Free Republic

President Trump is planning to give TikTok another lifeline. With a mid-June deadline approaching and trade talks with China in limbo, Trump is expected to sign an executive order staving off enforcement of a law banning or forcing the sale of the app, according to people familiar with his plan. It would be the third extension since Trump took office in January. The current one expires June 19. The White House had been facilitating a deal for investors to take ownership of an American-operated TikTok, but it got tangled in Trump’s imposition of heavy tariffs on Chinese imports in early...

Chinese tech giant Huawei is reportedly ready to test a new artificial-intelligence chip to compete with Nvidia — but the U.S. chipmaker shouldn’t be too concerned, according to one analyst. Huawei is looking to test its Ascend 910D chip with fellow homegrown tech companies and is expected to get its first samples of the chips next month, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed people described as familiar with the matter. The Chinese company, which was added to the U.S. Entity List in 2019, reportedly is aiming to take on Nvidia Corp.’s H100 chips, which are used to train some...

Two men working on behalf of the Chinese government’s Ministry of Public Security attempted to bribe an IRS agent in a scheme intended to further Beijing’s harassment of Falun Gong believers, the Justice Department revealed in a criminal complaint unveiled today. The defendants were arrested today in California on charges including acting as unregistered foreign agents, money laundering, and bribery. “The Chinese government has yet again attempted, and failed, to target critics of the PRC here in the United States,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement this afternoon. “The Justice Department will continue to investigate, disrupt, and prosecute...

The European Parliament has, once again, found itself at the heart of a corruption scandal, this time involving the Chinese tech giant Huawei. Police raids have been carried out across Belgium and Portugal amid suspicions of bribery, forgery, money laundering, and organized criminal activity. The European Parliament’s latest corruption scandal unfolds even as the previous one—the so-called ‘Qatargate’ affair—remains under investigation and litigation, further deepening preexisting concerns about foreign influence in EU institutions. The Qatargate scandal, which surfaced more than two years ago, involves allegations that Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), lobbyists, and their families accepted substantial sums of...

Behind Broken Borders: Sachs’ Weaponized CompassionJeffrey Sachs, a noted economist and influential figure in global policy circles, has long been celebrated as an architect of sustainable development. Yet behind this polished veneer lies a more unsettling story, one that implicates him in masterminding the invasion of the southern border of the United States and beyond. By co-opting established religious organizations—chief among them Catholic Charities—and harnessing taxpayer dollars, Sachs has effectively weaponized compassion to orchestrate a mass migration crisis. His book, Ethics in Action for Sustainable Development, which carries a foreword by Pope Francis, serves as the blueprint for this operation....

The pro-abortion, globalist has long been a supporter and collaborator with Francis.VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis appointed prominent abortion advocate and supporter of the United Nations’ climate change-oriented policies Jeffrey Sachs as an ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences in a move that has drawn significant criticism from concerned Catholics. Announced October 25, the Vatican described Sachs, having been a regular visiting figure at the Academy for some time, as a “distinguished” professor while highlighting his work in “sustainable development” but avoiding any mention of his support for abortion. The appointment prompted numerous Catholics to protest,...

The Chinese Foreign Ministry berated the administration of President Donald Trump, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in particular, on Friday for addressing the threat of Chinese regime influence during a tour to Central America and the Caribbean this week. Rubio made his first international travel after being sworn into the top diplomat position a visit to Panama, followed by stops in El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic. The growing influence of the Chinese Communist Party in these countries was a prominent topic of discussion, particularly in Panama, where Chinese influence over the Panama Canal has become...

Another day, another backdoor. In this video, we're talking about the CMS8000, a medical device that contains some interesting features.

Subtitle: A unanimous jury verdict was reversed by an Obama judge shortly after the Democratic administration apparently took interest in the case. Jeff Parker, the CEO of the small Florida-based technology company ParkerVision, explained to Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck Thursday how tech giant Qualcomm allegedly stole one of the most revolutionary patented innovations in American history with the help of elements of the Obama administration — technology that was ultimately offshored to China, possibly giving America's pre-eminent adversary a competitive edge. "We are at the beginning of seeing corruption exposed like never before in America," said Beck. Long war...

