Authored by Austin Alonzo via The Epoch Times,

Chinese company Huawei Technologies will stand trial on multiple charges after a federal judge denied its bid to dismiss a long-running case against it.

On July 1, District Judge Ann Donnelly of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled that there was sufficient evidence to proceed with a 16-count indictment against Huawei and its subsidiaries.

Huawei, which is closely tied to the Chinese communist regime, stands accused of racketeering, stealing trade secrets from six U.S. companies, and committing bank fraud.

With Donnelly’s ruling, the case will move forward toward trial. Currently, the proceedings are scheduled to begin on May 4, 2026.

Huawei stands charged with using a Hong Kong-based front company, Skycom, to conduct business in Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions and with misleading banks in order to facilitate more than $100 million in illegal money transfers.

Additionally, the indictment alleges that Huawei engaged in racketeering to expand its global brand.

Representatives of Huawei did not respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times by publication time.

In November 2024, Huawei pleaded not guilty and called itself “a prosecutorial target in search of a crime.”

The upcoming trial is expected to last several months and could have significant implications for the ongoing tensions between the United States and China over technology, trade, and national security.

As part of the long-running federal investigation into Huawei’s business dealings, Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, also the daughter of the company’s founder, Ren Zhengfei, was previously charged and detained in Canada for nearly three years before the charges against her were dismissed in 2022 as part of a deferred prosecution agreement.

Huawei, based in Shenzhen, China, operates in more than 170 countries and employs approximately 208,000 people worldwide. The U.S. government has imposed restrictions on Huawei’s access to U.S. technology since 2019, citing national security concerns; Huawei has denied those accusations.

Along with manufacturing smartphones and consumer technology, Huawei is emerging as a manufacturer of advanced processing chips essential to the development of artificial intelligence.

The Epoch Times reported in June that the race to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence and the hardware that powers it is tantamount to an arms race between the United States and the Chinese regime.

In June, Taiwan, a leader in the world of semiconductor manufacturing, imposed new export restrictions on Huawei, citing “national security concerns.” The move brings Taiwan’s priorities more in line with the U.S. policy aimed at denying communist China access to cutting-edge technology that could be used to further its military ambitions.

Ai Luming was once a symbol of China’s entrepreneurial rise — its ‘fentanyl king’ and a philosophy graduate who turned a urine-based drug startup into a sprawling private empire spanning pharma, real estate, and finance, according to Caixin.

But by 2025, after nearly four decades, his business collapsed under mounting debt, defaulted investments, and a court-ordered restructuring that stripped him of everything.

In 1988, Ai declined a government post to start a biotech firm with classmates from Wuhan University. Their first product, urokinase extracted from urine, funded his deeper push into medicine. By the late 1990s, his company Humanwell Healthcare had gone public and eventually captured over 90% of China’s opioid painkiller market.

Dangdai Group, the holding company, expanded into multiple industries, acquiring six publicly traded firms and betting heavily on sectors with strong regulation where Ai believed private firms could thrive.

Caixin writes that ambition overtook caution. By 2017, Dangdai had racked up over 30 billion yuan in debt, relying on financial engineering and aggressive expansion. Real estate projects stalled, and fixed-income products issued by its subsidiaries began defaulting, affecting thousands of retail investors. “If there’s a chance, I’d like to start over,” Ai told old friends at a private dinner in early 2025.

A major misstep came from Dangdai’s move into finance. After acquiring Tianfeng Securities in 2002, Ai hoped it would fund his industrial growth. “I saw big international conglomerates tied closely to finance and thought owning financial institutions would help our industrial growth,” he later said. “I didn’t realize industry and finance should develop separately.”

Tianfeng expanded quickly under Ai’s protégé Yu Lei, but internal loans and circular funding created a dangerous debt loop between Tianfeng and Dangdai.

By 2019, Dangdai’s liabilities exceeded 60 billion yuan. In 2020, Yu was detained, and the crisis deepened. Regulators later uncovered more than 5 billion yuan in questionable transactions. As defaults spread, Ai returned from retirement, but by 2023, the group faced 800 billion yuan in claims with only 11 billion in assets.

“That year, Yu Lei told me things couldn’t go on, that the debt was too big — we might as well declare bankruptcy,” Ai recalled.

Only Humanwell remained salvageable. After failed attempts at private deals, Dangdai entered court restructuring. China Merchants Group acquired control with an 11.8-billion-yuan investment, a record in Chinese pharma bankruptcy cases. Creditors with claims under 3 million yuan were repaid in full; others would recover only if Humanwell’s stock rose by over 70%.

