Free Republic

Law Enforcement Actions in Ohio and Texas Result in Charges, Arrests, and Seizures of Approximately 187 Computer Devices Today the Department of Justice announced coordinated actions against the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea (DPRK) government’s schemes to fund its regime through remote information technology (IT) work for U.S. companies. These actions include an indictment, two arrests, searches of multiple known or suspected “laptop farms” in Texas pursuant to “Operation Lonestar Roundup,” and the seizure of approximately 187 computer devices used by DPRK IT workers. “North Korea’s rogue regime uses its pervasive IT worker schemes to raise revenue for various...

(Islamabad/Moscow, October 25) There is now a nuclear dimension to the Afghan war. A second retired Pakistani atomic scientist was picked up by Islamabad on Tuesday night on the suspicion that he was developing a nuclear device for Osama bin Laden and the Taliban. The arrests followed tip-offs by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation to the Pakistani authorities. Sultan Bashiruddin Mehmood and Abdul Majeed, both scientists who had retired from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), were picked up after the FBI provided evidence of their links to jehadi outfits. The Pakistan Interior Minister, Moinuddin Haidar, said on ...

Yemen-based Ansar Allah, widely known as the Houthis, continues to have a profound impact on global security. The group’s ongoing operations in the Red Sea affected an estimated US $1 trillion worth of maritime cargo between October 2023 and May 2024, and despite periodic kinetic attacks, its operations show no signs of abating. Moreover, evidence suggests the Houthis enjoy the financial and military backing of Russia and China, in addition to their established ties with Iran. This Insight explores the Houthis’ financing mechanisms, including leveraging technology to evade sanctions and the involvement of foreign facilitators with demonstrable and plausible ties...

Former President Donald Trump did not hold back his praises to some of the world's authoritarian leaders in a new media appearance. In his interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Trump shared his admiration for the leadership styles of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. "They're all top of the line," Trump said. The former president described Xi as a "brilliant man" and recalled meeting with him in his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida in 2017. "President Xi is a brilliant man... The look, the brain, the whole thing. We had a...

The US suspending consular services at its embassy and consulates in Brazil... There was another day of bloody violence in Judea and Samaria... The government of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez losing housing reform votes... Hormuz second reported tanker attack in the last 24 hours... North Korea test firing a missile eastwards... Israel's High Court overturning...decision banning Arab parties in the October 27th election... US Coast Guard announcing seizure of two tankers carrying oil to Cuba... Ukraine War Kiev now under heavy Russian attack... In the Yemen War three Houthi missiles intercepted...Saudi Arabia reported one injury... Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth...

Senate confirms new director for spy agency, cyber command WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate confirmed on Tuesday President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the U.S. Cyber Command and National Security Agency, Army Lieutenant General Paul Nakasone. Nakasone has an extensive background in cyber issues, having held positions including serving as chief of the U.S. Army’s cyber command since late 2016. Nakasone, 54, replaces Admiral Mike Rogers, who is retiring after nearly four years in the “dual-hat” position leading the NSA, the country’s largest spy agency, and the military’s cyber warfare division. During his confirmation hearing, Nakasone said he did...

Ever wanted to know what happens behind closed doors in Kim Jong-il’s mega mansion? In this video, Kang (his former personal bodyguard) spills all of the juicy secrets for the first time!

North Korea has been found to be dispatching workers to a drone factory in Russia to produce military drones for the country. The Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT), comprising 11 countries including South Korea, the United States, and Japan, released a report today (September 16) titled "DPRK Sanctions Evasion and Violations of UN Security Council Resolutions: Overseas Labor." The MSMT was launched to fill the gap in monitoring sanctions against North Korea following the dissolution of the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea Panel of Experts in 2024, and this marks its third report. According to the report,...

In a speech to US business leaders, Najib says opposition politicians have blown 1MDB scandal out of proportion in a failed attempt to topple his government. WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump welcomed Prime Minister Najib Razak to the White House today, praising his country for investing in the United States while steering clear of an American investigation into a Malaysian corruption scandal. The visit is important for Najib, who faces elections next year and wants to signal he is still welcome at the White House despite a criminal probe by the US Justice Department into a state fund called 1Malaysia...

PYONGYANG — A group of oppressed people arrived in a new land in hopes of making a better life for themselves, as a ship filled with British refugees traveled to North Korea in search of freedom. Witnesses said that the poor, huddled mass of humanity emerged from the vessel battered and downtrodden, hoping to experience a new life of liberty by migrating to the less-totalitarian regime of Kim Jong Un's North Korea. "I already feel less oppressed," said Reginald Hardington, a native of London who set off for North Korea to create a better life for his family. "From what...

