Free Republic

Syrian rebel groups strengthened their hold over the Syrian side of the Quneitra Crossing — located on the frontier between Syrian and Israeli controlled parts of the Golan Heights – over the weekend and managed to repel attacks by Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar Assad. The rebels kidnapped dozens of Fiji soldiers, members of the UN observer force stationed in the Golan Heights and are maintaining a siege on a second UN stronghold manned by Philippine soldiers. ... Nusra Front forces took over a stronghold manned by a Fiji UN force and kidnapped the soldiers stationed there at gunpoint,...

JERUSALEM, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Ireland, Fiji and Nepal will send hundreds of troops to bolster the UN peacekeeping force in the Golan Heights, Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported Monday. The latest development comes weeks after Austria withdrew its 380 troops from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force ( UNDOF), citing deterioration of security situation due to the escalation in Syria's unrest. According to the report, Ireland agreed to send a 150-strong well-trained and equipped infantry unit, which was previously part of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali; Fiji would dispatch about 500 peacekeepers; and Nepal would redirect some 50 peacekeepers,...

Another 360 soldiers will head for the Golan Heights on the border of Syria this month. This was confirmed to FBC News by Military Land force Commander Colonel Mosese Tikoitoga. Tikoitoga says the 360 are all military personnel. He has also confirms that the first batch of 182 that left last week have already reported for duty and have started work as peacekeepers on the border between Syria and Israeli occupied Golan Heights.

Fiji has offered more than 500 troops to the UN Golan Heights peacekeeping force after several countries withdrew because of the spillover from the Syria conflict, diplomats said Tuesday. Fiji will supply 170 troops this month to replace Japanese and Croatian soldiers who have left in previous weeks. Diplomats said it has also offered to replace the 370 troops that Austria is withdrawing. ... Lyall Grant, UN Security Council president for June, said the UN Disengagement Observer Force would also get "some heavier weapons", extra body armor and see observation posts reinforced. In the growing fallout from more than two...

The Pacific Ocean island nation of Fiji will be replacing some of the UN Peacekeepers that have withdrawn from the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) mission in the Golan Heights, according to the Fijian online newspaper The Fiji Times. According to the report, The United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations' military adviser at the Office of Military Affairs, Lieutenant-General Babacar Gaye told the paper that Fiji would be sending 170 individuals to the mission. Gaye said, a three member team from Fiji visited UNDOF last month and that the Fijians are expected to be deployed to the mission by the...

THE police are investigating an attempted break-in where the homeowner discharged his weapon. Police have confirmed a 12-gauge shotgun was used to scare the two masked men away after they tried to break into a house at Lobau settlement in Nausori early yesterday morning. However, director operations Senior Superintendent Rusiate Tudravu said he could not confirm at this stage whether or not shots fired hit one of the intruders because they had yet to receive a report to this effect. "The home owner has been interviewed by the officers at Nausori Police Station and the gun has been taken in...

THE American iguana has drawn interest from a well-known Australian chef who plans to cook up a menu that will include the reptile on Taveuni. Lance Seeto, who is the executive chef at the Castaway Island Fiji, last week visited Taveuni to learn more about local food. "I have learnt a lot about local food but I will also do a menu for the iguana on the island. That won't be difficult because I have cooked iguanas in other countries I have worked in," he said. "So writing up an iguana menu won't be difficult and it will be affordable...

– 46 mins ago NEW YORK – A magnitude-7.2 earthquake rattled Fiji in the Pacific Ocean on Friday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. No tsunami warning was issued, and no damage or casualties were immediately reported.

Magnitude 6.4 Date-Time Sunday, April 03, 2011 at 14:07:09 UTC Monday, April 04, 2011 at 02:07:09 AM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones Location - 17.649°S, 178.578°W Depth 551.9 km (343.0 miles) set by location program Region FIJI REGION Distances - 252 km (156 miles) W of Lambasa, Vanua Levu, Fiji 321 km (199 miles) W of SUVA, Viti Levu, Fiji 335 km (208 miles) N of Ndoi Island, Fiji 2230 km (1385 miles) W of Auckland, New Zealand ------------------------ No tsunami watches have been issued.

Fiji Water, owned by part-time Aspenites Lynda and Stewart Resnick, has suspended operations at its bottling plant on Viti Levu, the largest of the Republic of Fiji’s islands, after the Fijian government dramatically hiked taxes on the company. Fiji has been ruled by a military junta since 2006 and on Friday, the government announced that starting in 2011, any company that extracts more than 3.5 million liters (920,000 gallons) of water a month would pay a tax of 15 cents per liter, up from the current .11 cents — a 45-fold increase. Fiji Water is the only company on the...

