Free Republic

Armenians are renowned the world over as a resourceful and skillful people. For a small nation, they have produced a remarkable number of impressive and original minds, and Kardashians too. But Armenians’ fabled ingenuity notwithstanding, the country of Armenia has fallen into a sophisticated trap of its own making – bankrupting its intellectually wealthy but economically fragile nation and stifling its own advancement. The trap – initially designed as a ploy to secure the permanent, internationally condoned transfer of a large swath of sovereign territory in neighboring Azerbaijan – now appears to have backfired. The stage was set by 1994,...

North Korea has warned its citizens to stay indoors over fears that "yellow dust" which blows in from China could bring coronavirus with it. The streets of the capital Pyongyang were reported to be virtually empty on Thursday following the warning. The secretive state claims to be coronavirus-free but has been on high alert since January with strict border closures and restrictions on movement. There is no known link between the seasonal dust clouds and Covid-19. However, they are not the only country to suggest a link. The BBC's Disinformation Team notes Turkmenistan also alleged virus-laden dust was the reason...

Following the end on the 18th of October of the 13-year United Nations’ embargo on Iran buying or selling weapons, the roll-out of the military component of the 25-year deal between China and Iran will begin in November, as exclusively revealed by Oil Price.com. After a series of meetings in China on the 9th and 10th of October between Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Zarif, and his China counterpart, Wang Yi, this military component may now also feature the deployment in Iran of North Korean weaponry and technology, in exchange for oil, according to sources very close to the Iranian government...

Summary This joint cybersecurity advisory—written by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)—provides information on Russian state-sponsored advanced persistent threat (APT) actor activity targeting various U.S. state, local, territorial, and tribal (SLTT) government networks, as well as aviation networks. This advisory updates joint CISA-FBI cybersecurity advisory AA20-283A: APT Actors Chaining Vulnerabilities Against SLTT, Critical Infrastructure, and Elections Organizations. Since at least September 2020, a Russian state-sponsored APT actor—known variously as Berserk Bear, Energetic Bear, TeamSpy, Dragonfly, Havex, Crouching Yeti, and Koala in open-source reporting—has conducted a campaign against a wide variety of U.S....

If the Bergdahl uproar feels creepily reminiscent of the Benghazi uproar, or the Syrian "red line" uproar, or the choose-your-own- Obama -foreign-adventure uproar, it's because they all have a common denominator. This is what happens when political hacks formally take over foreign policy. It's the "formal" point that bears some meditation. Barack Obama isn't the first president to make foreign-policy decisions on the basis of domestic political calculations. He does, however, win the distinction of being the first president to utterly disregard—to treat with contempt—the institutions and procedures that were designed to help the commander in chief insulate the serious...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has granted U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden permanent residency rights, his lawyer said on Thursday, a step towards Russian citizenship if he wants it. Snowden, 37, fled the United States and was given asylum in Russia after leaking secret files in 2013 that revealed vast domestic and international surveillance operations carried out by the U.S. National Security Agency where he was a contractor. U.S. authorities have for years wanted Snowden returned to the United States to face a criminal trial on espionage charges brought in 2013. “His (Russian) residency permit was expiring and we asked to extend...

Israel's minister of regional cooperation said Wednesday that he expects normalize relations with another Arab state before the U.S. elections. Reuters reported that Ofir Akunis, who is also a member of Israel's parliament, the Knesset, told Army Radio that the announcement would come before Nov. 3. "I have a reasonable basis to believe that the announcement will come before November 3 - that, if you'll permit me, is what I understand from my sources," he said, according to the news service. "I will be very happy if the announcement will happen - and before the elections in the United States,"...

I found this National Review story shocking: A Bizarre and Revealing Biden Interview.  It’s from 1974 and covers many topics including his dead wife: “She had the best body of any woman I ever saw. She looks better than a Playboy bunny, doesn’t she?”  His Presidential aspirations while still a first term senator: “I know I can be a good President.” Neilia, he said, would have been an asset with respect to this: “I know I could have easily made the White House with Neilia.” Money: “I am worth a lot more than my salary of $42,500 ( $249,000 in...

Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and FBI Director Christopher Wray announced Wednesday that Iran and Russia are working to undermine the integrity of the 2020 election. “We would like to alert the public that we have identified that two foreign actors, Iran and Russia, have taken specific actions to influence public opinion relating to our elections,” Ratcliffe said during an evening press conference, following efforts by the intelligence and law enforcement communities to ensure the election is safe and secure. According to Ratcliffe, Iran and Russia got their hands on U.S. voter registration information, enabling the foreign adversaries to...