Despite the loss, Ai remains defiant, floating ideas for ventures in tourism and animal health. “He’s still the man who once howled through the mountains, chasing dreams,” said a former partner. “But this is no longer the 1990s — and Ai may be the only one who hasn’t realized it.”

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has confirmed that federal officials informed her about a possible terrorist threat ahead of the July 4 Independence Day holiday.

“Our federal partners reiterated yesterday that lone wolf actors remain the greatest potential threat including during the upcoming July 4th holiday,” Hochul said in a July 2 statement, without providing the names of the federal agencies or any specific details about potential plots.

The governor said state law enforcement officials are “in an increased alert posture following the recent conflict in the Middle East” and that under her direction, “State Police will have an increased presence at large events throughout the state” during the holiday.

“And we will be closely coordinating with local and federal law enforcement partners to ensure the safety of all involved,” she said.

“National Guard personnel also remain deployed at major transportation hubs, as well as at key bridges and tunnels within New York City.

“We are also actively monitoring social media activity and continue to be on high alert for any cyberthreats.”

While Hochul did not elaborate, ABC News and other outlets, citing an internal bulletin released by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), reported that those agencies believe there is an elevated threat in New York and California during Independence Day.

The Epoch Times contacted both DHS and the FBI for comment on Thursday but did not receive a response by publication time.

Earlier this week, the FBI and other agencies sent a warning that Iranian regime-linked groups could launch cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure, although they did not issue any public warnings about terrorist attacks linked to Iran.

“Defense Industrial Base companies, particularly those possessing holdings or relationships with Israeli research and defense firms, are at increased risk,” the agencies stated in the warning, issued by the FBI, the National Security Agency, the Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

That comes roughly two weeks after the United States bombed multiple Iranian nuclear enrichment sites following days of back-and-forth strikes carried out by both Iran and Israel. Iran later confirmed that several of its top military officials and scientists were killed in the Israeli strikes.

For the past year and a half, the FBI has issued warnings about terrorist attacks inside the United States inspired by the Israel–Hamas conflict, which was sparked by a Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that left more than 1,200 civilians dead.

About a month ago, the FBI warned that there is an elevated terrorism threat to the Jewish community in the United States in light of a shooting that left two Israeli Embassy staffers dead in Washington and an arson attack in Boulder, Colorado, in recent months. An 82-year-old woman who was injured during the Boulder firebombing incident, which occurred in June, died on Monday, prosecutors said.

Mohamed Soliman, the suspect in the Boulder attack, allegedly yelled “Free Palestine” during the incident, federal officials said.

In the Washington attack, suspect Elias Rodriguez yelled, “Free, free Palestine,” which was captured on video, authorities also said.

“We are investigating this incident as an act of terror, and targeted violence. All of the necessary assets will be dedicated to this investigation,” FBI Director Dan Bongino said in a June statement on social media platform X, referring to the Boulder attack.

In May, Bongino said the Israeli Embassy shooting was being investigated under similar pretexts.

Two Chinese nationals, Yuance Chen of Happy Valley, Oregon, and Liren Lai, who entered the U.S. on a tourist visa in April 2025, have been charged with acting as agents for China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS).

According to a Monday report, the Department of Justice alleges the men gathered intelligence on U.S. Navy personnel and military bases and attempted to recruit other military members to spy for the MSS, according to The Conservative Brief. 

They also allegedly facilitated a “dead drop” cash payment on behalf of the MSS.

The Conservative Brief article writes that the FBI arrested Chen in Happy Valley and Lai in Houston on Friday, with help from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS).

“Today’s arrests reflect the FBI’s unwavering commitment to protecting our national security and safeguarding the integrity of our military,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. He added, “The individuals charged were acting on behalf of a hostile foreign intelligence service — part of the Chinese Communist Party’s broader effort to infiltrate and undermine our institutions.”

“The FBI arrested two Chinese nationals who were allegedly attempting to recruit U.S. military service members on behalf of the PRC,” he said.

A DOJ press release read: “The defendants…were arrested Friday on a criminal complaint charging them with overseeing and carrying out various clandestine intelligence taskings in the United States on behalf of the PRC Government’s principal foreign intelligence service, the Ministry of State Security (MSS).”

“These activities included facilitating a “dead drop” payment of cash for information relating to the national security of the United States previously provided to the MSS, gathering intelligence about U.S. Navy service members and bases, and assisting with efforts to recruit other individuals from within the U.S. military as potential MSS assets.”

Attorney Craig H. Missakian for the Northern District of California added: “These charges reflect the breadth of the efforts by our foreign adversaries to target the United States — this time by conducting illegal intelligence-gathering operations aimed at our national security information and military service members.”

