Russia’s Path to Another Resurgence

December 1, 2016 | 09:16 GMT

Summary

After enduring three years of a foundering economy and feuds with the West, things may be looking up for Russia. The Brexit vote in June exposed the deep discord in the European Union, giving Moscow a glimmer of hope that dissenting member states might break the bloc’s consensus on its sanctions against Russia in a future vote on their renewal. Though EU members decided unanimously in July to extend the measures, upcoming elections on the Continent could undermine the bloc’s unity. In the United States, meanwhile, Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election has opened a potential path to warmer relations between the United States and Russia, and perhaps even an end to Washington’s sanctions on Moscow. The turning political tides in Brussels and Washington could give the Kremlin the leeway to increase its influence in the former Soviet Union, leading the countries in Russia’s periphery to re-evaluate their foreign policy positions. Tiếp tục đọc “Russia’s Path to Another Resurgence”

New King for Thailand as Crown Prince, Vajiralongkorn, Ascends to Throne

https://static01.nyt.com/video/players/offsite/index.html?videoId=100000004799971

The prince, Maha Vajiralongkorn, accepted the invitation to be the king of Thailand in a ceremony on Thursday.

By REUTERS on Publish Date December 2, 2016. Photo by Bureau of the Royal Household, via Associated Press… Watch in Times Video »

BANGKOK — Thailand’s crown prince ascended to the throne on Thursday, seven weeks after the death of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died after reigning for seven decades.

Tiếp tục đọc “New King for Thailand as Crown Prince, Vajiralongkorn, Ascends to Throne”

Malaysia: Myanmar pursues ethnic cleansing of Rohingya

ALJAZEERA Dec. 3, 2016

Malaysia says Myanmar behind exodus of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Rohingya to neighbouring countries.

Government restrictions on the Rohingya has been likened to apartheid [EPA]

Malaysia has accused Myanmar of engaging in “ethnic cleansing” of its Rohingya Muslim minority, as former UN chief Kofi Annan visits a burned-out village in violence-hit Rakhine state.

Tens of thousands of Muslim Rohingya have fled their homes since a bloody crackdown by the Myanmar army in Rakhine, sparked by a string of deadly attacks on police border posts in early October.

“The fact that only one particular ethnicity is being driven out is by definition ethnic cleansing,” Malaysia’s foreign ministry said in an unusually strongly-worded statement on Saturday.

Former UN chief in Myanmar to investigate plight of Rohingya

Myanmar has balked at such criticism, saying the Rakhine crisis is an internal issue. However, international pressure on the country is mounting.

Malaysia’s statement noted that hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled to neighbouring countries in recent years, including approximately 56,000 to Muslim-majority Malaysia. Tiếp tục đọc “Malaysia: Myanmar pursues ethnic cleansing of Rohingya”

Modern World Tugs at an Indonesian Tribe Clinging to Its Ancient Ways

Teu Kapik Sibajak, left, and Aman Aqwi Sakkukuret, members of the Mentawai tribe, on the island of Siberut in Indonesia. Credit Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times

DOROUGOK, Indonesia — The older man wore just a loincloth, revealing taut muscles and leathery skin from decades of living deep in the rain forest. Like other members of his tribe, he was covered head to toe in tattoos. Though he appeared strong, he had a pronounced hunch, and a cough from smoking too much tobacco.

The man, Teu Kapik Sibajak, grabbed his ax on a recent morning and went off through the forest to chop down a sago palm tree. Mr. Kapik delivered precise blows before he and a few friends stooped down and rolled pieces of the thick, heavy trunk toward his house. “Hard work, this!” he announced.

But the effort would be worth it: The tree’s leaves provide the roof for his wooden long house; its starchy insides can be cooked and eaten, or fed to the household’s pigs, ducks and chickens.

Mr. Kapik and his wife, Teu Kapik Sikalabai, are among the last of the Mentawai people living traditional lives deep in the forest on the remote island of Siberut.

