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Courtney Love may have helped solve the missing Malaysian plane mystery, having posted an image and geographical co-ordinates on her Facebook page. Flight number MH370 has been missing since 8 March 2014, with searches for the aircraft having proven fruitless in the days since. The search was recently expanded, but ten days later, there are still no clues as to the fate of the plane or its 239 passengers. However, Courtney Love may have solved the mystery, posting a photo on Facebook, which she seems to believe shows the location of the missing plane - sadly after crashing in the...

The Chinese government has released satellite images showing "a suspected crash area at sea," including "three suspected floating objects," near the flight's planned path. Taken Sunday morning but not made public until today, the blurry shots are located northeast of Kuala Lumpur, south of Vietnam, in what may be the most promising lead thus far, on the fifth day of a frustrating, otherwise fruitless search.

China's State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense announced the discovery, including images of what it said were "three suspected floating objects and their sizes." The images in the Strait of Malacca were captured on March 9 -- which was the day after the plane went missing -- but weren't released until Wednesday.

<p>MILAN (AP) — Foreign ministry officials in Rome and Vienna confirm that names of two nationals listed on the manifest of the missing Malaysian airlines flight match passports reported stolen in Thailand.</p> <p>Italy's Foreign Ministry said Saturday that an Italian man whose name was listed as being aboard is traveling in Thailand and was not aboard the plane.</p>

Why is the US helping China look for oil in the South China Sea? By Adam Pasick @adampasick January 27, 2014 Stormy weather ahead? National Science Foundation   Political tensions in the South China Sea have seldom been higher, with China’s  “marine identification zone” deemed a provocative threat to peace by neighboring countries and the United States. The vast area, variously claimed by China, the Philippines, Vietnam, and other southeast Asian countries, is hotly contested in part because it is thought to hold vast reserves of oil and natural gas. + It’s easy, then, to foresee some sticky scenarios emerging from...

China Is Playing 'Chicken' With US Warships In The South China Sea GlobalPost Benjamin Carlson, GlobalPost Jan. 30, 2014, 7:51 AM HONG KONG — As anyone who has seen “Rebel Without a Cause” knows, playing chicken is dangerous for California teenagers in hot-rods. But playing chicken with warships, cruisers, and fighter jets — well, that’s just another level of crazy. Unfortunately, vessels from the US military and from other countries increasingly find themselves in such high-stakes confrontations on the East Asian seas, where China has adopted a strategy of making rivals flinch or risk collision. Just this week, Chinese sailors...

Following Japan's proclamations that it will take over another 280 'disputed ownership' islands, it appears the increasingly dis-approved of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's path of militarism and provocation is working. As China Daily Mail reports, citing experts, China intends to take back Zhongye Island - 'illegally' occupied by the Philippines, according to the Chinese. The Chinese navy has drawn a detailed combat plan to seize the island and the battle will be restricted within the South China Sea. Philippines military is building up on the island and the Chinese see as 'intolerable' the "arrogance" relying on US support.

Japanese paratroopers recaptured an island from an enemy in a wargame as its Defense Minister vowed to defend a disputed East China Sea territory. China’s ships sailed near the contested islets as Beijing reportedly expanded its air defense zone. Tokyo’s military on Sunday held a military drill dubbed “Island Defense,” in which the country’s elite airborne troops simulated the retaking of a remote island from an enemy nation. The plot for the annual drill, which took place at an exercise field east of Tokyo, stayed the same for the second year in a row as the dispute over the group...

The government will nationalize about 280 islands whose ownership is unknown out of the about 400 remote islands that serve as markers for determining Japan’s territorial waters, the state minister for oceanic policy and territorial issues has announced. Under the plan, announced Tuesday, the government will complete its search for the islands’ owners by June. Islands whose owners have not been tracked down by then will be registered on the national asset ledger. The move aims to clarify the government’s intention to protect territories and territorial waters by designating remote islands as “important national territories,” and to reinforce the management...

China's official media pointedly said Friday that Japan is the "prime target" of Beijing's newly declared air control zone over the East China Sea, warning that China is willing to engage in "a protracted confrontation with Japan." China's declaration of its Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), announced last week, has sparked strong resistance from Japan, the United States, South Korea and other neighboring Asian nations. The new zone partly overlaps those of South Korea and Japan. The U.S. flew two B-52 bombers through the Chinese zone without informing China this week. South Korea and Japan followed suit. In response, China...

