraine, it is easy to overlook another prime target of Moscow’s imperialist ire. Russia has long used a skewed interpretation of history as a weapon to attack and delegitimize its neighbors—and, if the Kremlin’s latest rhetorical escalation is any guide, it now has Finland in its gunsights. The Finns are understandably nervous, given recent precedent: In 2021, Russian leader...

City after city has been reclaimed by jubilant, joyous crowds across Iran in the past few days."This is the final battle,Pahlavi will return"Tonight in Tehran, Iran's capital.pic.twitter.com/C6pyxSIB9M— 𝐍𝐢𝐨𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐠 ♛ ✡︎ (@NiohBerg) January 8, 2026The streets in the capital of Tehran are alive tonight. 🚨SE TERMINÓ DE PUDRIR EN IRÁN🚨Las calles de Teherán completamente tomadas por los manifestantes que piden derrocar al ayatola. pic.twitter.com/PYDysqhIx7— ASB (@GordoLeyes) January 8, 2026Throngs of people, who sometimes seem as if it's the entire population in the street at one time, are marching and cheering, defying the basiji thugs who would brutalize and beat them...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides, and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis made a joint statement this evening following a trilateral meeting in Jerusalem. Prime Minister Netanyahu began: "This is not our first meeting. It's our tenth meeting. But I said in our discussions that I think it's the most consequential. The last time the three of us met was a short time before the October 7th massacre, before terror once again reminded us that stability in this region is never guaranteed, and that strength, clarity and cooperation are not options. They are a must." "The Middle...

Athens (AFP) – Flights at Greek airports were cancelled or delayed Sunday after a technical problem knocked out airspace radio frequencies, the country's civil aviation authority said, calling the outage "unprecedented". At Greece's main airport, Eleftherios Venizelos in Athens, passengers were stuck in long queues as several domestic and international flights were delayed or grounded altogether, an AFP reporter saw. The radio frequency loss was first reported around 0700 GMT. "No plane landed or took off for at least two hours," said the press office at Athens airport, where 31.6 million passengers transited in the first 11 months of 2025....

NASA has just pulled off a deep space first that could forever change the way we communicate beyond Earth. A silent beam of light traveled an unimaginable distance—and then something remarkable happened. In a major step toward high-speed space internet, NASA has successfully exchanged laser-encoded messages with a spacecraft over 350 million kilometers from Earth. The story, reported by IFLScience, marks the success of one of the most ambitious space communication tests ever attempted—and may open the door to a future where humans on Mars send back livestreams in real time.... To carry out this experiment, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory...

<p>FORT MCCOY, Wis. – Many things can cripple a military. One is the inability to adapt and integrate new technology and remain competitive on the battlefield, and the other is the loss of communication between personnel, military systems, and allies. U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers assigned to the 324th Expeditionary Signal Battalion (ESB), Bravo Company, are working to ensure that the Army continues to move into the future by utilizing new and better technology with their use of SpaceX’s laser-operated Starshield communications system.</p>

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2005 – Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld likes to take his office with him and stay connected to events on the ground when he flies overseas to visit with troops and confer with U.S. and allied military and civilian officials. Rumsfeld's "flying Pentagon" of choice is an Air Force E-4B aircraft, a highly modified Boeing 747-200 four-engine jet. Known as the National Airborne Operations Center, the plane boasts sophisticated communications equipment as well as the capability to be refueled in flight. The commander of the NAOC, Army Col. David L. Molinelli, pointed out July 24 during Rumsfeld's...

"Russian telecom operators have drawn up plans to re-route data and call traffic to avoid Swedish eavesdropping, following the passing of Sweden's new law giving spying agency FRA increased powers to intercept communications. Russian newspaper RBK writes that Russian telecom operators see the new law "as an attempt at industrial espionage at state level, and are prepared to bypass Sweden if necessary," according to a translation in Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet."

On Wednesday, Salt Lake City public lands officials hiked for hours up a snowy trail to remove a mysterious device – one that’s popping up all over the foothills. It consists of a locked battery box, a solar panel, and an antenna, according to Tyler Fonarow, the city’s recreational trails manager. “These towers have been bolted into different peaks and summits and ridges around the foothills,” Fonarow explained, “and it started with one or two, and now it might be as much as a dozen.” The first ones appeared about a year ago, but Fonarow said many more were found...

Barely a month before the 9/11 terror attacks, two Pakistani nuclear scientists, said to be close to disgraced Abdul Qadeer Khan, met up with al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and offered to supply him with atomic weapons, according to a newly released book. Chaudiri Abdul Majeed and Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, who held a series of senior posts in Pakistani nuke programme, went to Taliban [Images] headquarters in Kandahar in mid-August 2001 and spent three days with bin Laden who was keen on acquiring weapons of mass destruction, the book says. In fact, Mahmood was said to be more close to...