“My office and the FBI remain ever vigilant in guarding against these threats to the United States. We will continue to undertake counterespionage investigations and prosecutions, no matter how complex and sensitive, to disrupt attempts to weaken our national security.”

Attorney General Pamela Bondi concluded: “This case underscores the Chinese government’s sustained and aggressive effort to infiltrate our military and undermine our national security from within. The Justice Department will not stand by while hostile nations embed spies in our country – we will expose foreign operatives, hold their agents to account, and protect the American people from covert threats to our national security.”

Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times,

President Donald Trump said on July 2 that the previous month’s border statistics were the lowest in the nation’s history, with Border Patrol reporting zero releases of illegal immigrants into the United States and just over 6,000 arrests at the Southwest border.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said Customs and Border Patrol reported only 25,243 nationwide encounters for all of June, with zero releases of illegal immigrants into the United States.

“America’s Borders are Safe and Secure, and the entire World knows it,” Trump wrote.

The president’s border czar, Tom Homan, said the total number of Southwest Border Patrol encounters for June was 6,070.

“That is less than a single day under Biden. As a matter of fact, the total number of encounters is less than half of a single day under Biden on many days,” Homan wrote in a post on social media platform X.

On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security issued a news release saying it had seen the lowest nationwide encounters and apprehensions in history.

Nationwide encounters were 12 percent lower than the previous record set in February, and 89 percent lower than the monthly average for the years 2021–24, the agency said.

June’s Southwest Border Patrol encounters, slightly more than 6,000, were a 15 percent decline from March.

On June 28, Homeland Security recorded only 137 apprehensions across the entire Southwest Border, which it noted was the lowest single-day total in 25 years.

The number of gotaways—or those who cross the border illegally and are not apprehended by Border Patrol—dropped by 90 percent compared to June 2024.

For the second month in a row, Border Patrol reported zero releases of illegal immigrants into the United States, “reinforcing the administration’s commitment to ending catch-and-release policies,” the department said.

The new numbers underscore Trump’s efforts to curb illegal immigration, which was one of the core messages of his 2024 presidential campaign.

Since his January inauguration, Trump has signed multiple executive orders curbing illegal immigration, limiting or otherwise restricting asylum, and removing temporary protected status from thousands of refugees from several countries. Some of these efforts have been challenged in court.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on X on July 2 that Trump has delivered the “most secure border in American history.”

“The world is hearing our message: the border is closed to lawbreakers. Under President Trump, our Border Patrol agents are empowered to do their job once again, secure our border, and protect the American people.”

On Wednesday, the European Space Agency revealed that its Planetary Defenders are tracking a fast-moving “interstellar object” zipping through the solar system. While some might hope it’s an alien spacecraft—finally giving Paul Krugman a win—chances are it’s just another space rock. 

“Astronomers may have just discovered the third interstellar object passing through the Solar System!” ESA said, adding, “ESA’s Planetary Defenders are observing the object, provisionally known as A11pl3Z, right now using telescopes around the world.” 

Astronomers may have just discovered the third interstellar object passing through the Solar System!

ESA’s Planetary Defenders are observing the object, provisionally known as #A11pl3Z, right now using telescopes around the world.

— ESA Operations (@esaoperations) July 2, 2025v

It’s still unclear whether A11pl3Z is a rocky asteroid, an icy comet, or something else entirely. Its size and shape also remain unknown. NASA has confirmed it is actively tracking the object, while astronomers say more observations are needed to determine its origin. 

Interstellar visitor confirmed. #A11pl3Z is now known as 3I/ATLAS. It is only the third confirmed object from beyond our solar system. pic.twitter.com/jLsRRXUZPG

— Tony Dunn (@tony873004) July 2, 2025

Astrophysicist Josep Trigo-Rodriguez of the Institute of Space Sciences near Barcelona, Spain, told AP News A11pl3Z is on an “odd path” and traveling at “extreme speed, cutting through the solar system.” He estimates the size of the object to be roughly 25 miles. 

Sorry, Krugman—looks like your 2011 pitch for a fake alien invasion to jumpstart the economy is still on hold. But hey, there’s always a chance this mystery object turns out to be a 100-mile-wide Death Star.

Fingers crossed, right?

Related from August 2020: 

• Another “Oumuamua” Plot Twist: Leading Explanation For Interstellar Object Is Aliens Again

. . . 

Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA,

The Trump-led DOJ has charged four individuals in connection with the violent anti-ICE riots that broke out in June in Oregon. 

