Free Republic

An investigation has revealed suspicious communications devices inside Chinese-made cargo cranes used widely at US ports, supporting fears that the equipment could be part of an espionage plot. Cranes made by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC), a state-owned Chinese company, in some cases carry cellular modems, according to a congressional investigation reported by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday. The modems offer a potential backdoor for remote access, and do not appear to support the normal operations of the equipment, the investigation found. The discovery of the modems, which had not been previously disclosed, supports growing fears in US intelligence...

Police arrested a man last week after he allegedly drove a stolen construction excavator into a light pole and caused extensive damage while driving through two gas stations just off Interstate 5 in Redding. Remore Allen Smith, 37, of North Carolina faces charges of vehicle theft, resisting arrest and hit-and-run after authorities say he stole the heavy machinery from an I-5 on-ramp at about 3:15 a.m. Friday. Smith allegedly drove the excavator several hundred feet on Churn Creek Road, striking a light pole and traveling through a Chevron gas station and then an Arco AM/PM station, the Redding Police Department...

Note: The following text is a quote: Three Convicted in International Truck Theft Conspiracy Sentenced to Prison HOUSTON—Three men who conspired to steal and transport millions of dollars of truck tractors, trailers and other heavy equipment to Central America have been sentenced to prison, United States Attorney Tim Johnson announced today. Rito Jasso-Zorilla, 32, Victor Antonio Garcia, 27, and Orlando Gonzalez Huerta, 29, all citizens of Mexico, were sentenced by United States District Judge David Hittner this morning for their respective roles in assisting Yuri David Melendez, 42, of Houston, with the far-reaching scheme. Beginning in 2001, Melendez received requests...

BAALBEK, Lebanon -- People in a village outside this Hezbollah stronghold used a front-end loader's scoop to carry away some of the dead Wednesday after a night of Israeli airstrikes and a commando raid inside Baalbek that residents said killed at least 15 civilians. It was the deepest thrust into Lebanon by Israeli troops since fighting broke out between Israel and Hezbollah on July 12. Israel said its soldiers killed at least 10 Hezbollah guerrillas and captured five. A crowd of about 50 people from the village of Al Jamaliyeh carried pictures of Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, during a...

The Israel Defense Forces have found a way to block the tunnels Palestinians dig under the Gaza-Egypt border to smuggle in weapons by using a huge trench-digging machine, according to a military publication. The 100-ton behemoth would dig deep channels along the border route Israel patrols, exposing the tunnels, the soldiers' weekly "Bamahane" reports in its current edition. The new trenching machine, made U.S. company Trencor Inc., might provide at least an interim answer to the smuggling problem by neutralizing tunnels now in operation.