Given that he deliberately allowed Iran to flood America with deadly drugs and grow its nuclear program, it’s easy to argue that he is. As Barack Obama slowly fades from the landscape, let’s consider how he has helped to destroy Western civilization, especially the United States of America. He did this via his fealty to Iran, which allowed unchecked, deadly drug trafficking into America while giving Iran the time, space, and funds to develop its nuclear weapons. The Obama Administration killed hundreds of thousands of Americans by allowing the Iran-founded and funded terrorist organization Hezbollah to operate in the Western...

North Korean IT workers are systematically infiltrating hundreds of global corporations, including multiple Fortune 500 companies and a U.S. government agency, by posing as remote tech freelancers. Fox News reports that federal law enforcement is warning that North Korean operatives posing as IT workers are applying for remote jobs at U.S. companies, and many are getting hired. SNIP>>> The scheme relies on advanced technical deception and physical coordination to maintain the illusion of being domestic remote workers, according to Skadden. The Federal News Network reports operatives are purchasing stolen American identities from the dark web and using artificial intelligence to...

Perks of being a Powerful Foreign Dignitary Zhou Yongkang, a member of China's Politburo Standing Committee and No 9 in power ranking, shaking hands with female traffic cops in Pyongyang on Oct. 10. He led the China's delegation to attend the celebration for the 65th anniversary of N. Korean ruling party's founding.

President Trump confirmed Wednesday he plans to meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un later this year, the third sitdown between the two across the commander in chief’s two terms.*** “I get along with him, and you know what? The fact that I get along with him-that’s a good thing, not a bad thing,” Trump told reporters at the White House, adding that Kim has “57 very powerful nuclear weapons.”Should have never allowed it to happen,” the president added. “They should have never allowed it. If I were president, I wouldn’t have allowed it. But he’s got them.” Past...

Ahmed al-Sharaa – Montage Image Wiki Commons A former al-Qaida terrorist is now sitting on a treasure trove of nuclear material that can be weaponized. A United Nations team has excavated a ‘previously undisclosed site’ in Syria and found several tons of nuclear material from the days of the Bashar al-Assad rule. The agreed plan was for the International Atomic Energy Agency to remove the material from Syria – but that’s not what’s going to happen, anymore. Syria is now holding the nuclear material, and refuses the handover, saying ‘it will remain under IAEA safeguards for peaceful civilian use’. The...

We see a lot of far-left influence on the young people of the United States. So it's troubling to see Communism raise its head in any form, particularly in our own country, given our efforts to defeat and beat back Communism elsewhere, such as during the Korean War. It's also ironic to see the young in South Korea standing up against Communism, perhaps because their country has personally experienced being attacked and has had Communism exerting its influence for years. The young came out to stand up against that on Saturday. Saturday was also Liberation Day, the day South Korea...

German paper says Iranians paid cash to build mid-range missile launch pads on Paraguana Peninsula; Iranian engineers visited site in Feb. BERLIN – The Iranian government is moving forward with the construction of rocket launch bases in Venezuela, the German daily Die Welt wrote in its Friday edition. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is Teheran’s most important South American ally. Iran is building intermediate- range missile launch pads on the Paraguaná Peninsula, and engineers from a construction firm – Khatam al-Anbia – owned by the Revolutionary Guards visited Paraguaná in February. Amir al-Hadschisadeh, the head of the Guard’s Air Force, participated...

The US delegation walked out of a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, in protest at comments made by France that compared Washington's voting on human rights to that of authoritarian states. The diplomatic row was initially sparked last week, when the US joined North Korea and Russia in voting against extending Volker Turk's term as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. After the vote on Friday, France's UN mission criticised the US and compared it to North Korea and Russia. "The US used to be a beacon of human rights. Not anymore," it posted on X. In response, US...

A former high-ranking Iranian government official, Brig. Gen. Alireza Asghari, 63, has defected to the United States, Iranian exiles and other sources told Newsmax today. Asghari had access to highly-classified intelligence information and "defected to the Americans with lots of secrets," respected Iranian journalist Alireza Nourizadeh told Newsmax from London. The disappearance of the former Revolutionary Guards General has created a panic in Tehran. Gen. Asghari left Iran on an officially-sanctioned trip to Damascus, Syria, then went missing during a stop-over in Istanbul, Turkey on February 7, according to statements by Iranian government officials in Tehran. Nourizadeh believes he had...

North Korea is the world’s most unlikely growth story. Its economy is flourishing in ways not seen in years, aided by arms sales and troop deployments to Russia, supplies and financing from China, and the ability to flout international sanctions to import more energy, components and materials. Chinese leader Xi Jinping traveled to North Korea this week for his first foreign trip of the year. The Kim regime slammed its borders shut during the Covid-19 pandemic. It has since reopened to only a select few outsiders, including Russian and Western travelers and diplomats. Those visitors describe a North Korea unrecognizable...