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Donald Trump has won the Republican caucus in the Northern Mariana Islands, picking up nine pledged delegates, according to the local GOP. Trump won 73 percent of the total 471 votes cast in the remote U.S. territory on Tuesday, followed by Ted Cruz with 24 percent, John Kasich at .02 percent and Marco Rubio at .01 percent. Jason Osborne, the executive director of the Northern Mariana Islands Republican Party, shared results of the winner-take-all caucus early Tuesday morning on Twitter and Facebook. Breaking News: @realDonaldTrump has just been declared the winner of the CNMI Rep Caucus with 72.8% of the...

FAIS ISLAND, Micronesia - "Santa One-One" was late, and the chief of this tiny island in the western Pacific was concerned: Would there be no Christmas this year? No toys or school supplies? "They are coming today? You are sure?" Louis Mangtau asked. But soon, the afternoon stillness was broken by an Air Force C-130 cargo plane flying low over the palm trees. In its wake was a crate decorated in red-and-white Christmas wrapping, floating gently to earth on a military-green parachute. Strong, young men wrestled the bundle from the open field where it landed to the nearby village center....

The United States flew two B-52 bombers over the weekend near man-made islands constructed by China in the South China Sea, a U.S. official told The Hill, in a clear challenge to China's territorial claims to the area. The bombers made one pass within 12 nautical miles of the islands...

The speed and scale of China’s island-building spree have alarmed other countries with interests in the region. China announced in June that the creation of islands — moving sediment from the seafloor to a reef — would soon be completed. Since then, China has focused its efforts on construction. So far the country has built port facilities, military buildings and an airstrip on the islands, and recent imagery shows evidence of two more airstrips under construction. The installations bolster China’s foothold in the Spratly Islands, a disputed scattering of reefs and islands in the South China Sea more than 500...

A newly contentious phase appears to be under way in the South China Sea, where China has made expansive territorial claims, after the head of US naval operations said today in Tokyo that US vessels are free to travel “wherever international law allows." Echoing earlier remarks by US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, John Richardson, the US chief of naval operations, stated that, "It should not come as a surprise to anybody that we will exercise freedom of navigation wherever international law allows.” He added that "I don't see how this can be interpreted as provocative." A Chinese spokesman responded by...

Tyler Durden 10/15/2015 Earlier this week, US officials indicated that they are set to go through with a plan to sail warships around China’s man-made islands in the Spratlys. “It’s just a matter of time when it happens,” one government source told WSJ. Over the course of the last six months, we’ve seen China’s land reclamation efforts go from oddity, to spectacle, to alleged “provocation”, to excuse for war as Washington feels compelled to come to the aid of its allies in the South Pacific who cried foul after it became apparent that this was no “normal” dredging effort. In...

Tyler Durden 10/09/2015 While the geopolitical posturing between the US and China over the South China Seas is nothing new, the latest and most dramatic installment started just one month ago, when as part of its celebration to commemorate the successful victory over Japan in World War II, China sailed five warships to the Bering Sea, off the coast of Alaska, just as Obama was quite literally taking selfies of himself a few hundred miles away. Then yesterday, in the latest US attempt to one-up China despite the now long forgotten visit of China's president to the US which clearly...

(CNSNews.com) – The United States should make clear to China that it does not recognize its sovereignty claims in the South China Sea by sailing warships within 12 nautical miles of artificial islands Beijing has constructed, Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Thursday. Not doing so, he said during a committee hearing on maritime security strategy in the Asia-Pacific, was “a dangerous mistake that grants de-facto recognition of China’s man-made sovereignty claims.” Pressed as to the last time U.S. Navy ships did enter the waters within 12 miles of the artificial islands, assistant secretary of defense...

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Diplomatic tensions surrounding disputed territories in the South China Sea could escalate dramatically following reports China is now putting weapons on its artificial islands in the area. Australia’s defence force is considering joining the U.S. in flying and sailing “freedom of navigation” missions over the disputed territory, where China has been building islands by dragging sand from a reef and piling it up to create structures now being monitored by satellites. Fairfax Media reports the Australian fly-over expeditions may occur as a result of heightened concerns that China is enhancing its military capabilities and reach across the maritime expanse.

A Chinese state owned newspaper warns of a conflict with the US, unless Washington stops demanding that China halts land reclamation and construction projects in the South China Sea. The Global Times says ‘War is inevitable’ unless the US backs down on Chinese land reclamation and the consequent rights to territorial boundaries of such man made islands. The islands that are man-made are in disputed waters of several regional nations. Some of these nations have close ties with the United States. The US maintains that it is also maintaining the free passage of the waters of the South China Sea for all...

