In Thailand–the country’s new military regime has banned political parties from staging rallies or conducting any other activity. The military seized power on Tuesday by staging a coup while the Thai prime minister was in New York attending the United Nations General Assembly. Meanwhile the military is imposing new curbs on the media and have requested a meeting to discuss the new rules with the heads of the country’s media outlets. Thailand’s top general is expected to ask all media to stop broadcasting text messages from viewers and to stop running other expressions of public opinion. On Wednesday, the Bush administration criticized the coup. State Department spokesperson Tom Casey said, “There’s no justification for a military coup in Thailand or in any place else. We certainly are extremely disappointed by this action.”