ALERT: Magnitude 6.2 earthquake - FIJI REGION

Thirteen stones sit hidden in the dense jungles of the range of mountains that make up Nakauvadra in Ra. Caves with drawings sit below them. They remain a mystery for the people of Narara Village. Deep in the jungles above the village of Narara in Ra stand 12 stones of similar size and shape. The thirteenth is a little longer then the rest. They stand as monolithic reminders of an era the people of Narara are struggling to understand. It takes about six hours on foot to get to these ancient monuments at the top of the range of mountains...

President Ratu Josefa Iloilo used a nationally-broadcast radio address to announce that he had abolished the constitution, assumed all governing power and revoked all judicial appointments. The move will deepen a political crisis gripping the troubled South Pacific nation. Commodore Voreqe 'Frank' Bainimarama has ruled Fiji since a bloodless coup in Dec 2006 It came one day after the country's second-highest court ruled that the military government that took power after a bloodless coup in 2006 was illegal, prompting the country's self-appointed prime minister Commodore Voreqe "Frank" Bainimarama to tell the president he would stand down. The president, who is...

Original Article: Accused Terrorist on Trial in Jordan Attended Classes at Sac State; Initiation to Terrorism May Have Started in Sacramento, According to Published Reports. Layla Bohm State Hornet (Student Newspaper) November 27, 2001 Former Sacramento State student Raed Hijazi at his trial in Jordan Nov. 26. Hijazi pleaded innocent to nine charges stemming from a plot to execute terrorist attacks on America and Israel during Millenium celebrations in December 1999. Courtesy Photo/A He was a typical California student. Born in San Jose Dec. 3, 1968, Raed Hijazi eventually attended Sacramento City College, took a Sacramento State extension course...

Tension is mounting in a village in Macuata Province after more men were taken in for questioning for the alleged gang rape of a 12-year-old last week. Police spokesman Atunaisa Sokomuri confirmed that a team of police officers in Labasa had been mobilised and sent to Lutukina Village in Dreketi to hunt five other men who are believed to be in hiding. Six others are already in custody at the Labasa Police Station. “At this point in time we are trying to look for five other men who we believe also took part in the gang rape,” Sokomuri said. “Tension...

Fiji jewellery box find stuns archeologists 22 APR 2008 Archeologists have discovered a 3000-year-old pot in Fiji containing jewellery believed to have been made by the South Pacific’s original settlers – the Lapita people. The discovery was made by an excavation party from the Fiji-based University of the South Pacific and the Fiji Museum at Bourewa in Natadola on the Coral Coast. The dig at Bourewa, which is the earliest human settlement in Fiji, unearthed the pot and a thick piece of “exquisitely decorated pottery”. The Lapita people were the first colonists of Pacific Island groups, including the eastern Solomon...

The police force is committed to make its presence felt when Fiji observes Earth Hour from 8-9pm tonight. Corporate Communications Officer Ema Mua says the force wants to ensure that no one takes advantage of the Earth Hour Initiative to break the law. Mua says the National Operations Command Centre has designated senior officers to look into areas especially towns where criminal activities are likely to occur. “A big number will be patrolling on foot and those who will be on motor vehicle. “We also have the National Operations Command Centre on high alert for that one hour and all...

The following is a release by the United States Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center: An earthquake occurred 345 km (215 miles) N of Raoul Island, Kermadec Islands; 600 km (370 miles) SSW of NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga; 1395 km (870 miles) NE of Auckland, New Zealand; 1830 km (1130 miles) NNE of WELLINGTON, New Zealand at 12:28 AM MST, Dec 9, 2007 (7:28 PM local time in .). The magnitude and location may be revised when additional data and further analysis results are available. This earthquake is located in a remote area and no damage or casualties are expected.

U.S. to Offer Turkey Help on PKK The U.S. is to offer Turkey a package of measures to dissuade Ankara from mounting a large-scale military incursion into Iraq to attack PKK Kurdish guerrillas, who have killed scores of Turkish soldiers in recent weeks. Ahead of a meeting in Washington on Monday between President George W. Bush and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, U.S. officials said Ankara would have to get concrete American help to combat the PKK, which has bases in northern Iraq from where it frequently launches attacks into Turkey. “Erdogan has to go back with the...

Police in Fiji have arrested 16 people in the past two days, after uncovering an alleged plot against the country's military leader, Frank Bainimarama. Businessmen, politicians and former soldiers were among those detained, and will be charged, police say, on Monday. New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said one of those arrested, a New Zealander, had been badly beaten. Mr Bainimarama came to power after a bloodless coup in December 2006, but has promised elections in early 2009. He has pledged to abide by the results. Fiji has seen four coups in the past two decades. Military help No concrete...