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is warning that Contec CMS8000 devices, a widely used healthcare patient monitoring device, include a backdoor that quietly sends patient data to a remote IP address and downloads and executes files on the device. Contec is a China-based company that specializes in healthcare technology, offering a range of medical devices including patient monitoring systems, diagnostic equipment, and laboratory instruments. CISA learned of the malicious behavior from an external researcher who disclosed the vulnerability to the agency. When CISA tested three Contec CMS8000 firmware packages, the researchers discovered anomalous network traffic to a...

The United States Navy has officially banned its members from using DeepSeek — an artificial intelligence chatbot created in China — out of fear the Chinese government could exploit sensitive data, according to a report.

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that Microsoft is in talks to acquire TikTok and that he would like to see a bidding war over the app.

John Solomon @jsolomonReports Breaking: TikTok says it will close Sunday in U.S. if Biden does not intervene From justthenews.com 9:39 PM · Jan 17, 2025

The Supreme Court could rule on TikTok’s fate as soon as Wednesday, after justices signaled during oral arguments Friday they may uphold the federal law banning TikTok unless it divests itself from ByteDance, expressing skepticism of TikTok’s opposition to the policy. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Friday over whether the federal law—which requires TikTok to separate from parent company ByteDance or else be banned—is in violation of the First Amendment. While it’s unclear when the court will rule in the case, the court has announced it will release opinions in pending cases on Wednesday, which could include a ruling...

The Chinese government is considering a plan that would have Elon Musk acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations to keep the app from being effectively banned, Bloomberg News reported on Monday. The contingency plan is one of several options China is exploring as the U.S. Supreme Court determines whether to uphold a law that calls for China-based ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. business by Jan. 19, the report said, citing anonymous sources. After that deadline, third-party Internet service providers would be penalized for supporting TikTok’s operations in the country. Under the plan, Musk would oversee both X, which he currently owns, and...

On June 24, 2012, the body of Shane Todd, a young US electrical engineer, was found hanging in his Singapore apartment. The Singapore Police say it was suicide, but the Todd family believes he was murdered. -excerpt- ... Shane told his family that he was being asked to compromise US security and he feared for his life. Shane refused to do what he was being asked to do and turned in his sixty day notice at IME. Shane found a good job with a company in Virginia, and bought a ticket to fly back to the US on July 1,...

High-ranking alumni of some of the most powerful congressional offices in the country have lobbied on behalf of companies controlled or greatly influenced by the Chinese military, disclosures show. Former congressional staffers with ties to powerful members of Congress, like Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican House Whip Steve Scalise, have worked to influence policy on behalf of Pentagon-designated “Chinese military companies” like DJI, BGI and Huawei. Chinese military companies are those the Department of Defense (DOD) has determined are “directly or indirectly owned, controlled or beneficially owned by” the Chinese military, as well as those that contribute...

The Black Futures Lab, a venture of Black Lives Matter founder Alicia Garza, is sponsored by the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA), an organization that works with China’s communist government to push its agenda in the United States, according to an investigation by the Heritage Foundation’s Mike Gonzalez. Gonzalez discovered that the Black Futures Lab donation page explicitly states they are “a fiscally sponsored project of the Chinese Progressive Association,” explaining where donations to Black Futures Lab are funneled.

WASHINGTON—The classified documents that investigators say were leaked by a junior member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard indicate the extent to which U.S. spy agencies rely on clandestinely intercepted communications to keep tabs on their adversaries and allies alike. In vivid examples, the documents track foreign governments’ military movements, diplomatic efforts and clandestine weapons sales, as well as debates in friendly capitals and more. The powerful eavesdropping program that enables some of that intelligence gathering is due to lapse at the end of the year. To persuade Congress to renew the program, Biden administration officials had been debating whether...

Apple’s weak China sales performance may have shocked investors, but customers and analysts have been noting the rising challenges the company faces in its third-largest market. Intensifying competition from domestic rivals, coupled with longer upgrade cycles as consumers spend more cautiously amid an economic slowdown, have stunted Apple’s China growth, with sales there nosediving by 13 per cent in the quarter ending in December to $20.8-billion and missing estimates of $23.5-billion. Shares of the company dipped about 3 per cent in early trading on Friday, following the disappointing China sales. “Apple’s sales decline in China is not surprising given the...