Free Republic

Nearly seven years after the Myanmar military killed thousands of Muslim Rohingyas, in what the UN called "textbook ethnic cleansing", it wants their help.From interviews with Rohingyas living in Rakhine State the BBC has learned of at least 100 of them being conscripted in recent weeks to fight for the embattled junta. All their names have been changed to protect them. "I was frightened, but I had to go," says Mohammed, a 31-year-old Rohingya man with three young children. He lives near the capital of Rakhine, Sittwe, in the Baw Du Pha camp. At least 150,000 internally displaced Rohingyas have...

Going further than the Treasury Department's tacit support for debanking alleged "hate groups" after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, a State Department component that "strengthen[s] resilient democratic societies" developed a more sweeping plan for financially choking off disfavored narratives a month later. The U.S. Agency for International Development wrote a "Disinformation Primer" that appears to have been started in "late 2020," judging by a reference to the most up-to-date "social media initiatives" by Facebook and Twitter "to address disinformation and misinformation."It was still being written at least 10 days into the Biden administration, referring twice to the Jan. 31,...

Biden claims that he cares about the religious rights of “all” people -- when he clearly means only “all Muslims.” On May 16, President Biden issued a brief video ostensibly dedicated to expressing his support for the religious freedom of “all” people (though in reality dedicated to only one religious group): All people should be able to practice their faith with dignity, without fear of harassment or violence. We will defend the right of all, as we stand with you. That’s why I ended this shameful Muslim travel ban. And that’s why this administration will speak out for religious freedom...

[Make sure to read Daniel Greenfield’s contributions in Jamie Glazov’s new book: Barack Obama’s True Legacy: How He Transformed America.]Muslims celebrated Christmas in Nigeria by massacring around 100 Christians across a dozen communities. The Jihadis hacked Christians to death with machetes and burned down churches as part of a genocidal campaign that has killed 52,000 Christians in over a decade and forced millions to leave their home and become refugees in the African nation.In America, not a single person marched, rallied or protested over this actual genocide.The rampaging mobs crying that Hamas is suffering genocide remained silent. Black Lives Matter...

"To support this money you have to be economically illiterate and morally deficient" Republican Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky speaking with Tucker Carlson regarding the 60 billion dollars the Biden Administration is requesting for Ukraine... "If Only You Care Half As Much About Our Border As You Do My Tweets" The reaction of Congressman Thomas Massie to an accusation of Anti-Semitism... US officials say Russia has rejected an offer... A virtual meeting of the leaders of the G7 nations will be addressed by Ukrainian President... US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaking after a closed-door meeting of Senators on more...

The pastoral center of Christ the King Cathedral in Loikaw, Myanmar, was bombed on Nov. 26 and occupied by the Burmese military the next day, according to reporting by Agenzia Fides, the news arm of Pontifical Mission Societies. Though no one was killed in the bombing, the pastoral center’s ceiling collapsed and Bishop Celso Ba Shwe and the 80 refugees taking shelter in the church were forced to flee, per the Hong Kong Catholic news service UCA News. Shwe said in a statement published by Agenzia Fides that “the Burmese army tried to take the Christ the King Cathedral complex...

NEW DELHI -- Fierce fighting in Myanmar has raised "deep concern" in India, which is closely monitoring security along the countries' shared border while bracing for an influx of refugees. The military regime that seized power in Myanmar in February 2021, ousting the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, is facing arguably its biggest test yet in the form of a coordinated armed resistance. The renewed instability has raised alarm in countries that border the troubled Southeast Asian state, including rival powers India and China. Operation 1027 -- as the resistance offensive is named, after the date it...

Events in Myanmar’s renewed civil war took a dramatic turn these past three weeks, reminding us not to forget about the world’s longest running conflict. Just prior to the break of dawn on Oct. 27, 2023, the Three Brotherhood Alliance of the Arakan Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army launched a surprise assault — called Operation 1027 — on junta forces in northern Shan State. Within a couple of weeks, the three ethnic armed organizations have reportedly seized over 150 military outposts and several key towns astride a strategic road to the Chinese...

A viral video tonight of British police arresting a man after he posted a video criticizing the display of Palestinian flags in his neighborhood by migrants... Police in Berlin with an apology of sorts after they removed posters of hostages being held in Gaza... The US State Department announcing sanctions on a dozen Guatemalan government officials accused of interfering with the transfer to power of a Leftist President... Israel shooting down an aerial threat aimed at the southern city of Eilat early Wednesday morning... The US sending 300 more military personnel to the Middle East... Russian aerospace forces in Syria...

What is the US aircraft carrier doing in Israel? It will start to carry out serious massacres there by striking, destroying Gaza"...The comments of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan... A plane carrying ammunition from the United States arrived in Israel tonight... Tonight rocket fire aimed at Israel from Syria... Meanwhile the Russian military in Syria says that there were only three US coalition air space violations in Syria's Al-Tanf today... The United States determining that the new military government in Niger since July is the result of a military coup. This means a permanent cutoff of 200 million dollars... Tensions...

