Free Republic

SEOUL — North Korea fired more than 200 artillery rounds into the sea on Friday near a tensely defended maritime border with South Korea, a military official said, while residents of two South Korean islands were ordered to evacuate due to an unknown “situation.” The defense ministry would not confirm if the order was prompted by the North’s artillery firing or South Korean drills in response. However, a text message sent to residents and confirmed by an island official cited “naval fire” to be conducted by South Korean troops from 3 p.m.(0600 GMT) Friday. An official on Yeonpyeong island, which...

There has been a strategic battle taking place in the South China Sea this year between China and the Philippines. As you probably know, China has laid claim to most of the South China Sea and over the past decade has been using a strategy called the cabbage strategy to gradually claim individual islands.The cabbage strategy involves surrounding islands with Chinese boats like the leaves of a cabbage. China starts with fishing vessels, dozens of which anchor around an island or shoal making it difficult for any other vessels to approach. Once that’s done, Chinese Coast Guard vessels move in...

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine government summoned China’s ambassador on Monday and presented a strongly worded diplomatic protest over the Chinese coast guard’s use of water cannons in a weekend confrontation with Philippine vessels in the disputed South China Sea, officials said. The tense hours-long standoff occurred Saturday near Second Thomas Shoal, which has been occupied for decades by Philippine forces stationed onboard a rusting, grounded navy ship but is also claimed by China. It was the latest flareup in long-seething territorial conflicts in the South China Sea involving China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei. The United...

More than 40 million Americans in cities live with the impact of the “heat island” effect, in which city centers absorb more heat than surrounding areas, according to an analysis published Wednesday by the organization Climate Central. Cities are particularly susceptible to the heat island effect due to the replacement of natural vegetation with infrastructure like pavement, which absorbs more heat. This can mean the impact of climate change is more keenly felt by the 80 percent of Americans who live in cities, particularly in the recent waves of extreme heat.

An investment firm led by the billionaire Stephen Deckoff has bought two private islands in the U.S Virgin Islands previously owned by the late notorious sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, Deckoff confirmed to CNBC on Wednesday. Forbes first reported that Deckoff, the founder of the private equity firm Black Diamond Capital Management, purchased the two islands for $60 million, less than half of their initial asking price. One of the islands was used by Epstein to sexually abuse young women for years, according to court filings. “Mr. Deckoff plans to develop a state-of-the-art, five-star, world-class luxury 25-room resort that will help...

President Joe Biden plans to leave for a vacation in the Virgin Islands on Tuesday after the United States was blasted with record-cold temperatures and winter weather. The president and his family leave Tuesday evening for St. Croix and plan to stay on the island for the rest of the week to celebrate New Year’s Day. Meanwhile, about 50 people were killed across the United States as a bomb cyclone of Arctic air created record winter storms and freezing temperatures across most of the country. The city of Buffalo suffered a “once-in-a-generation” storm as 43 inches of snow fell over...

Erdogan’s comments may have come as a response to a remark from Greek Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos, who in June claimed that Turkey was "aware" of the "heavy cost" that Turkey faced in military engagements with Athens. Turkey has accused Greece of stationing troops on islands in the Aegean in violation of peace treaties between the NATO neighbors. "Your occupation of the islands does not bind us," Erdogan said. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in June indicated that his country would challenge any Greek claims over the islands if they continued stationing troops throughout the region... But Panagiotopolous insisted that...

The Solomon Islands has informed U.S. authorities that all naval visits have been suspended until further notice following an earlier incident on Aug. 23 when a U.S. Coast Guard vessel, the Oliver Henry, was denied permission for a scheduled port call. The incident comes amid mounting concerns about Beijing’s influence in the region and Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s moves to deepen ties with the Chinese regime while solidifying his hold on power. According to the U.S. Embassy in Canberra: “On Aug. 29, the United States received formal notification from the Government of the Solomon Islands regarding a moratorium on...

We saw this breakdown coming well over a year ago. America’s relationship with the leadership of the Solomon Islands was already beginning to decline by then, despite the longstanding partnership we had previously established with them and our naval presence in the region. But China has been pushing hard to disrupt America’s ties to the Indo-Pacific region and they have been courting the Solomon Islands as part of their bid to control the Pacific. Not even a month ago, China was structuring a bid to purchase a deepwater port in the islands, clearly planning to develop their own naval military...

The vessel was unable to get diplomatic clearance to make a scheduled stop in the islands. A US Coast Guard cutter was unable to get clearance for a scheduled port call in the Solomon Islands as concerns grow about China's influence on the Pacific nation. The vessel, called the Oliver Henry, was conducting patrols as part of an international mission to prevent illegal fishing when it sought to make a stop to refuel on the island of Guadalcanal, according to the Stars and Stripes newspaper. Coast Guard Lt Kristin Kam told the paper, which provides news to members of the...

