Headline

North Korea Reportedly Detains US Soldier

Published

2 years ago

July 18, 2023

A US soldier is believed to have been detained by North Korea after crossing the heavily fortified border — an incident likely to further aggravate Washington’s troubled relations with the nuclear-armed state.

Hours later, North Korea fired at least one ballistic missile into the sea, according to the South Korean military — an apparent response to the first visit by an American nuclear-armed submarine to a South Korean port in decades.

The events underscored the diplomatic tightrope being walked by Seoul and Washington in the face of an increasingly assertive Pyongyang.

“A US national on a JSA orientation tour crossed, without authorisation, the Military Demarcation Line into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK),” the UN Command said, referring to the Joint Security Area and the border between the Koreas.

“We believe he is currently in DPRK custody and are working with our KPA counterparts to resolve this incident,” it said, referring to the North’s Korean People’s Army.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin told journalists that “we’re closely monitoring and investigating the situation and working to notify the soldier’s next of kin.”

CBS News, citing US officials, reported that the soldier was a low-ranking member of the US Army who was being escorted home to the United States for disciplinary reasons, but managed to leave the airport and join the tour group.

North and South Korea remain technically at war since the 1950-1953 Korean War ended with an armistice, rather than a peace treaty, with a Demilitarised Zone running along the border.

Soldiers from both sides face off at the JSA north of Seoul, which is overseen by the United Nations Command.

It is also a popular tourist destination and hundreds of visitors tour on the South Korean side every day.

Former US president Donald Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Panmunjom Truce Village in 2019 and even stood on North Korean soil by stepping across the demarcation line there.

Panmunjom is “the only location one could attempt such a move out of the whole JSA tour,” Choi Gi-il, a professor of military studies at Sangji University, told AFP.

An eyewitness who said they were on the same tour told CBS News the group had visited one of the buildings at the site when “this man gives out a loud ‘ha ha ha’ and just runs in between some buildings”.

“I thought it was a bad joke at first but, when he didn’t come back, I realised it wasn’t a joke and then everybody reacted and things got crazy,” they said.

South Korea’s defence ministry declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

– No North Korean soldiers –

North Korea sealed its borders at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and has yet to reopen them. Its security presence on its side of the border at the JSA has also been scaled back significantly.

When AFP toured the JSA earlier this year, no North Korean guards were visible in the area. Even so, under armistice protocols, South Korean or US personnel could not run across the border to retrieve the US national.

Retired US Army lieutenant colonel Steve Tharp, who worked in the JSA area, told Seoul-based specialist site NK News he had no idea how the North Koreans would react to the incident.

“This is the first contact since Covid… We don’t know what they’re thinking,” he told NK News.

The incident comes as relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points, with diplomacy stalled and Kim calling for increased weapons development, including tactical nuclear weapons.

Seoul and Washington have ramped up defence cooperation in response, staging joint military exercises with advanced stealth jets and US strategic assets.

– Nuclear sub –

The allies held the first Nuclear Consultative Group meeting in Seoul on Tuesday and announced an American nuclear submarine was making a port visit to Busan for the first time since 1981.

Pyongyang, which baulks at having US nuclear assets deployed around the Korean peninsula, then fired at least one ballistic missile into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.

Seoul’s military was still analysing what type of missile was fired, the report Wednesday said. Japanese officials said a second missile may also have been fired, according to Kyodo news agency.

The JSA in Panmunjom is typically peaceful despite ongoing hostility between the two sides.

In 1976, two American soldiers were killed in the JSA by North Koreans with axes in a dispute over a tree.

The last time there was a defection at the JSA was in 2017, when a North Korean soldier drove a military jeep and then ran on foot across the demarcation line at Panmunjom.

He was shot multiple times by his fellow North Korean soldiers but survived.

In general, defections between the two Koreas are rare but far more common in the other direction, when North Koreans seek to escape grinding poverty and repression by fleeing, typically across the northern land border into China.

Headline

Nigerian Man Pleads Guilty In US To $405,000 Romance Scam Against American Women

Published

4 hours ago

August 30, 2025

Editor

A40-year-old Nigerian man, Daniel Chima Inweregbu, has pleaded guilty in the United States to charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, as well as money laundering, in connection with a romance scam that defrauded American women of more than $405,000.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, in a statement on Thursday, said Inweregbu and his co-conspirators ran the scheme between July 2017 and December 2018, using a fake online persona named “Larry Pham” to lure victims on dating sites and social media targeting US citizens.

Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson said that Inweregbu, described as a citizen of Lagos, Nigeria, pleaded guilty on August 21, 2025 before United States District Judge Nanette Jolivette Brown to two of the counts pending against him.