The Los Angeles Times has delivered another round of layoffs with the outlet’s business side slashed just weeks after 40 newsroom employees accepted buyouts. The Wrap reports the full count isn’t known, citing Oliver Darcy that dozens of employees across the company’s operations and communications sections were let go this week, including Vice President of Communications Hillary Manning. Representatives for the Los Angeles Times didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from TheWrap.

n a quest to understand complex speech, scientists inserted what's been dubbed a human “language gene” into mice. Remarkably, the genetic tweak had a profound impact on the little rodents' ability to squeak, revealing astonishing clues about the evolution of vocal communication. Mouse pups that had the human version of the language gene showed different vocalization patterns from their buddies with the usual version mice have. When calling for their mother, their squeaks were higher pitched and featured a different selection of sounds than usual. “All baby mice make ultrasonic squeaks to their moms, and language researchers categorize the varying...

Tech billionaire Elon Musk and United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio have traded barbs with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski over the use of Musk’s Starlink internet service in Ukraine. During the tense exchange on X on Sunday, Sikorski suggested that Poland, which pays Ukraine’s Starlink costs to help it repel Russia’s invasion, might have to seek alternative suppliers if Musk’s satellite network proves to be an “unreliable provider”. -snip- Rubio came to Musk’s defence following Sikorski’s post, accusing the Polish politician of “making things up”. “No one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink,” Rubio...

Joshua Stueve, a top spokesperson for the Department of Justice (DOJ), has resigned, citing a “toxic work environment” in his letter to leadership. “Simply put, I cannot continue to serve in such a hostile and toxic work environment, one where leadership at the highest levels makes clear we are not welcomed or valued, much less trusted to do our jobs,” wrote Stueve, who is not a political appointee and has served in administrations run by both parties. Stueve’s resignation is the latest in federal resignations and firings since the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) began examining various agencies...

"hostile and egregious misconduct"...US Justice Department ethics complaint against... Video platform Rumble blocked in Brazil... acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Caleb Vitello removed... A federal judge ruling against President Donald Trump's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion executive orders... New York City courtroom today a hearing for Luigi Mangione accused in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO... The Associated Press filing a lawsuit seeking access... Oval Office and Air Force One... In Berlin...30-year-old Spanish tourist stabbed...Holocaust memorial... Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong expressing her dismay to Chinese Foreign Minister...live fire exercise warning from Chinese naval ships... A federal judge ruling to...

The new feature, announced by the Office of Personnel Management, aligns with the goals of DOGE.WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s administration is testing a new capability that would allow officials to email the entire federal government workforce from a single email address, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said in a statement Friday.The new capability could allow Trump to communicate directly with millions of federal workers across dozens of agencies simultaneously, with a single click of a mouse.The White House declined to comment.The effort aligns with the government modernization goals of the new Department of Government Efficiency, headed by tech...

The United Kingdom has confirmed that one of its Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarines surfaced close to the Yantar, a notorious Russian spy ship late last year, to make it clear it was being observed. The revelation came as the Royal Navy was once again closely tracking the Russian ship after it returned to British waters. According to the U.K. defense secretary, the Yantar has, in recent months, been “mapping the U.K.’s critical underwater infrastructure,” at a time when NATO, in general, is increasingly concerned about apparent sabotage to undersea cables. The Yantar was sailing in British waters in November last...

Italy is reportedly close to sealing a €1.5 billion (£1.25 billion) deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX that would provide the country’s government with secure telecommunications. Giorgia Meloni’s government is in advanced talks with the billionaire tech entrepreneur and, according to Bloomberg news, a deal has already been approved by Italy’s ministry and intelligence services. Ms Meloni has built a close relationship with the Tesla billionaire, describing him last week as a “genius” who had been wrongly presented as a “monster” because of his support for Donald Trump. On Monday, the Italian prime minister sought to play down speculation about an...

A major Russian telecommunications company appears to have begun providing an Internet connection to North Korea. The new link supplements one from China and will provide back-up to Pyongyang at a time the US government is reportedly attacking its Internet infrastructure and pressuring China to end all business with North Korea. The connection, from TransTeleCom, began appearing in Internet routing databases at 09:08 UTC on Sunday, or around 17:38 Pyongyang time on Sunday evening. Internet routing databases map the thousands of connections between telecom providers and enable computers to figure out the best route to a destination. Until now, Internet...