Free Republic

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a stern warning to Texas and other states standing in support of razor wire barriers at the Southern border, President Biden said that Texas has until the end of the day to remove it or else frinlerbagsuzzit dorblelerg. "This has gotten out of hand, folks," said Biden before a crowd of reporters. "The governor of Texas has defied the gribblegarg of tortlshwaligglbuther. I'm giving Greg Abbot until sundown today to remove thrigldiffin or else frinlerbagsuzzit dorblelerg. Not a joke! Confused reporters directed further questions to Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre, who is black as well as...

Fighting on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan killed about 100 troops Tuesday as attacks on both sides fed fears of broader hostilities breaking out between the longtime adversaries. Armenia said at least 49 of its soldiers were killed; Azerbaijan said it lost 50. The fighting erupted minutes after midnight with Azerbaijani forces unleashing an artillery barrage and drone attacks in many sections of Armenian territory, according to Armenia’s Defense Ministry. It said shelling grew less intense during the day but Azerbaijani troops were trying to advance into Armenian territory. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said it was responding to a “large-scale...

The Tajik side said in a statement that Kyrgyz border guards opened unprovoked gun and mortar fire on their outpost, killing one border guard and injuring another two, the RIA Novosti news agency reported. Kyrgyzstan did not immediately report any casualties. More than one-third of the two countries’ 1,000km (600-mile) border remains disputed. Both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are allied with Russia and host Russian military bases, but fighting over border issues is frequent and last year almost resulted in an all-out war between the former Soviet republics. Russia called on its Central Asian allies to take urgent measures to bring...

On the 86th birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi set a new precedent by making a first-ever public announcement by tweeting: “Spoke on phone to His Holiness the @DalaiLama to convey greetings on his 86th birthday. We wish him a long and healthy life.” In reciprocation, the Tibetan religious leader called himself the “longest guest” of India which he sees as “home.” Indian leaders unofficially conveyed their wishes; however, Modi’s official wish to the highest religious leader of Tibet who is in exile is not just symbolic but of great significance given its political...

NEW DELHI—China has dismantled dozens of structures and moved vehicles to empty out entire camps along a disputed Himalayan border, where Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a face-off since last summer, satellite images released on Wednesday show. The nuclear-armed neighbours last week announced a plan to pull back troops, tanks, and other equipment from the banks of Pangong Tso, a glacial lake in the Ladakh region, that became a flashpoint in the prolonged border dispute. Satellite imagery of some areas on the northern bank of Pangong Tso from Tuesday supplied by Maxar Technologies show that multiple Chinese...

China and India have accused each other of firing shots on their flashpoint Himalayan border in a further escalation of military tension between the nuclear-armed Asian rivals. The relationship between the two countries has deteriorated since a hand-to-hand combat clash in the Ladakh region on June 15 in which 20 Indian troops were killed. Experts fear the latest incident will intensify a months-long standoff between the Asian giants that erupted in late April. Beijing's defence ministry accused India of "severe military provocation", saying soldiers crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the western border region on Monday and "opened...

There is mounting tension deep in the Himalayas between two of the world’s most powerful and populous nations. Chinese media has aired pictures of civilian planes full of soldiers holding guns headed towards its mountainous border with India where clashes have flared in recent days. Anger has been building between the two regional powers over their 3500km border, which has never been properly demarcated. According to senior Indian officials, India had responded and mobilised its troops also. “Our build-up matches the Chinese deployment, if not more, in terms of troops, support elements, force multipliers and aerial support,” a senior official...

NEW DELHI—Tensions along the China-India border high in the Himalayas have flared again in recent weeks. Indian officials say the latest row began in early May, when Chinese soldiers entered the Indian-controlled territory of Ladakh at three different points, erecting tents and guard posts. They said the Chinese soldiers ignored repeated verbal warnings to depart, triggering shouting matches, stone-throwing and fistfights. China has sought to downplay the confrontation while providing little information. A look at the history and current relations between the two countries and how events may develop: BRAWLING TROOPS Over recent weeks, thousands of soldiers from the two...

As precursors to possible nuclear war go, fistfights and stone throwing aren’t exactly the first things that come to mind. But along India and China’s long, contested border, that’s exactly what has been happening for the past month, prompting President Trump on Wednesday to offer to mediate what he called a “now raging dispute” between Asia’s two major military powers. Tensions along the 2,000 mile stretch have been high for decades, with the Indian government reporting more than 1,000 mostly minor incursions by Chinese troops between 2016-18. But hostilities have increased over the last several weeks following large Chinese troop...

Two years ago in the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin, the brand new $300 million dollar Yangmingtan Bridge collapsed without warning. Privately, experts speculated that costs had been cut during construction, making the bridge an accident waiting to happen. Here in America, we also have many social accidents waiting to happen. For example, our own southern border security is so weak that it too is ready to collapse at any moment, with the right amount of pressure. Therefore, rescuing the wrong children could compromise our national security. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the number of unaccompanied children...

When this week began, it was hard to imagine a story knocking our collapsing borders from the front of our minds. But in the span of a few hours Thursday, two stories made us hit the pause button on the mounting and proper indignation over the organized (and often secret) government dumping of illegals in our midst. That is still a huge problem, and the one with the most direct effect on the average American citizen. But when TV screens began streaming images of the Ukraine wreckage of yet another Malaysian plane, and then the Israeli operation in Gaza,...

In a press conference in Dallas on Wednesday, President Obama responded to critics who noted he was refusing to visit the border in a time of crisis. "This isn't theater," the President said, before going further and saying "I'm not interested in photo ops." "Not interested in photo ops." Really, President Barack Obama said that. Needless to say, commentators noted the absolute absurdity of that statement - it would be hilarious if the crisis weren't so serious. A hashtag was spawned on Twitter as people noted the obsession that this White House has seemed to have with photo ops: #NotInterestedInPhotoOps...

No one knows just how many tens of thousands of Central American nationals -- most of them desperate, unescorted children and teens -- are streaming across America's southern border. Yet this phenomenon offers us a proverbial teachable moment about the paradoxes and hypocrisies of Latin American immigration to the U.S. For all the pop romance in Latin America associated with Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, few Latinos prefer to immigrate to such communist utopias or to socialist spins-offs like Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador or Peru. Instead, hundreds of thousands of poor people continue to risk danger to enter democratic, free-market America,...

An undocumented foreigner crossed the Rio Grande near Hidalgo, Texas, the other day. He had spent three weeks traveling from Honduras, and he was carrying only one thing with him: a birth certificate. He was hoping to find relatives in San Antonio or Maryland. His name is Alejandro, and he's 8 years old. His story and photo appeared in The New York Times, providing a stark reminder that illegal immigration often involves harmless individuals who are guilty of nothing. From the angry reaction to the surge of unaccompanied minors and mothers with young children crossing the border in recent weeks,...

Chinese coast guards' killing of innocent Vietnamese fishermen violates international law The recent killing of innocent Vietnamese fishermen by Chinese coast guards was a serious violation of international law, Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung said in Hanoi on January 20. The action also violated the Agreement on the Demarcation of the Tonkin Gulf, the Vietnam-China Agreement on Fishing Co-operation in the Tonkin Gulf, and other agreements reached by Vietnamese and Chinese leaders, and hurt the friendly sentiment between the two peoples, the spokesman stressed. He made the remarks while replying to the Vietnam News Agency's query on Vietnam's reaction to...