Mr. Kapik tending to his chickens and pigs. His 42-year-old son, Petrus Sekaliou, wears Western clothing and lives in a village on the outskirts of the forest. Credit Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times

The Mentawai tribe, which today numbers around 60,000, is a rare Indonesian culture that was not influenced by Hindu, Buddhist or Muslim currents over the last two millenniums. Instead, their traditions and beliefs strongly resemble those of the original Austronesian settlers who came to this vast archipelago from Taiwan around 4,000 years ago. If the tribe’s culture disappears, one of the last links to Indonesia’s early human inhabitants will go with it.

Tiếp tục đọc “Modern World Tugs at an Indonesian Tribe Clinging to Its Ancient Ways”

China Sees New Ambiguity With Donald Trump’s Taiwan Call

President Xi Jinping of China, who considers Taiwan an integral part of his country. Credit Pool photo by Nicolas Asfouri

BEIJING — China’s leaders have been markedly reticent about what kind of leader they think Donald J. Trump will be. A pragmatic dealmaker, as his business background might indicate? Or a provocateur who tests the ways of statecraft?

Tiếp tục đọc “China Sees New Ambiguity With Donald Trump’s Taiwan Call”

Donald Trump speaks directly to Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen

ALJAZEERA

Donald Trump speaks directly to Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen

President-elect speaks with Taiwan’ leader in a break from the US’ “one China” policy triggering protest from Beijing.

US President-elect Donald Trump has spoken with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, in a major break with Washington’s policy on China, triggering protest from Beijing.

During Friday’s discussion, Trump and Tsai noted “the close economic, political and security ties” between Taiwan and the United States, according to the president-elect’s transition team. Tiếp tục đọc “Donald Trump speaks directly to Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen”

Indonesians rally for unity after blasphemy protests

Crowds waved 'We Are Indonesia' signs and held a giant red-and-white national flag [Reuters]

IndonesiaNews11 hours ago ALJAREEZA

Indonesians rally for unity after blasphemy protests

Crowds gather in Jakarta in response to protests against city’s Christian governor who is accused of blasphemy.

Crowds waved ‘We Are Indonesia’ signs and held a giant red-and-white national flag [Reute

Tens of thousands of Indonesians have rallied in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, calling for tolerance and unity after massive protests were held against the city’s Christian governor.

The crowds on Sunday filled a major traffic circle in Jakarta and sprawled into its main thoroughfares, waving “We Are Indonesia” signs and a giant red-and-white national flag was held aloft. Tiếp tục đọc “Indonesians rally for unity after blasphemy protests”

We Are All Accomplices to the Slaughter of Aleppo

Russia and Syria are guilty of bombing thousands of civilians. The rest of the world is guilty of doing nothing.

We Are All Accomplices to the Slaughter of Aleppo

“If you do not leave these areas urgently, you will be annihilated. … You know that everyone has given up on you. They left you alone to face your doom, and nobody will give you any help.”

These chilling words come from leaflets dropped over the besieged area of Aleppo by Syrian and Russian aircraft, before the final bloody assault on the city. And during the last few days, they have rung truer than anyone in Aleppo, or anywhere else, had dared to imagine. Tiếp tục đọc “We Are All Accomplices to the Slaughter of Aleppo”

U.N. Stiffens Sanctions on North Korea, Trying to Slow Its Nuclear March

Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, in an undated photograph issued by his government’s Korean Central News Agency on Nov. 11. Credit Korean Central News Agency, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

UNITED NATIONS — In an effort to tighten sanctions that largely failed to throttle North Korea’s nuclear program, the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday imposed a cap on coal exports, the country’s chief source of hard currency.

Tiếp tục đọc “U.N. Stiffens Sanctions on North Korea, Trying to Slow Its Nuclear March”

Aussie schoolboys recreate price-gouged HIV medicine

AFP-JIJI Japan Times Dec 1, 2016

A group of Australian schoolchildren working on a shoestring budget have recreated the HIV drug whose price was controversially jacked up 5,000 percent by a former hedge fund manager.

U.S. drug company chief Martin Shkreli became a global figure of hate after buying the rights to Daraprim and then raising the price in the United States from $13.50 a tablet to $750. Tiếp tục đọc “Aussie schoolboys recreate price-gouged HIV medicine”

Rural Cambodia uses guppy to fight dengue

Thomson Reuters Foundation The Japan Times

In the backyards of rural Cambodia, a tiny weapon is being deployed to fight dengue fever, the world’s fastest-spreading tropical disease, which causes debilitating flu-like symptoms and can develop into a deadly hemorrhagic fever.

