India and Vietnam Can Rescue Asia's Balance of Power

The National Interest 6 hours ago 

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India no longer hides its aspirations of playing an active political and security role in the Asia-Pacific. For political and commercial reasons, the region is critical to India’s strategic thinking. But India’s may not be able to deftly integrate itself in the region, due to lack of consistent political will, steady military modernization and the galloping pace of the regional economy. However, New Delhi has been slowly expanding its strategic and economic heft through its Act East policy, blue-water navy and multilateral diplomacy. In the evolving security context of the Asia-Pacific, one country that is key to India’s sustained presence and role is Vietnam. In the last few years, Hanoi’s diplomatic ...

Egypt tourism revenue down 66 pct in Q1 2016

Reuters

April 25, 2016

A Chinese tourist poses for a photo in front of the Sphinx at the Giza Pyramids on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt March 2, 2016. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

DUBAI (Reuters) - Egypt netted just $500 million in tourism revenue in the first quarter of 2016, down from $1.5 billion a year earlier, a tourism ministry adviser told Reuters, highlighting the country's struggle to kickstart a key dollar-earning industry.

Egypt's tourism industry, a cornerstone of the economy and critical source of hard currency, has been struggling to rebound after the political and economic upheaval triggered by the 2011 uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule.

Tourism revenue has also taken a heavy hit since a Russian plane crashed in the Sinai last October, killing all 224 people on board in what President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called an act of terrorism. Islamic State said it planted a bomb on board.

More than 14.7 million tourists visited Egypt in 2010, dropping to 9.8 million in 2011.

In the first quarter of 2016 just 1.2 million tourists travelled to Egypt, down from 2.2 million a year earlier, said economic adviser to the ministry of tourism Adla Ragab.

Egypt aims to attract 12 million tourists by the end of 2017 through a plan that includes increasing the presence of national carrier EgyptAir abroad, tourism minister Yehia Rashed said in a recent interview with Reuters.

"Many European airlines have halted flights to Sharm El Sheikh. It’s too early to say what the long-term impact of the Russian plane crash will be," said an analyst at hotel industry consultants STR.

The torture of Italian graduate student Giulio Regeni, whose body was dumped on the side of a road in February, has also damaged Egypt's image abroad.

Egyptian intelligence and police sources told Reuters the police had custody of Regeni at some point before he died, but Egyptian officials have strongly denied any involvement in Regeni's death, saying he was never in their custody.

The Regeni case has brought allegations of widespread police brutality in Egypt under sharper focus.

(Reporting by Matt Smith; Writing by Eric Knecht, editing by Ed Osmond)

China's Xi Jinping: Reformer in disguise?

CNN 12 hours ago 

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Beijing (CNN)A Chinese leader gracing the covers of major western publications used to draw wild cheers from the country's state media. When President Xi Jinping appeared on recent covers of The Economist and Time, however, Beijing authorities summarily blocked the two magazines' websites in China. It was no coincidence that both front pages -- and the accompanying articles -- portrayed Xi emerging as a new Mao Zedong, the founding father of Communist China but also considered one of the most ruthless leaders in modern history. Three years into his expected decade-long reign, Xi -- who also heads the ruling Communist Party and the two-million-strong People's Liberation Army -- has amassed more power than almost any other post-Mao Chinese leader. .

This Is Why America Needs to Kick China Out of RIMPAC

The National Interest

April 19, 2016

This Is Why America Needs to Kick China Out of RIMPAC

Hawaii’s Rep. Mark Takai has objected to China’s participation at the 2016 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise based at Pearl Harbor. Takai also would amend the FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to bar China if its invitation is not revoked by the Pentagon. The Obama Administration should rescind the conditional invitation for the PLA to join RIMPAC 2016. While the Navy’s Third Fleet in San Diego technically invites foreign navies to RIMPAC, the review of whether to include China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy reflects the views of PACOM, the Navy, the Pentagon, and the White House. PLA presence at the premier maritime warfare exercise remains sensitive, because of concerns

Backed Into A Corner: Friendless Beijing Seeks Moscow's Support In South China Sea

Forbes

April 20, 2016

Backed Into A Corner: Friendless Beijing Seeks Moscow's Support In South China Sea

China is seeking Russian support in the disputed and increasingly volatile South China Sea , even though Russia is not a claimant in the body of water. However, it is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, as is China. On Monday, China and Russia said that the South China Sea dispute should not be internationalized and called for its settlement based on negotiation and consultation, according to a report in China’s state-run media outlet Xinhua. Of course, the problem with that joint statement is that to date China is not willing, nor will it be willing, to negotiate in the South China Sea unless other nations first consent to Beijing’s claim of historical ownership of the body of water.

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800-yard-long drug tunnel found between Mexico and San Diego

ELLIOT SPAGAT

April 20, 2016

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A nearly half-mile-long tunnel leading from Mexico to San Diego was discovered and more than a ton of cocaine and seven tons of marijuana was seized, the U.S. attorney’s office said Wednesday. Six people were arrested.