The defendants, some allegedly caught on video, spent several weeks targeting an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and assaulting federal officers, prosecutors said in a press statement on Tuesday. 

One of the individuals, 31‑year‑old August Dean Gordon, pulled a proximity card reader from its stanchion on the facility’s driveway. He kicked, grabbed and injured five officers during his arrest, the DOJ said.  

That same evening, 33‑year‑old Nadya Malinowska refused orders to leave the site. Meanwhile, 35‑year‑old David Pearl attempted to interfere with officers’ arrest of another rioter. 

On June 11, prosecutors said 34-year-old Trenten Edward Barker retrieved a lit flare from his backpack and tossed it into a barricade of debris near the ICE facility. 

Malinowska and Pearl each face misdemeanor charges for failing to obey a lawful order; Pearl also face a count of creating a disturbance. 

Gordon and Barker are charged with willful depredation of government property and assaulting a federal officer. Barker additionally faces an arson charge. 

According to journalist Andy Ngo, the rioters are affiliated with Antifa.

Four more Portland Antifa riot suspects have been federally charged over the ongoing insurrection against the ICE facility. This brings the total federally charged so far to 17, devastating the numbers Antifa need to attack the building night after night. The cases are not being… pic.twitter.com/jsZxOKagyb

— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) July 1, 2025

They all made their first appearance on Monday and face hefty penalties if found guilty.  

“Felony arson of federal property is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison with a mandatory minimum sentence of five years,” the DOJ said.

“Misdemeanor assault of a federal officer and misdemeanor willful depredation of government property are punishable by up to one year in federal prison.” 

Additionally, the DOJ said failure to obey a lawful order and creating a disturbance are misdemeanors punishable by up to 30 days in prison. 

Far-left and unhinged social justice warrior Elie Mystal has sparked controversy with remarks suggesting that America “needs to be sanctioned,” and calling the country “a menace to peaceful people” and “the bad guys.” His comments reflect an alarming trend on the left toward anti-American rhetoric—resembling propaganda straight out of the playbook of foreign adversaries. 

Two crazed leftists, two cameras, nothing is shocking. Mystal told Joy Reid:

 “Our country needs to be sanctioned. We are the bad guys on the world stage. We are a menace everywhere at this point. When does the international community decide that enough is enough?”

Elie Mystal: “Our country is THE bad guy on the world stage. The world needs to stand against America. Sanction us.” pic.twitter.com/3OjPx52Ryn

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) July 2, 2025

While Mystal is not a Democratic Party official, he maintains deep ties to the Democratic Party’s NGO machine. Public records show he serves as an officer at “Demand Justice,” a far-left judicial advocacy group. Closely connected to it are “Demand Justice PAC” and a related entity just one degree removed, known as the “Demand Justice Initiative.”

Most intriguing within this Demand Justice activist network—just one spoke of the Democratic Party’s broader, dark-money-funded propaganda machine that wages an informational war on the American—is its founder, Ezra Reese.

According to Elias Law Group, Ezra Reese is the “Political Law Chair.” 

Recall that the White House recently published a press release titled “Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Courts,” in which the Trump administration cited the Elias Law Group as an example of “grossly unethical misconduct.”

Recent examples of grossly unethical misconduct are far too common.  For instance, in 2016, Marc Elias, founder and chair of Elias Law Group LLP, was deeply involved in the creation of a false “dossier” by a foreign national designed to provide a fraudulent basis for Federal law enforcement to investigate a Presidential candidate in order to alter the outcome of the Presidential election.  Elias also intentionally sought to conceal the role of his client — failed Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton — in the dossier. -WH

Returning to Mystal, his affiliations with these far-left nonprofits closely tied to Deep State Democrats raise legitimate questions about the independence of his commentary. It increasingly appears that some Democratic operatives are using high-profile activists as little more than amplifiers of anti-American propaganda … One has to wonder if this alarming propaganda is being faciliated by foreign adversaries… 

Authored by Jim Welty, Rob Burndrett & Charlie Burd via RealClearEnergy,

America’s shale revolution and ascension to the world’s largest oil and natural gas producer has made one fact abundantly clear: energy security is national security. No longer are geopolitical and national security decisions held hostage to the threat of energy price spikes. Because of oil from Texas and natural gas from Appalachia, Americans aren’t facing the energy supply shocks that were once guaranteed to follow rising Middle East tensions.

Home to the nation’s largest natural gas field with the Marcellus and Utica shales, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia produce a third of America’s natural gas. That’s energy that keeps the lights on in our homes, the heat flowing in the winter, and power steady and reliable for factories, hospitals, military bases, and critical infrastructure across America. But it does much more. Appalachian natural gas is a big part of what makes America strong, self-reliant, and free.