Japan reacted angrily on Tuesday after Russia withdrew from peace treaty talks with Tokyo and froze joint economic projects related to the disputed Kuril Islands because of sanctions imposed by the Kishida administration over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Moscow and Tokyo have still not formally ended World War II hostilities because of the stand-off over islands just off Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido, known in Russia as the Kurils and in Japan as the Northern Territories. The islands were seized by the Soviet Union at the end of second world war. Japan has imposed sanctions on 76 individuals, seven banks...

Early Humans Sailed to Islands October 28, 2019 | David F. Coppedge Stone tools and bones on islands show that Neanderthals and other “archaic Homo” individuals must have sailed there. Paleoanthropologists have been wiping egg of their faces for years now, after continual findings reinforce the fact that Neanderthals were just as smart and capable as we are (29 April 2019), not dumb caveman brutes like evolutionists had portrayed for a century.

China’s President Xi Jinping ordered the military region responsible for monitoring the South China Sea and Taiwan to “assess the situation it is facing and boost its capabilities so it can handle any emergency” as tensions continue to mount over the future of the South China Sea and Taiwan, while diplomatic relations between Washington and Beijing hit rock bottom. The Southern Theatre Command has had to bear a “heavy military responsibility” in recent years, state broadcaster CCTV quoted Xi as saying during an inspection tour made on Thursday as part of his visit to Guangdong province. “It’s necessary to strengthen...

....State-run Chinese newspaper People’s Daily on Friday posted on its Twitter account a video of a long-range bomber landing in an island in the disputed waters. Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) said the video was taken at Woody Island, China’s largest base in the Paracel Islands that is also being claimed by Vietnam. “Chinese bombers including the H-6K conduct takeoff and landing training on an island reef at a southern sea area,”read the Twitter post by People’s Daily. With its deployment in the Paracels, AMTI said the bombers could now reach almost the entire South China Sea. “Nearly all...

China has installed equipment on two of its fortified outposts in the Spratly Islands capable of jamming communications and radar systems, a significant step in its creeping militarization of the South China Sea, U.S. officials say. The move strengthens China’s ability to assert its extensive territorial claims and hinder U.S. military operations in a contested region that includes some of the world’s busiest shipping routes. The disclosure comes as the Chinese military is conducting what U.S. officials describe as its largest military exercise to date in the South China Sea, maneuvers that include China’s first aircraft carrier as well as...

The new year is barely three weeks old and already the US Navy’s “freedom of navigation” operations are eliciting furious threats of retaliation from the Chinese military. Since President Donald Trump took office one year ago, the Navy and Air Force have increasingly sought to test the Chinese military response in the Pacific by sailing or flying within a certain perimeter – usually 12 miles – of one of China’s disputed territorial holdings in the South China Sea, according to RT.In the latest clash, the USS Hopper missile destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of Huangyan Dao, a tiny island...

Whether you crave culture, adventure, or simply kicking back on a beach with a cold cocktail, at least one of these islands is sure to be an ideal destination.  And should you be willing to spend time in the air in order to land near the sea, all the better: this year, three of the top 10 islands in the world — as decided by Travel + Leisure readers — are in Asia. No matter that reaching them requires a generous commitment, fiscally and temporally. For the second year in a row, the Philippine paradise Palawan wins first place...

China finally got around to responding to Japan’s planned tour of the South China Sea with the helicopter carrier Izumo, its largest warship. The Chinese response was predictably unpleasant, as reported by Reuters. “If Japan persists in taking wrong actions, and even considers military interventions that threaten China’s sovereignty and security… then China will inevitably take firm responsive measures,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular press briefing. China said on Tuesday that it was waiting for an official word on why Japan plans to send the warship on the tour through the South China Sea, but that...

On Tuesday, China slammed the United States’ deployment of an aircraft carrier to conduct “routine operations” in the South China Sea, calling it a pretense to undermine its sovereignty. “China always respects the freedom of navigation and overflight all littoral countries enjoy under international law,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a daily news briefing, according to Reuters. “But we are consistently opposed to relevant countries threatening and damaging the sovereignty and security of littoral countries under the flag of freedom of navigation and overflight,” Geng said. “We hope relevant countries can do more to safeguard regional peace...

Alex LockieAugust 10, 2016 As part of the Continuous Bomber Presence mission in the Pacific, the US has regularly kept bombers stationed at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, but in the last few days the fleet of aging B-52 bombers has been replaced with newer B-1 and B-2 bombers. The bombers were positioned in the Pacific by US Strategic Command (STRATCOM), which commands fleets of bombers, many of which are nuclear-capable, to maintain stability and deter potential threats. Though these deployments are routine, they are likely to raise eyebrows in Beijing, where China has defiantly ignored a ruling from...