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North Korean IT workers infiltrated Fortune 500 companies in massive fraud scheme

Federal authorities have unraveled several schemes by the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea (DPRK) that were used to fund its regime through remote information technology (IT) work for U.S. companies, resulting in two indictments, tech and financial seizures and an arrest.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) said Monday that North Korean actors were helped by individuals in the U.S., China, the United Arab Emirates and Taiwan to obtain employment with over 100 U.S. companies, including Fortune 500 companies.

In one scheme, U.S.-based individuals created front companies and fraudulent websites to promote the legitimacy of remote workers, while hosting laptop farms where remote North Korean IT workers could remotely access company-provided laptop computers.

In another scheme, IT workers in North Korea used false identities to gain employment with a blockchain research and development company in Atlanta, Georgia, and steal virtual currency worth over $900,000.

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SoCal Police to Use Drones to Catch Illegal Fireworks on July 4

Police in fire-ravaged Southern California, plan to use drones to catch people who use illegal fireworks on and around the Fourth of July celebrations.

While many, even in California, might ordinarily balk at the use of drones for surveillance and law enforcement, the fact that recent Los Angeles wildfires could have been sparked by illegal fireworks means that many communities are on edge entering Independence Day week.

The Pasadena Star-News reports:

Revelers who once could illegally ignite fireworks and scatter before police officers arrive or who suffer from collective amnesia when questioned about who lit the fuse may still find themselves lighter in the wallet. For the first time in parts of Southern California, stealthy aerial surveillance will attempt to nab them in the act.

Riverside, Hemet and Brea, and possibly other cities, will launch drones to film illegal activity as municipalities increasingly marry new technology with old-fashioned legislation to prevent injuries and the type of fast-moving fires that devastated the region in January.

Offenders or their landlords will then receive a surprise: Those cities are mailing citations to property owners, in some cases without ever first contacting them, regardless of whether they were present when the fireworks sparkled, smoked or skyrocketed.

While the Eaton Fire, which erupted in Pasadena and Altadena on January 7, was likely caused by faulty power lines, the Palisades Fire on the other side of town was likely caused by a reignited fire that originally started on New Year’s Day due to illegal fireworks, local residents believe.

Governor Gavin Newsom’s office issued a warning: “The sale, transport, or use of fireworks without the ‘Office of the State Fire Marshal Safe and Sane’ seal is illegal, as is possessing or using any fireworks in communities where they are not allowed. Violators face potential fines up to $50,000 as well as a year in jail.”

The governor’s office said that 600,000 pounds of illegal fireworks had been seized in 2025 thus far.

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Silenced for Defending Colleagues: The Police Free Speech Fight Heating Up in the UK

Richard Cooke, the former chair of the UK’s West Midlands Police Federation, is preparing a legal challenge after being removed from office over comments he made defending his police force. Backed by the Free Speech Union, Cooke argues that his removal was an attack on his right to represent the views of officers.

The dispute began when Cooke responded on X to a Channel 4 News report that described racism and misogyny as widespread within West Midlands Police.

Cooke wrote: “I don’t recognize these attitudes. They do not represent us – we are an anti-racist organization.” In a separate post, he said: “Nonsense – and so was the report but these reporters rarely bother checking their sources.”

Following these posts, the Police Federation of England and Wales suspended Cooke.

The Federation barred him from seeking re-election for three years. According to the Federation, his comments risked alienating members who had experienced discrimination.

A spokesperson said: “Richard Cooke was removed from his role as Chair of the West Midlands Federation branch following an extensive process, which included an appeal. He was investigated following complaints from members about comments on social media which were judged by a panel of his peers to have been in breach of the Federation’s standards.”

The complaints came from two officers who appeared in the Channel 4 show. Cooke’s appeal was rejected after a hearing that he was not permitted to attend. His exclusion from the ballot led to a change in the Federation’s leadership.

Cooke had been elected chair three times since 2018. He describes his removal as a political decision intended to silence him.

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Christopher Wray referred to FBI by Oversight Project for lying to congress

The Oversight Project has submitted a criminal referral to the Department of Justice and the FBI, requesting that federal authorities investigate former FBI Director Christopher Wray for allegedly making false and misleading statements to Congress during his time in office. 

The statements noted by the Oversight Project were made on September 24, 2020; March 2, 2021; July 12, 2023; and December 5, 2023. The comments were in relation to voter fraud and his agency targeting Catholic Americans. 

In a September 2020 hearing before the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee,” Wray said that “we have not seen historically any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election whether it’s by mail or otherwise.” 

He said during the March 2021 hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, “We are not aware of any widespread evidence of voter fraud, much less that would have affected the outcome in the Presidential election.”

This comes after current FBI Director Kash Patel handed over an FBI intelligence report dated August 2020 to Congress that raised concerns over China mass-producing fake US driver’s licenses to fraudulently cast mail-in ballots for then-candidate Joe Biden. Around 20,000 counterfeit driver’s licenses had been seized by Border Patrol on August 5, 2020.

