Free Republic

A former NYPD sergeant is accused of helping Chinese spies embedded in New York and New Jersey track down dissidents on behalf of their government and threaten to harm their families unless they returned to the 'homeland' to go to prison as part of a program dubbed Operation Fox Hunt. Michael McMahon is on trial in New York City along with Zhu Yong and Zheng Congying as acting as Chinese agents to track down dissidents who had fled and intimidate them into returning. The trial began today with opening statements from US federal prosecutors. McMahon was working as a private...

Chinese spies in U.S. hunting for man who could be the 'most significant defector in decades' are warned off by White House US warned Beijing about covert Chinese agents operating in America to pressure fugitives such as defector Ling Wancheng to return to China Operation Fox Hunt part of large effort by Beijing to repatriate fugitives China’s former president, Hu Jintao, employed Ling’s brother as an aide Brother in July accused of bribe-taking and illegally obtaining state secrets Ling may have got sensitive information about Chinese leaders from him Chinese President Xi Jinping will make his first state visit to...

As the new hunting season begins today, animal rights activists are threatening to disrupt meets as "observers", as well as joining hunts undercover. The saboteurs will film constantly using new telescopic lenses so hunts can be monitored from a distance. They will also use hidden cameras in clothing and time-delay devices dotted around the countryside. (edit) Hunting was banned in 2005 but since then the number of people taking part in the sport has continued to increase, with 50,000 mounted followers expected this year compared to 40,000 in 2004. This year there are expected to be a further 50,000...

Oscar Wilde once described the English country gentleman galloping after a fox as "the unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable." But the centuries-old practice of hunting foxes and other animals with horse and hound has finally come to an end in Britain after new restrictions recently came into force. Can the fox, the main beneficiary of the change, now breathe a sigh of relief? Whether Chicagoans or other citizens in the U.S. care about whether the fox can or not depends on the big picture behind the division caused by this debate. Here goes, then. Hunting wild animals worldwide,...

Urban foxes are attacking and killing pet cats because they are struggling to find enough food to eat in British towns and cities. Cat owners have reported an increasing number of attacks and pest control specialists say that the use of wheelie bins, rather than bin bags, for rubbish disposal is partly to blame because it has deprived many foxes of an easy source of food. There are no plans to start a cull of urban foxes Gordon Manson, a pest controller from Balerno, near Edinburgh, says that the number of fox-related calls he receives has doubled. "The population has...