At least 19 civilians were killed in a weekend attack by Boko Haram Islamists on three remote islands in Niger with many victims burnt alive, a local lawmaker said. Sunday’s onslaught took place on three islands located on Lake Chad, said ElHadj Aboubacar, a deputy from the town of Bosso in southeastern Niger. “We have been informed that at least 19 people have died, most of whom were either burnt alive or drowned in the lake,” he told AFP. There has been no official confirmation of the death toll but a private radio station in Niger has reported that two...

A species of snake that had been "lost" for almost 80 years has been re-discovered on a remote Mexican island. According to a study published in the PLOS ONE scientific journal, the Clarion nightsnake was found again on one of the Revillagigedo Islands, more than 400 miles (650 kilometers) off Mexico's Pacific coast. The original, and until recently the only, spotting of the species was made by American naturalist William Beebe in a 1936 visit to Clarion, one of the four Revillagigedo Islands. He returned with one snake preserved in a glass jar.

The White House announced that Vice President Joe Biden would spend the weekend vacationing in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It's his second vacation there in three months. His White House schedule reads: DAILY GUIDANCE FOR THE VICE PRESIDENT Friday, March 7 – Sunday, March 9 The Vice President and Dr. Jill Biden will visit the U.S. Virgin Islands. There are no public events scheduled. And as Geoff Earle of the New York Post reported on December 27, the vice president spent New Year's on the U.S. Virgin Islands.

STANLEY, Falkland Islands – An overwhelming 99.8 percent of Falkland Islands voters have backed keeping their government just the way it is: a British Overseas Territory. Of the 1,517 valid votes cast, only 3 islanders voted "no" to the question: "Do you wish the Falkland Islands to retain their current political status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom?" One vote was somehow lost, officials said Monday. The referendum was aimed at showing the world that the residents' self-determination must be considered in any discussion about the future of the remote South Atlantic islands that are claimed by both...

Residents of the Falkland Islands voted overwhelmingly to remain a British Overseas Territory, an official said late Monday. The question put to voters was: "Do you wish the Falkland Islands to retain their current political status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom?" More than 99% of voters said yes, according to Darren Christie, public relations manager for the Falklands Islands government. Just three people voted no. Turnout was 92%. "Speaks for itself, I think," Christie said about the vote. Monday marked the final day of a two-day referendum on the disputed Falkland Islands, which Argentinians call Las Malvinas....

Chinese Warships Prepared To Fire On The Japanese Navy Twice Robert JohnsonFebruary 5, 2013, 6:06 AMThe Type 053H3 frigate is armed with a HQ-7 eight unit SAM launcher and Type 79A twin barrel 100 mm gun Last week a Chinese warship pointed its missile guidance system at a Japanese destroyer in an unmistakable show of aggression, the Japanese Ministry of Defense announced today. The brief report out of Tokyo cites a January 30 event where a type 053 Chinese frigate locked its "sixth fire control radar" onto a Japanese helicopter equipped vessel out of Yokosuka. Japan has two helicopter carriers,...

Japan Lets Its New Defense Budget Do The Talking Over Island Dispute Robert JohnsonFebruary 2, 2013, 5:11 AMJapan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) escort ship "Kurama" leads other vessels during a fleet review in water off Sagami Bay, south of Tokyo Japan's prime minister announced his country will vigorously defend itself against all Chinese threats following a series of confrontations over the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu island chain. Purchased by Japan, the islands' ownership is hotly contested by China, which for several months has sent ships, reconnaissance planes, and fighter jets to the area to face off against Japanese forces. It has become...

CNN) -- Idiotic TV shows and all the latest apps bumming you out on the 21st century? Ready for some "me time" on the world's remotest islands? Forget golden sands and swaying palms -- the reality of solitude is different as these terrifyingly distant landfalls demonstrate. ... Bear Island 400 miles off Europe's north coast Bjornoya, better known as Bear Island, is the southernmost island in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, 400 miles north of mainland Europe -- but only on paper, given that it's almost 150 miles south of the Norwegian island chain with which it's lumped. It's been...

Japan Threatens To Fire On Chinese Fighters — China Says 'There Will Be No Second Shot' Robert JohnsonJanuary 21, 2013, 2:35 PMWhen Chinese and Japanese fighters met for the first time over disputed islands in the East China Sea earlier this month, Japan promptly declared its right to fire tracers at China's jets. Though met with outrage by China at the time, Japan continues promoting the live firing which Chinese military academics are calling the "first shot." “Every country has procedures for how to deal with a violation of its territory that continues after multiple cautionary measures,” Japanese Defense Minister...