Patel and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said in a joint statement on Tuesday, “Based on our continued review and production of FBI documents related to the CCP’s plot to interfere in the 2020 US Presidential election, previous FBI leadership chose to play politics and withhold key information from the American people – exposing the weaponization of law enforcement for political purposes during the height of the 2020 election season.”

The Oversight Project also noted testimony from then-Deputy Assistant Director for Counterterrorism at the FBI Nikki Floris from October 2019, in which she said, “[m]ake no mistake, China is aggressively pursuing foreign influence operations,” and said that the FBI was focusing on countering these threats. 

Floris “routinely, if not daily, briefed FBI Director Christopher Wray on threats to the integrity of the 2020 election,” the Oversight Project wrote. 

“Ultimately, Wray was the FBI Director. He was briefed constantly by Floris on this specific topic, and he was certainly aware this topic was a matter of burning national interest and would be raised in any oversight hearing,” they later added, writing that statements made in a 2020 and 2023 hearing showed that Wray was aware of the threats that China posted to the US, including in relation to elections.

The Oversight Project also highlighted the FBI’s targeting of Catholic Americans with a memo released that identified them as possible domestic terrorists.

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New Details Emerge: Kootenai County Sheriff Reveals Idaho Shooter Who Ambushed Firefighters Used a Shotgun NOT Sniper Rifle According to Preliminary Investigation

Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris has revealed that a shotgun was used in the deadly shooting in Coeur d’Alene that left two firefighters dead and another injured.

During his recent press conference, a reporter asked Norris, “Sir, could you describe the weapon?”

Norris responded, “It appears right now we have a shotgun that was used.”

He added, “But we’re still processing the scene.”

The reporter responded, “Obviously, a shotgun is not a sniper weapon.”

Norris answered, “Correct.”

He added, “Let me set up the scene for everybody. When you’re in a rural area, and your heavily tree’d heavily brushed, when you’re taken fire, it adds a whole different dynamic to teh situation.”

“So what was reported, by people on scene, by police officers on scene, they believed they were taken sniper fire, yes.”

On Sunday evening, Norris held an emergency press conference and stated, “We are actively taking sniper fire as we speak.”

After making the statement, it was widely reported that the shooter, who has now been identified as Wess Roley, used a sniper rifle.

Norris has not ruled out that a rifle was used completely and shared; authorities are still searching the scene to find any other weapons, including a sniper rifle.

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Americans Carry Median Non-Mortgage Debt of Nearly $19,000: Report

Americans in 100 of the largest metropolitan areas now have a median non-mortgage debt of $18,762 across four generations—baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z—which is down by 23.9 percent compared with $24,668 in 2024, financial services company LendingTree said in a June 24 report.

Non-mortgage debt includes personal loans, auto loans, credit card debt, student loans, and other debt.

Gen Xers, aged 45 to 60 years, have the highest median debt, at $26,207.

This was followed by millennials (aged 29 to 44 years), with a debt of $24,810; Gen Zers (aged 18 to 28), with $12,715; and finally baby boomers (aged 61 to 79), with $10,272.

The median debt fell in all four generations, with baby boomers seeing the largest decline at 45.3 percent. For the remaining three generations, debt fell by about 18 percent to 23 percent.

Matt Schulz, chief consumer finance analyst at LendingTree, called the decline in debt across generations a significant decrease.

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“I Just Want to Go Home. I Missed Our Entire Trip to the Beach” – John Fetterman Moans About Having to do His Job in the Senate

Senator John Fetterman was already fed up on Monday morning before the all-day Senate vote-a-rama, complaining to reporters that he missed his beach trip because he had to stay in Washington to cast votes on amendments to the Big Beautiful Bill. 

“Oh my God. I just want to go home,” he griped in the Capitol basement. “I’ve missed our entire trip to the beach. My family’s going to be back before me.”

The Senate proceeded to the floor to vote on amendments to the Big Beautiful Bill, which the President wants sent to his desk by Friday, after spending the weekend advancing the bill and ironing out the details.

Fetterman said this is not what he signed up for and that legislators shouldn’t be required to stay “till some ungodly hour.”

“I’m going to vote no. There’s no drama. The votes are going to go. In fact, the only interesting votes are going to be on the margin, whether that’s Collins, or Johnson, and those, but all the Democrats, we all know how that’s going to go,” he told reporters.

WATCH:

Reporter: Did you get any clues on the floor about what time this might wrap?

Fetterman: Oh my God. I just want to go home. I’ve missed our entire trip to the beach. My family’s going to be back before me. So, and again, I’m going to vote no. There’s no drama. The votes are going to go. In fact, the only interesting votes are going to be on the margin, whether that’s Collins, or Johnson, and those, but all the Democrats, we all know how that’s going to go. And I think, I don’t think it’s really helpful to put people here ’till some ungodly hour.

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Pride group founder, 42, who raped a 12-year-old boy he met on dating app Grindr is jailed alongside his partner

The founder of a Pride group who raped an ‘extremely vulnerable’ boy who he met on Grindr has been jailed for 24 years.

Stephen Ireland, 42, who co-founded Pride in Surrey in 2018, raped the child at the flat he shared with his then partner and co-defendant David Sutton, 27, in Addlestone on April 19, 2024.