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently compared the Democratic Party’s platform with communism and said the shared values could form the “ideological basis” for developing ties between Russia and the U.S. if Joe Biden becomes president. Putin, sitting for an interview with Russia’s state-owned Rossiya TV on Oct. 7, compared the two main presidential candidates in the U.S. and evaluated each candidate in terms of how Russia could work with them as president. He said despite some criticism of Russia, the Democratic Party holds values he identifies with as a former member of the Soviet Communist Party for 18 years. “As...

ks between President Trump and Russia that was used in a controversial dossier, said on Wednesday that he wants to clear his name, adding that the claim by Trump’s allies that he is a “Russian agent” is “slander.” In an interview published Wednesday by The New York Times, Danchenko said that after his identity was revealed in July, he began receiving threats and harassment, especially following Attorney General William Barr’s declassification of the fact that Danchenko was the subject of an FBI counterintelligence investigation a decade ago. While the FBI had closed the investigation by 2011, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)...

Breaking – we’ve been able to confirm that it was indeed Hunter Biden who signed off on the request to repair three laptops in Wilmington, DE in April 2019. Yaacov Apelbaum provided us support for this statement. Yaacov was able to obtain Hunter Biden’s licenses in both Delaware and the District of Columbia and he compare the signatures on these licenses with the signature of the individual requesting computer service in Wilmington in April 2019. Confirmed: The signatures match.

More than 50 former intelligence officials said emails alleged to have been found on a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden show signs of a Russian disinformation operation. Several of the signers have endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, according to Politico, which first reported the letter. The letter states that its signers do not have new information about the emails and their authenticity. “We want to emphasize that we do not know if the emails, provided to the New York Post by President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, are genuine or not and that we do not have evidence of...

“It is great to be back in the Sunshine State with so many champions for freedom, just 19 days away from a great victory all across Florida and all across America. But standing here, near the hallowed grounds of Memorial Cubano, it is my great honor, on behalf of our president, to accept the endorsement of these extraordinary heroes of the Cuban exiled community. Thank you so much. I thank you so much for the honor and for the support,” Vice President Pence at the Cuban Memorial, Oct. 15.  Far from honoring communist murder victims, Obama visited Cuba to gift the...

The brutal regimes in Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua pose a grave threat to our country’s national security interests. We must continue to consistently deny funds to these regimes, which work together to oppress their people, wreak havoc in our hemisphere and oppose U.S. interests. The Trump administration has responded effectively to this reality, marginalizing these intertwined dictatorships while supporting humanitarian and pro-democracy efforts for the populations they oppress. These dictatorships maintain ties with U.S. adversaries, pariah states, and terrorist organizations including Russia, Communist China, Iran and the FARC and ELN in Colombia. These regimes’ tentacles also extend well beyond their...

As of 1:10 p.m. Bolivia time this date in 1967, Ernesto “Che” Guevara was no longer a man: he was only a god. The Argentinian-born doctor turned Cuban revolutionary icon and the man who wrote the book on guerrilla warfare had put abroad to foment insurgency. His efforts in the Congo foundered; his bid to replicate the Cuban revolution in Bolivia was doing likewise when he was captured. After holding him overnight, the government sent a coded order to execute him in the field. Che had done the same thing with his own hands to several who betrayed the Sierra...

SANTIAGO, Chile, October 20, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Two Catholic churches were destroyed in Chile’s capital city Sunday in the wake of riots marking the one-year anniversary of anti-government protests that called for a new constitution. “Television images from Santiago on Sunday showed masked protesters filming with their smartphones and cheering as the spire of the burning La Asunción church crashed to the ground,” the Wall Street Journal reported. “Demonstrators also set fire to San Francisco Borja church, which dates from the mid-19th century.” The Church of St. Francis Borgia is regularly used for law enforcement ceremonies. The Church of the...

This Sunday, October 18, there were several “peaceful” protests and mobilizations in Santiago de Chile as a result of the commemoration of the first anniversary of the beginning of the social unrest in Chile. A group of hooded men violently attacked two churches in the vicinity of Plaza Italia: one of them was San Francisco de Borja, where police officers celebrate their institutional ceremonies, and the other was the church of La Asunción. one of the oldest in Santiago. The first of the sanctuaries, in addition to being attacked, was looted and some of the religious images were burned in...

Chile has been in chaos since October 2019. Roiled by mass protests and looting, the government of Chile has declared a state of emergency and imposed curfews in many cities across the country: About 20,000 soldiers are patrolling the streets, over 2,300 people have been injured and thousands have been arrested and at least 23 have been killed - the worst unrest Chile has faced since Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship three decades ago. To make matters worse, the Chilean authorities have begun advancing an increasingly authoritarian message implying that the conflict must be solved with repression. The government of President Pinera...

The U.S. military carried out a drone strike Thursday, killing two senior Al Qaeda operatives in northwest Syria... “U.S. forces conducted a strike against Al Qaeda in Syria in the vicinity of Idlib, Syria, Oct. 15. AQ-S continues to present a threat to America and our allies,” ... Officials say the strike was carried out by the U.S. military’s elite Joint Special Operations Command. It’s the first drone strike by the U.S. military against Al Qaeda in Syria since mid-September.... The U.S. military has been using a new missile to kill terrorists in the past year dubbed the “flying Ginsu”...