Free Republic

China recently declared that most of the 3.5 million square kilometers South China Sea had become Sansha, the latest Chinese city. The area China claims is within the city limits comprises over two million square kilometers of largely open ocean and a few hundred tiny islands and reefs, many of which are only above water during low tide. Sansha is administered from one of the Paracel islands (Woody Island). The U.S. government responded by asking that China obey international law. China currently claims South China Sea areas close to neighboring nations, except for areas about 22 kilometers from the coast....

Between this morning and now another bomb was set off in Thailand, this one in Yala. Six soldiers wounded outside the Islamic Bank. Thai Police suspect a police volunteer was the Muslim terrorist who set off the bomb and blew off his own arm during the jihadist attack. At the moment, the 'official' government line is that the injured officer must be interviewed before the police definitively declare he is a terrorist. The local Thai language radio station has already crossed the threshold and is calling the officer a 'hidden terrorist'. "We are at war, in case no one has...

Diplomatic relations to be managed from Palestinian embassy in Malaysia until embassy opened in Bangkok, Ma'an reports. Thai Foreign Minister Tovichakchaikul, Ban-ki Moon Photo: REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi The Palestinian Authority Foreign Ministry announced Wednesday that it has established diplomatic relations with Thailand, Palestinian new agencies reported. According to Ma'an, relations were officially upgraded on Wednesday, but will be managed at the Palestinian embassy in Malaysia until an embassy is opened in Bangkok.

WILLISTON, N.D.—With the nearby oil boom draining this city of many of its service workers, businesses here are relying on a cultural-exchange program for foreign college students to keep the local economy humming. More than 500 foreign students—from Thailand, Jamaica and about a dozen other countries—are staffing nearly every hotel, car wash and fast-food place in town, tending to the troops of roughnecks from the oilfields. "Without them, I don't know what we'd do," said Ward Koeser, mayor of this city of 16,000, citing long lines, slow service and limited hours at stores and restaurants before the students arrived. But...

Operatives linked to Iran tried to kill foreign diplomats, including Israelis and Americans, in at least seven countries over 13 months, the Washington Post reported. New evidence uncovered by investigators in four countries linked the assassination attempts to either Iran-backed Hezbollah militants or operatives based inside Iran, the Post reported Monday, citing U.S. and Middle Eastern security officials. The officials reportedly said that the assassination attempts stopped in early spring, when Iran began to take a softer tone with the West. Shortly after, Iranian officials formally accepted a proposal to resume negotiations with six world powers on proposals to limit...

The United States will accelerate the resettlement of about 7,000 Iraqis referred by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and will contribute $18 million to the agency's appeal for Iraq, about one-third of the total, Undersecretary of State Paula J. Dobriansky said Wednesday. — Washington Post, 2/15/07 I hope it won't be thought impertinent, over-inquisitive, or — Heaven forfend! — mean-spirited of me to ask, but: Just what, exactly, are these refugees seeking refuge from? Us? A few more questions come to mind. Let us suppose, for example, that Sergeant John Q. American, a serving member of the U.S. armed...

A British man of Asian origin was arrested in Thailand after police found him in possession of six human fetuses that had been roasted and covered in gold leaf in a black magic ritual, The Telegraph reports. The man, Chow Hok Kuen, 28, confessed to police he had bought the fetuses from a Taiwanese man a few days earlier for 200,000 baht ($6,382), and he intended to smuggle them into Taiwan, where he would have been able to sell them for at least six times that amount. While the fetuses were found in a separate hotel from the one Chow...

A senior Qaeda militant in Yemen linked to the deadly bombing of an American warship there in 2000 was killed in an airstrike on Sunday, the Yemeni government said, in the latest sign of an escalating American campaign to counter the terrorist threat there. Yemeni authorities said the militant, Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al-Quso, 37, who has been on the F.B.I.’s Most Wanted list in connection with the bombing of the Navy destroyer Cole that killed 17 sailors in October 2000, died in the strike in Shabwa Province in one of the rugged tribal areas controlled by insurgents. The Yemen Embassy...

Guang Eng labels Umno Penang 'racist' over mosque land allegations By Anisah Shukry April 04, 2012 [The Malaysian Insider] KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 - Lim Guan Eng accused Umno Penang today of racism for choosing only to highlight the alleged disposal of land earmarked for mosques in the Bayan Mutiara project. The Penang chief minister said that if Umno's claims were true and that the land been reclassified in the 102.6-acre sale of Bayan Mutiara to Ivory Property Group Bhd (IPGB), then issue affects both Muslim and non-Muslims. "Why then is Umno not highlighting that non-Muslim land for religious worship...

