One U.S. border agent was killed and four others wounded in a deadly Nov. 17 shootout with drug smugglers off the coast of Puerto Rico. The Thursday morning incident was first reported by Anna Giaritelli of the Washington Examiner. The shootout occurred around 8 a.m. local time, after agents encountered …
Read More »Chinese Intelligence Officer Sentenced to 20 Years in US Prison for Trying to Steal Tech Secrets
The first Chinese intelligence officer extradited to the United States and tried for attempting to steal trade secrets will spend 20 years in prison. Xu Yanjun, a deputy division director at the Chinese Ministry of State Security, was arrested in April 2018 during a visit to Belgium to meet with …
Read More »Ukrainian Air Defense Missile Likely Caused Explosion in Poland, NATO Says; Kyiv Wants Further Study
An explosion in eastern Poland near the Ukrainian border was “likely caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile fired to defend Ukrainian territory against Russian cruise missile attacks,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, prompting Ukrainian officials to ask to be part of an additional inquiry. Reports of Russian missiles …
Read More »Arrest in Istanbul Bomb Attack as Turkey Slams US
Police in Turkey have arrested a woman suspected of causing a devastating explosion Sunday in Istanbul, officials there said. Although motives remain unclear as of Monday, Ankara accused Syrian Kurdish militants backed by the United States of ordering the attack. “There is much to uncover, but this is a starting …
Read More »US Forces Test-Drop Cruise Missile From an Aircraft
American forces airdropped a cruise missile from an aircraft for the first time in Europe, as part of a test exercise. The test occurred inside the Arctic Circle at the remote Andoya Space Defence Range in Norway. It involved a US Air Force MC-130J Hercules Commando aircraft dropping a Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff …
Read More »Young Iranian Protesters Swat the Turbans From Clerics’ Heads
An Iranian teenager sneaks up behind a cleric in the capital, Tehran, and knocks his turban off his head before dashing off. The incident, uploaded on social media, is part of a new tactic employed by anti-government demonstrators in Iran. “It is empowering,” one Iranian college student told Soldier of …
Read More »The Power of ‘Putin’s Chef’: Is Wagner Mercenary Group’s Prigozhin the New Rasputin?
by Mike Eckel, RFE/RL The press statement, put out by a St. Petersburg company called Concord Catering and Management, pulled no punches: The elected head of Russia’s second-largest city is a crook, it suggested. Prosecutors should investigate the “possible fact of the creation by Governor [Aleksandr] Beglov of an organized …
Read More »In Brazil, Protesters Ask the Military to Overturn Results of Presidential Election
by Jose Campos BRASILIA – In the aftermath of the contentious and razor-thin presidential elections, the message here in Brazil is clear that despite what politicians and judges say, many citizens have cast their vote for who they think has the most power: the Brazilian armed forces. Demonstrators came out …
Read More »US Military Launches Airstrike Against al-Shabaab in Somalia
The U.S. military says it has carried out an airstrike against members of the al-Shabaab extremist group in Somalia. A statement by the U.S. Africa Command on Saturday describes the airstrike as being carried out Thursday in “collective self-defense” and at the request of the Somali National Army near the …
Read More »Somali Army Kills al-Shabaab Militants in Retaliation For Terror Attack
The Somali National Army and local clan militias say they have killed at least 100 militants as retribution for last Saturday’s terrorist bombings that killed more than 100 people in Mogadishu. Briefing the media Friday in Mogadishu, Defense Ministry spokesperson Abdullahi Ali Anod said the clashes occurred in the Garas …
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