Four vessels from the Indian Navy’s Eastern Fleet, on operational deployment to the South China Sea and the Western Pacific, made a port call here today.Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet, Rear Admiral P. Ajit Kumar, who is officially in the country with the vessels for the second time, said he was looking forward to enhance ties with the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN).< He said a Passage Exercise (Passex) had been planned with the RMN, adding that it would immensely contribute to furthering peace and maritime security in the region. “The spectrum of this exercise encompasses both conventional war fighting drills...

Several countries have overlapping territorial claims to portions of the South China Sea, which stretches from Singapore in the southwest to Taiwan in the northeast. The Spratly Islands and Paracel Islands are two of the most contested areas (see dark blue islands on map above). However, unlike other parts of the South China Sea, these areas have not been assessed to hold large (conventional) resources of oil and natural gas. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, ownership of habitable islands can extend the exclusive access of a country to surrounding energy resources. EIA's analysis shows...

Why American Involvement Will Mean More Friction -- Not Less When U.S. officials are asked to comment on disputes over contested islands in the western Pacific, they invariably affirm that the Obama administration has no position on issues of sovereignty but opposes any use of force to resolve the matter. "Whether with regard to disputes in the South China Sea or in the East China Sea," Deputy Secretary of State William Burns declared last October in Tokyo, the United States "does not take a position on the question of ultimate sovereignty." True to form, he continued, "What we do take...

China’s assertion that almost all of the South China Sea and adjacent waters are part of its territory seems to be growing more dangerous with each passing week.China and Japan are scrambling fighter jets in their faceoff over disputed islands. Last month, China “painted” a Japanese military helicopter and destroyer with weapons-lock radar — bringing harsh criticism from Japanese and American military officials.

Indian naval warship INS Ranjit (D53)India will deploy warships to the South China Sea if the country’s regional interests are compromised, the Indian Navy commander said. As China bolsters its military, the region has witnessed rising tensions over unresolved territorial disputes. India is not directly involved in any of the disputes, but its national interests are tied to the turbulent region, Admiral D K Joshi said on Monday, a day ahead of India’s Navy Day. Delhi may deploy its forces to the region if the situation deteriorates. “Are we preparing for it? Are we having exercises of that nature? The...

Tension between the United States and China spilled over into meetings of Asia-Pacific leaders on Friday as the two countries jostled over how to handle competing claims to the South China Sea. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said "outside forces" had no excuse to get involved in the complex maritime dispute, a veiled warning to the United States and other countries to keep out of the sensitive issue. "It ought to be resolved through friendly consultations and discussions by countries directly involved. Outside forces should not, under any pretext, get involved," Wen told a meeting with Southeast Asian leaders, several of...

Over the past 48 hours we have written much, describing the perfectly expected surge in nationalist fervor and anti-Japanese sentiment, as the Senkaku Islands Snafu hits its boiling point.... Instead we'll let the pictures do the talking.

<p>Two Chinese men have been detained over an attack last week on the Japanese ambassador's car in Beijing in which a flag was ripped off of the front of the vehicle, Chinese state media reported Tuesday.</p> <p>The men, aged 23 and 25, are being held for disturbing public order, and another man has been issued a warning, the official Xinhua News Agency said.</p>

James Webb, the outgoing Democratic Senator from Virginia, is sounding the alarm about the next big world crisis taking place in the South China Sea. Naturally, the Obama administration is doing nothing about it in hopes the crisis will go away. Beijing has, in effect, laid sovereign claim to much of the South China Sea, including the Paracel Islands. China is also clashing with the Philippines over the Spratley Islands and with Japan over the Senkaku Islands. China is prepared to back up these claims by establishing a small colony on Woody Island in the Paracels with a military garrison...

During his visit to Vietnam in early June, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta displayed eagerness to have the U.S. military return to the bases it once occupied at Cam Ranh Bay. The Pentagon lost its foothold there when South Vietnam fell to communist forces in the mid-1970s, and military officials have longed to regain access. Once Washington established diplomatic relations with Hanoi in 1995, that objective seemed to be an attainable goal rather than a hopeless wish. The Vietnamese government, worried about China’s growing power in the region, may now be receptive to a renewed U.S. military presence at...