DAVE EUBANK MAKES an exploding gesture with his fist to alert the guerrilla soldiers following him of the danger ahead. “From here until we pass the road, the trail is lined with mines,” he says, scanning the mountainous Burmese jungle for signs of trouble. “Watch where you step.” As his signal relays down the line, conversations fall silent and the air hums with only the sound of heavy breathing and hundreds of footsteps on hard-packed ground. Eubank picks up the pace, slashing through brush and thorny stalks that tear at his clothing. A former U.S. Special Forces officer and ordained...

An active-duty missile corvette of the Indian Navy is on its way to Vietnam as a gift, the first warship given by India to any country. The domestically built corvette INS Kirpan left India's east coast on Wednesday (Jun 28), the navy said. India and Vietnam have strengthened their ties in recent years, with a special focus on defence, as both countries are concerned over an increasingly assertive China. India has given smaller boats and military equipment to countries like Maldives and Mauritius in the past and a submarine to Myanmar.

Though Bangladesh's incumbent Awami League Government is taking strong action, Sheikh Hasina has a very serious challenge on her hands On the face of it, any talk of Islamist terrorism posing a threat to Bangladesh or the latter becoming a global staging ground for it appears absurd. Things have been improving since the savage terrorist strike at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka on July 1, 2016, which left 20 persons (guests at the eatery), all five of the terrorists, two police officers and two members of the bakery’s staff, dead. According to South Asia Terrorist Portal’s Datasheet Bangladesh, from...

Ms Kyaw's killing is the latest in a series of assassinations of high-profile government supporters. Four days before she was attacked, a well-known nationalist and pro-military supporter, Tint Lwin, was fatally shot in the head while at a tea shop in Yangon, the country's main city. He had been in hiding after surviving a shooting last summer. Ms Kyaw was targeted early in the evening of 30 May while parked outside her house in Yangon's Yankin Township. First reports said she had been killed, after an image of her lying face down in her car was shared on social media....

'These inhumane degenerates need to face real consequences' The three teens accused of killing and eating a beloved swan in an upstate New York village are refugees, the Washington Free Beacon has learned. Manlius Police reported Faye the Swan and her four cygnets missing from the town pond last Monday, which prompted horror from the Manlius, New York, residents. Locals flooded Manlius police with tips the next day, which ended in the arrest of 18-year-old Eman Hussan of Syracuse, New York, and two minors, aged 16 and 17. The posse are refugees from Myanmar and attend high school in the...

The Myanmar junta handed out at least seven more death sentences this week, taking the tally of those on death row to 139, according to the United Nations. A junta spokesperson did not respond to calls from outside Myanmar seeking confirmation of the latest death sentences. The UN accused it of using capital punishment as a "tool to crush opposition". Myanmar has been in chaos since Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government was toppled in a military coup in February 2021, ending the country's brief period of democracy. At least seven male university students were sentenced to death by a...

Chinese-owned companies in Myanmar are allegedly responsible for illegal mining operations that are destroying the natural landscape of Myanmar’s border region with China, local miners of dysprosium and terbium — two heavy rare earth minerals used in clean energy products and smart electronics — told the organization Global Witness for a report published on Tuesday. Global Witness revealed on August 9 how illicit rare earth mining allegedly supported by Chinese businessmen in Myanmar has ravaged a mountainous border region called Kachin Special Region 1, writing:

The people in this northern Myanmar forest have lost a way of life that goes back generations. But if they complain, they, too, face the threat of death. This forest is the source of several key metallic elements known as rare earths, often called the vitamins of the modern world. Rare earths now reach into the lives of almost everyone on the planet, turning up in everything from hard drives and cellphones to elevators and trains. They are especially vital to the fast-growing field of green energy, feeding wind turbines and electric car engines. And they end up in the...

Reports of the death of Myanmar's ambassador to China last Sunday in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming seemed all normal until reporters noted that he is the fourth ambassador to China to die within a year while in office. ... A statement by the Foreign Ministry in Myanmar announced the death of Ambassador U Myo Thant Pe without providing details on the cause of his death, despite media reports in China and Myanmar suggesting it was the result of a heart attack. Even though news of the ambassador's death did not cause major reactions in Myanmar, the country that...

Strong mag. 5.9 earthquake - 54 km south of Keng Tung, Kengtung District, Shan State, Myanmar (Burma), on Thursday, Jul 21, 2022 at 11:37 pm (GMT +6:30) - 5 hours ago Updated: Thu, Jul 21, 2022 22:07 GMT - 2 minutes 21 Jul 17:32: Magnitude recalculated from 5.8 to 5.9. Epicenter location corrected by 0.5 km (0.3 mi) towards NE. Update Thu, 21 Jul 2022, 17:21 Significant magnitude 5.5 earthquake 62 km south of Keng Tung, Myanmar (Burma) 5.5 quake 21 Jul 11:37 pm (GMT +6:30) 5.5 quake 21 Jul 11:37 pm (GMT +6:30) The German Research Centre for Geosciences...