The tunnel extends 300 yards from a house in Tijuana, Mexico, to the border and then 500 yards on the U.S. side to a fenced lot in a San Diego industrial area.

The tunnel was equipped with a rail system, ventilation, lights and a large elevator, officials said. The exit on the U.S. side is about 3 feet wide and was covered by a trash bin.

The six people arrested in San Diego on Friday were charged with crimes involving drugs and construction of the tunnel.

The discovery demonstrates the enduring appeal of tunnels to smugglers, despite the significant time and money required to build one. Dozens of tunnels have been found along the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years, some equipped with hydraulic lifts and electric rail cars. Most of the tunnels found were in California and Arizona, many of them incomplete.

The San Diego-Tijuana region is popular because its clay-like soil is relatively easy to dig with shovels and pneumatic tools, and both sides of the border have warehouses that provide cover for trucks and heavy equipment.

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New details revealed about Otay Mesa drug tunnel

Federal officials in San Diego say they have discovered an 800-yard-long secret tunnel under the U.S.-Mexico border, resulting in the seizure of more than a ton of cocaine and seven tons of marijuana.

Russia warns U.S. over naval incident as NATO tensions laid bare

By Robin Emmott

April 20, 2016

An U.S. Navy picture shows what appears to be a Russian Sukhoi SU-24 attack aircraft flying over the USS Donald Cook in the Baltic Sea. The repeated flights by the Sukhoi SU-24 warplanes, which also flew near the ship a day earlier, were so close they created wake in the water, with 11 passes, the official said. REUTERS/US Navy

By Robin Emmott

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Russia accused the United States on Wednesday of intimidation by sailing a U.S. naval destroyer close to Russia's border in the Baltics and warned that the Russian military would respond with "all necessary measures" to any future incidents.

Speaking after a meeting between NATO envoys and Russia, their first in almost two years, Moscow's ambassador to NATO said the April 11 maritime incident showed there could be no improvement in ties until the U.S.-led alliance withdrew from Russia's borders.

"This is about attempts to exercise military pressure on Russia," the envoy, Alexander Grushko, said. "We will take all necessary measures, precautions, to compensate for these attempts to use military force," he told reporters.

U.S. Ambassador to NATO Douglas Lute pressed Russia about the incident, warning it had been dangerous. The United States has said the guided missile destroyer USS Cook was on routine business near Poland when it was harassed by Russian jets.

"We were in international waters," a NATO diplomat reported Lute as telling Grushko during the NATO-Russia council meeting.

Despite what officials said was a calm and professional meeting, the public comments highlighted the state of tension that persists between the sides since Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea in March 2014 and its support for separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the NATO member states had, during the meeting, rejected Grushko's account of the crisis in eastern Ukraine, where 9,000 people have died since April 2014.

Stoltenberg said while there were "profound disagreements" over how to handle Europe's security, each side urgently needed to talk more and to use existing rules to reduce military risk.

Stoltenberg suggested revamping a Cold War-era treaty known as the Vienna document, which sets out the rules for large-scale exercises and other military activity, as well as telephone hotlines and other military communication channels.

"We have to use our lines of communication," he said.

Russia's chief concern is NATO's biggest modernization since the Cold War, which is likely to include a military build-up in eastern Europe with a rotating, multinational force in Poland and the Baltics.

NATO says the plans are a proportionate response to Russian aggression following Moscow's annexation of Crimea, and the alliance had no forces in eastern Europe before the Ukraine crisis.

Poland and other NATO members in the Baltics worry about an increase in the Russian military presence in its Kaliningrad enclave, where Russia is positioning longer-range surface-to-air missiles.

NO AGREEMENT ON UKRAINE

The session of the NATO-Russia Council, which last met in June 2014, had been called in part to assuage Russia's concerns that it feels threatened by NATO. But core differences clearly remained afterwards.

NATO envoys had expressed concern about Russia's so-called snap exercises, where thousands of Russian troops carry out war games without any prior warning. "That is clearly destabilizing," a NATO diplomat said.

Stoltenberg said NATO members had rejected Grushko's description of the crisis in eastern Ukraine as a civil war.

"In the meeting, it was re-confirmed that we disagree on the facts, on the narrative and the responsibilities in and around Ukraine," Stoltenberg said after the meeting.

"Many allies disagree when Russia tries to portray this as a civil war. This is Russia destabilizing eastern Ukraine, providing support for the separatists, munitions, funding, equipment and also command and control," he said.

"So there were profound disagreements," he said.

Russia denies any direct involvement in eastern Ukraine.

This is the last known photo of Hitler

Business Insider

April 19, 2016

This is the last known photo of Hitler

Shortly before committing suicide in his underground Führerbunker, Hitler stepped outside with an SS officer to survey nearby bomb damage from Allied Forces. On April 30, 1945, Hitler learned Berlin had fallen into Allied Forces control and that his Third Reich, after 12 years, would inevitably be destroyed. Hitler then quickly married his long-term mistress, Eva Braun, and prepared his last will and political statement with his secretary, Traudl Junge, at about 4:00 p.m.