The counts which include conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and using an assumed name to commit a mail fraud scheme, Attorney Simpson said were in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1341, 1342, 1343 and 1349 (Count 1), and conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1956(a)(1)(B)(i), 1957, and 1956(h) (Count 12). INWEREGBU’s plea stemmed from his role in a lengthy romance scam targeting American citizens.

According to court documents, a “romance scam” was a confidence scheme in which the perpetrator feigned romantic intentions towards a victim, gained their affection, and used the victim’s goodwill to commit fraud.

“These fraudulent acts might involve such acts as obtaining access to the victim’s money, bank accounts, credit cards, passports, e-mail accounts, or national identification numbers; convincing the victim to transmit things of value to the perpetrator or his witting or unwitting co-conspirators; or inducing the victim to, unintentionally, commit or participate in the commission of financial fraud against third parties on behalf of the perpetrator,” the statement read.

It added, “Between at least July 1, 2017, and December 16, 2018, Inweregbu, and his co-conspirators, devised and operated a “romance scam” whereby they sought to obtain money and property from multiple American women, including 4 victims, by means of false and fraudulent representations and promises.

“Specifically, Inweregbu and his co-conspirators created profiles on social media and online dating sites using the alias “Larry Pham,” purportedly a middle-aged male, to attract middle-aged female victims.

“The co-conspirators, including Inweregbu, used online messaging platforms and email, to contact victims, introduce themselves, and appeal to victims’ longing for companionship. If the victim responded favorably, Inweregbu and his co-conspirators began to cultivate a romantic relationship that emotionally attached the victims to “Larry Pham.”

“Once the relationship was established, the defendant and his co-conspirators, posing as Larry Pham, requested victims send them money under various scams and ruses to domestic bank accounts they opened and managed. Inweregbu’s scheme resulted in actual and intended losses to the victims of over $405,000.

“Thereafter, Inweregbu and his co-conspirators laundered the funds, by conducting financial transactions using the proceeds of their wire and mail fraud scheme, designed in whole or in part to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the proceeds, by directing the victims’ funds through intermediaries.

“Inweregbu faces up to twenty years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and up to a fine of $250,000 as to Count 1. He faces up to twenty years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and up to a fine of $500,000 as to Count 12. He also faces payment of a $100 mandatory special assessment fee per count. Sentencing before Judge Brown has been scheduled for December 4, 2025,” the partly read.

Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson, according to the statement praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this matter and expressed appreciation for the great support provided by United States Department of Justice Office of International Affairs and the United States Department of State.

“Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg, Chief of the Public Integrity Unit, is in charge of the prosecution,” the statement noted.

Headline

UK Bars Over 100 Job Roles From Foreign Recruitment To Curb Migration

Published

5 hours ago

August 30, 2025

Editor

The British government has unveiled major immigration reforms, blocking foreign workers from filling more than 100 job categories in a move aimed at reducing net migration.

The Home Office, in a statement posted on X Saturday morning, said the decision was geared towards creating more opportunities for local citizens while restructuring the visa regime.

“Cutting net migration means getting the fundamentals right.

“More than 100 occupations are no longer eligible for overseas recruitment – opening up more jobs for British workers. A fairer, skills-focused system is now taking shape,” the Home Office stated.

This policy marks the latest immigration clampdown under Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who assumed office on July 5, 2024, after Labour’s sweeping election win that ended Rishi Sunak’s tenure.

However, the measure has drawn criticism, with opponents warning it could deepen staffing shortages in critical sectors such as healthcare and social services.

The Home Office has not yet published the full list of restricted occupations.

Headline

PM Killed In Israeli Strike, Say Yemen’s Huthis

Published

5 hours ago

August 30, 2025

Editor

The prime minister of Yemen’s Huthis was killed in an Israeli airstrike along with other officials earlier this week, the Iran-backed rebels announced on Saturday.

Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser Al-Rahawi, who was appointed last year, is the most senior official known to have been killed in a series of Israeli strikes during the war in Gaza.

“We announce the martyrdom of the fighter Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser Al-Rahawi… along with several of his ministerial colleagues, as they were targeted by the treacherous Israeli criminal enemy,” a Huthi statement said.

“Others among their companions were injured with moderate to serious wounds and are receiving medical care since Thursday afternoon,” it added.

The Israeli military struck in the area of Sanaa, the Huthi-held capital, on Thursday. The Huthis, claiming solidarity with the Palestinians, have frequently fired missiles and drones at Israel during the Gaza war.

Israeli forces “struck a Huthi terrorist regime military target”, the Israeli military said at the time.

The Huthis have also targeted shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which they claim is linked to Israel during the Gaza war.

The rebel group controls large parts of Yemen, which has been gripped by war since 2014, and is part of Iran’s anti-Israel alliance alongside militant groups across much of the Middle East.