There are two major trends taking place that are shaping up as a recipe for disaster. On the one hand, we have massively indebted governments around the world desperate for tax revenues and, on the other, steadily growing multi-trillion underground economies whose main goal is to avoid paying them. According to a recent study, the amount of uncollected tax revenues in the U.S. is estimated around a whopping 500 billion dollars per year1—enough money to bailout most of Europe. At 8 percent of GDP, the underground or shadow economy in the U.S. is much smaller percentage-wise than other nations like...

SONGKHLA, April1 - Thailand's national police chief Priewpan Damapong confirmed on Sunday that the explosion in the underground parking of Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel on Saturday was caused by a car bomb linked to bombings in Yala. Yesterday's Muslim bomb attacks in Thailand continue and were far more deadly than originally reported. Thailand: More attacks & hundreds more casualties than originally reported, 15 dead, 500+ injured, dozens critical. No major media is covering this war on Thailand. I have seen nothing in the States in this. Atlas reader RV in Thailand reports: "The Muslim attacks yesterday (Saturday March 31st) inflicted...

There has been a coordinated mass casualty attack in Thailand, with aspects eerily similar to the 1993 World Trade Center attack.

South Thailand car bombs kill 14, injure 340 Region has seen years of militancy, thought to be aimed at securing a Muslim state Posted: Mar 31, 2012 2:14 PM ET Last Updated: Mar 31, 2012 4:08 PM ET Suspected insurgents staged the most deadly co-ordinated attacks in years in Thailand's restive south, killing 14 people and wounding 340 with car bombs on Saturday. The attacks targeted weekend shoppers and a high-rise hotel frequented by foreign tourists. A first batch of explosives planted inside a parked pickup truck ripped through an area of restaurants and shops in a busy area of...

<p>The two blasts were the result of bombs stashed in stolen trucks, Police Lt. Gen. Paitoon Chuchaiya told CNN affiliate MCOT.</p> <p>The blasts set fires to nearby vehicles, including a van, which itself exploded, leading to initial reports of a third bomb, Chuchaiya said.</p>

New Delhi An Israeli official said an explosion was hit an Israeli diplomat's car in New Delhi on Monday. He said one person was hurt in the blast, but did not identify the victim. Israeli Embassy spokesman David Goldfarb said the car was near the embassy when the blast went off. Indian police said only that a car was on fire on the street outside the embassy.

...RV in Thailand...: If I sent you every story in the Thai papers of Muslim terror attacks you'd be reading nothing else. We are living in a war zone with thousands dead and thousands more maimed and crippled but the world does not seem to care and the Thai government keeps it hush-hush for fear of ruining a tourism-based economy. Hapuseso Sadeh was 18 years old, riding her motorcycle home from school today (Saturday) when a Muslim bomb killed her instantly. Four other teenagers were injured by the roadside blast that was, according to the papers, intended for Thai soldiers...

Turkish media reports Israel alerted Ankara that Iran Revolutionary Guards seeking to harm diplomats in Turkey. The Mossad has warned Turkey that Israel's diplomatic missions in the country could be in danger of Iranian "bomb attacks," Turkish daily Hurriyet reported on Wednesday, citing a story aired on the NTV news channel. According to the report, the Israeli intelligence agency sent a letter to its Turkish counterpart warning of a plot by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force to attack Israeli targets on Turkish soil. Four individuals have already entered Turkey from Iran and are in possession of weapons and materials...

AFP - Thai police said on Monday they were questioning three more Iranians in connection with an alleged plot to kill Israeli diplomats in Bangkok. "We have information that they may have links to the blasts," Police Major General Piya Utayo told AFP, referring to a series of botched explosions that shook a residential district of the Thai capital on February 14. He said no charges had been laid against the trio. One was detained under immigration law for overstaying his visa. "We are checking the other two people's backgrounds," Piya added. According to Thai media, mobile telephone call logs...

Supatra Sasuphan says she doesn’t spend time thinking about the rare condition she has that leaves her with thick hair on her face and body, a determination to live a normal life that makes her an inspiration to all who know her. Supatra, an 11-year-old Thai girl who’s known as Nat, suffers from hypertrichosis, or Ambras syndrome, a genetic condition marked by excess hair on the face and body. It’s so unusual that there have been only 50 documented cases since the Middle Ages, when sufferers were feared as werewolves. Born with a rare genetic disorder that causes excess hair...

The three bungling Iranian bombers detained in Bangkok after they accidentally set off their explosives cavorted with prostitutes at a beach resort days before the botched attacks. A photograph has emerged of the trio cosying up to sex workers, surrounded by hookah-pipes and drinks, in a bar in the notoriously sleazy city of Pattaya. The revelation comes as it emerged police are now hunting for two more suspects, including a possible bomb expert, they think helped the trio as they set about targeting Israeli diplomats.