Throughout history, energy security has meant physical security. When we have the energy we need, produced right here at home, we reduce our dependence on unstable or hostile nations. We insulate ourselves from supply disruptions and price shocks triggered by global conflicts. And we make sure that in times of crisis, from natural disasters to national emergencies, we have the fuel to respond, rebuild, and defend.

Our abundant, reliable natural gas underpins the strength of our Armed Forces and the resilience of our economy. Employing millions of our own people, energy powers the manufacturing of steel, ammunition, vehicles, and the technologies that support our troops. It safeguards critical operations from cyber and physical threats by ensuring reliable, secure power supplies.

And as artificial intelligence rapidly transforms industries, it’s natural gas that remains the only fuel fully capable of meeting the intense, always-on energy requirements these technologies depend on.

In short, energy security protects American lives and the American way of life.

But here’s the challenge: While we produce more than enough clean-burning, affordable natural gas to meet our needs and support allies overseas, we can’t move enough of it to where it’s needed most. And electrical grid operators face mounting strain as power-hungry technologies accelerate demand.

The missing links? Pipelines and new gas-fired generation. Without more infrastructure to safely and efficiently transport and use domestic energy, we leave ourselves exposed to higher costs, supply vulnerabilities, and reliance on foreign adversaries.

New England is perhaps the most staggering example of energy insecurity here at home, sitting just a few hours drive from the largest gas producing region in the country, yet forced to rely on expensive, unreliable foreign fuel because politics have clouded smart energy policies for decades. Now, those same political leaders are quietly backing down and conceding what we’ve known all along: pipelines from Appalachia are key to their energy security.

Meanwhile, our country’s global competitors and adversaries aren’t waiting. Russia and China – they understand the power of energy in projecting strength and influence. America must do the same, led by the innovators in Appalachia who drove the shale revolution just over 20 years ago.

Now is the time for action. Washington is working to cut the red tape that’s stalled progress, but it’s up to us in the states to unleash the full potential of Appalachian energy. Thank you to those elected leaders who are already leading the charge, but we need all of our policy officials to champion building the natural gas infrastructure that will secure affordable energy for families, strengthen our physical and economic security, and help ensure that America remains the most powerful, resilient, and free nation on the planet.

Let Appalachia’s natural gas power our future and protect the freedoms we hold dear.

Jim Welty, Rob Brundrett, and Charlie Burd lead Appalachia’s top natural gas trade associations, the Marcellus Shale Coalition, the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, and the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia, respectively.

Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA,

A newly declassified CIA memo revealed that top officials within the Obama administration deliberately manipulated intelligence to exaggerate Russia’s purported 2016 election interference. This set the stage for the years‑long Trump‑Russia collusion probe. 

The review, commissioned by CIA Director John Ratcliffe in May 2025, reassessed the 2016 Intelligence Community Assessment on Russian interference.

It found then‑CIA Director John Brennan, FBI Director James Comey and DNI James Clapper were “excessively involved” in framing the initial Russia narrative. 

All the world can now see the truth: Brennan, Clapper and Comey manipulated intelligence and silenced career professionals — all to get Trump. Thank you to the career @CIA officers who conducted this review and exposed the facts. https://t.co/S7Mxz6xA6P

— CIA Director John Ratcliffe (@CIADirector) July 2, 2025

On Dec. 6, 2016—just weeks after President Donald Trump’s election—then-outgoing President Barack Obama ordered the probe, concluding Vladimir Putin “aspired” to sway the vote. 

However, according to the declassified 2025 review, Brennan, Comey and Clapper rushed the 2016 assessment in a “chaotic,” “atypical” and “markedly unconventional” fashion, raising questions about a “potential political motive.” 

The review found intelligence officials felt “jammed” by the rushed timeline, with many seeing the draft report for the first time at the sole in-person review on December 19.

One CIA author called it “unusual” that so few changes were made to such a lengthy and high-profile assessment. 

This rushed assessment ultimately cast doubt on Trump’s legitimacy and opened the door to the Mueller investigation, partisan congressional hearings, and countless media leaks. 

“All the world can now see the truth: Brennan, Clapper and Comey manipulated intelligence and silenced career professionals — all to get Trump,” Ratcliffe said, thanking CIA officers who conducted the review.

New York Post columnist Miranda Devine broke the story on Wednesday, revealing the review’s damning conclusions. 

The review confirms what was already widely known in conservative and Republican circles: Brennan, Comey and Clapper were the political architects of the Trump-Russia hoax.