More than 3,000 households in Kampong Cham province, which has one of the highest dengue rates in Cambodia, have been given colorful guppy fish to breed in barrels of water that villagers keep close to their homes for cleaning and cooking.

Image result for guppy fishImage result for guppy fish

Tiếp tục đọc “Rural Cambodia uses guppy to fight dengue”

Asia-Pacific saw steady growth in 2016, but risks to financial stability remain – UN report

UN News Center

Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Shamshad Akhtar. Photo: ESCAP

1 December 2016 – Issuing a year-end update to its flagship economic and social development report, the United Nations development arm for the Asia-Pacific region said today that resilient domestic demand and policy support supported the region notch a steady growth rate of five per cent but warned that risks remain to financial stability. Tiếp tục đọc “Asia-Pacific saw steady growth in 2016, but risks to financial stability remain – UN report”

India, China, Russia consult on Asia Pacific; get Philippines backing

Bangkok | Fri, December 2, 2016 | 01:31 pm

India, China, Russia consult on Asia Pacific; get Philippines backing A woman walks past a billboard featuring an image of an island in South China Sea on display with Chinese words that read: “South China Sea, our beautiful motherland, we won’t let go an inch” in Weifang in east China’s Shandong province. (Chinatopix via AP/-)

Countries of the Asia-Pacific Region

Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies

Countries of the Asia-Pacific Region Include:

Australia Flag Australia Japan Flag Japan Palau Flag Palau
Bangladesh Kiribati Flag Kiribati Papua New Guinea Flag Papua
New Guinea
Bhutan Laos Flag Laos Peru Flag Peru
Brunei Malaysia Flag Malaysia Philippines Flag Philippines
Myanmar Flag Burma (Myanmar) Maldives Flag Maldives Russian Flag Russia
Cambodia Flag Cambodia Marshall Islands Flag Marshall Islands Samoa Flag Samoa
Canada Micronesia Flag Micronesia Singapore Flag Singapore
China Flag China Mongolia Flag Mongolia Solomon Islands Flag Solomon Islands
Chile Flag Chile Nauru Flag Nauru South Korea Flag South Korea
Cook Island Flag Cook Islands Nepal Flag Nepal Sri Lanka Flag Sri Lanka
Fiji Flag Fiji New Zealand Flag New Zealand Thailand Flag Thailand
French Polynesia Flag French Polynesia** New Caledonia Flag New Caledonia** Timor-Leste Flag Timor-Leste
Indian Flag India Niue Flag Niue Tonga Flag Tonga
Indonesia Flag Indonesia North Korea flag North Korea * Tuvalu Flag Tuvalu
Pakistan Flag Pakistan Vanuatu Flag Vanuatu
Vietnam Flag Vietnam
U. S. Flag United States

* currently not eligible for invitation per U.S. State Department

** Territories of France

The Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies is a Department of Defense institution providing a forum where current and future, military and civilian leaders from many Asia-Pacific nations gather to enhance Asia-Pacific security cooperation through programs of executive education, professional exchange and policy-relevant research.

Above is a listing of countries that are generally defined as the “Indo-Asia-Pacific” region and most are routinely invited to APCSS courses.

Other links to definitions of the Asia-Pacific Region:

CSIS – ChinaPower November 2016 Newsletter

NOVEMBER 2016 | CHINAPOWER NEWSLETTER

China Power Project

It is our pleasure to send you the November edition of the ChinaPower Newsletter, the monthly newsletter of the CSIS China Power Project. The China Power Project centers on ChinaPower–a website that provides an in-depth understanding of the evolving nature of Chinese power relative to other countries. The ChinaPower Newsletter highlights the new and updated content on the website, as well as featured events and publications. We hope this newsletter provides you with a snapshot of the work we are doing to help our users better understand the complexity of China’s rise. Tiếp tục đọc “CSIS – ChinaPower November 2016 Newsletter”