Ireland had arranged for the 12-year-old boy, referred to in court as Child A, to meet him at his flat after messaging on dating app Grindr, the court heard.

The boy, who had been reported missing at the time, told police they had sex in the flat.

The boy said they also smoked a bong which was later found to have contained methamphetamine, and that pornography was played on a laptop.

Judge Patricia Lees, sentencing at Guildford Crown Court on Monday, told the hearing Ireland ‘took advantage’ of a vulnerable child.

She said: ‘Stephen Ireland is a man who prided himself on being versed in and highly alive to the vulnerabilities of young people linked to the Surrey Pride organisation he was at the time pivotal to.

‘A was quite obviously to any adult an extremely vulnerable child who was highly sexualised.

The court heard the boy had initially told Ireland he was aged 17 – but when he later claimed to be aged 13, Ireland replied: ‘OK – we just have to keep it a secret.’

‘Your response was telling,’ Judge Lees told Ireland, who sat in the dock dressed in a large red T-shirt and showed no emotions throughout the hearing.

‘Far from finding that repugnant, you found that exciting, and sought to do it again.’

In a Telegram chat that took place after their encounter, Ireland sent Child A a message in which he described his age as ‘naughty and kinky’, the court heard.

On the same day, Ireland asked the boy if he would have a threesome and sent the child pictures of himself and Sutton.

Jurors heard that Ireland sent a picture of Child A to Sutton, describing him as a ’14-year-old baby’ who ‘wants to play with men’s bodies’, and the pair exchanged messages about the child.

Ireland along with Sutton, who was a volunteer for Surrey Pride, were found guilty of a string of sexual offences against children including voyeurism, arranging commission of a child sex offence, and possession of prohibited images of children, after a trial at Guildford Crown Court earlier this year.

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Convicted sex offender from Kenya avoids deportation, lands state job

A Kenyan national convicted of sexually assaulting a sleeping woman in Minnesota wasn’t deported after his prison sentence — he was promoted.

Wilson Tindi holds a director position at the Minnesota Department of Education, where he audits taxpayer spending and oversees internal accountability.

Court records show Tindi was convicted in 2016 of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct after breaking into a woman’s home and assaulting her in bed where she slept. He pleaded guilty to the sex assault charge in exchange for prosecutors dropping a first-degree burglary charge.

Tindi was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to register as a predatory offender. His sentence was stayed for five years, but he was also sentenced to 210 days in the workhouse, records show.

However, despite the felony conviction and offender status, Tindi serves as Director of Internal Audit and Advisory Services at MDE, according to public records and his LinkedIn profile.

A former prosecutor with direct knowledge of Tindi’s case told Alpha News they were disturbed to learn he now holds a leadership role in state government.

“I don’t know how he would have passed a background check,” the attorney said. “He’s a felon and a registered sex offender—how is he employed?”

The attorney said that in addition to the 2016 conviction, Tindi was also accused of a similar crime in 2012, as court documents state. Although the case was never charged, prosecutors filed a Spreigl notice—a legal move to introduce evidence of prior misconduct—citing the 2012 allegation as evidence of a disturbing pattern.

“He is dangerous,” the attorney said. “He has no business being paid out of our taxpayer dollars and should be back with ICE.”

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Europe’s Defense Reality Check: The Mathematics of Military Inadequacy

Following President Trump’s successful push for NATO allies to commit to spending 5% of GDP on defense by 2035, Europe now faces the potentially insurmountable challenge of reversing decades of military neglect. Building a force capable of defending the continent against Russia or China will be a massive undertaking, made even more difficult by declining birthrates, a shrinking workforce, and the political cost of maintaining generous welfare states and pacifist norms.

NATO allies agreed on June 25, 2025, to more than double their defense spending target from 2% of GDP to 5% by 2035, with the commitment structured as 3.5% for “core defense” and 1.5% for broader security measures including infrastructure and cyber defense. This achievement was widely praised, with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stating: “Would you ever think that this would be the result of this summit if he would not have been re-elected president? … I think he deserves all the praise”. However, the magnitude of this commitment becomes clear when examining current spending levels and capability gaps.

In 2024, European NATO members spent a combined $454 billion on defense, just 30% of total NATO spending, while the United States spent $997 billion, or 66%. Reports claim European military spending rose by 17% to $693 billion in 2024, but that figure misleadingly includes Russia’s estimated $149 billion. Given that NATO exists primarily to deter Russian aggression, it is absurd to include Russia’s defense budget in Europe’s total.

Even in terms of GDP percentage, Russia continues to outpace the European Union in defense spending. The EU’s total defense spending is projected to reach around 2.04% of GDP in 2025, while Russia is expected to spend 7.5% of its GDP on the military. But the gap in spending is just one part of Europe’s broader capabilities deficit.

Unlike Russia or the United States, Europe’s $454 billion in defense expenditures is fragmented across more than 30 countries, each with its own command structure, procurement system, administrative overhead, and military bureaucracy. In contrast, the United States achieves far greater efficiency and combat power through its unified $997 billion defense budget, which supports a single military structure with global reach.

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