Top News

Iranian hackers looking to undermine confidence in next month's U.S. elections are prowling for victims, putting a premium on anyone working for American political campaigns, according to a new warning from U.S. officials. The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the government body responsible for overseeing election security, on Tuesday urged politicians and their teams to strengthen their cybersecurity posture to combat the threat from Iran. They also encouraged former U.S. government officials, academics, journalists and activists to take necessary precautions, noting the Iranian-linked hackers are operating at the behest of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. "IRGC cyber actors pose an ongoing and escalating risk," CISA Director Jen Easterly...

North Korea is likely to send members of its regular armed forces to Ukraine in support of Russia, said South Korea’s defense minister on Tuesday, which would signal a significant deepening of cooperation between the allies. North Korea and Russia have moved noticeably closer over the past year or more amid widespread suspicion that North Korea has supplied conventional weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance. This year, the two countries signed a strategic treaty that includes mutual defense elements but they both deny that North Korea is sending Russia weapons. “As Russia and North Korea have signed a mutual treaty akin to a military alliance, the possibility of such a deployment is highly likely,” South Korean Defense Minister Kim...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends what state media said was a launching ceremony for a new tactical nuclear attack submarine in North Korea on Sept. 8, 2023. The South Korean military has detected apparent signs that North Korea has started to build a large nuclear-powered submarine, a Seoul-based lawmaker said on Tuesday, as North Korea’s leader dialed up his threat to use nuclear weapons against its enemies. North Korea unveiled a submarine “Hero Kim Kun Ok” in September last year, calling it a “tactical nuclear attack submarine,” and vowed that it would build a nuclear-powered submarine. “Partial signs that appear to be the start of the submarine’s construction have been detected,” said Kang Dae-sik of the ruling People Power Party, who was briefed on the issue by South Kor...

FILE - In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen waves as she departs Taiwan, Sept. 5, 2023. Taipei, Taiwan —  Taiwan’s former president Tsai Ing-wen kicks off an eight-day trip to the Czech Republic and two other European countries on October 12 – her first international tour since leaving office in May. While China is likely to voice its opposition to the trip, analysts say it highlights the close ties that Taipei has forged with European countries in recent years. China says democratically ruled Taiwan is part of its territory and opposes any formal contacts between Taiwan officials and other nations. In a statement released Monday, Taiwan’s presidential office said current President Lai Ching-te has delegated the National Securi...

This undated picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 4, 2019 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, second from left, inspecting a potato factory in Samjiyon County. North Korean farm managers who are not carefully harvesting their potato crops – leaving some behind – are getting in trouble with authorities, residents with links to the agricultural sector told Radio Free Asia. Inspectors recently swooped down on several collective farms in the northern potato-growing region of Ryanggang province to check the fields. “The inspectors drove around in cars and dug up every nook and cranny of the potato fields on the farm,” a resident who works in agriculture said on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “If the inspectors conclude tha...