Suggested Readings
AP: China defends fishing ban, brushes off Vietnam's protest
(AP) ? China on Monday rejected Vietnam's protest over Beijing's seasonal fishing ban in the South China Sea, underscoring their dispute over ownership of islands and marine resources in the area.
ZDNet: Windows 10 "unequivocally better" than OS X on Apple's new MacBook
Apple designs and builds its MacBooks to get the best performance possible out of the OS X operating system. But according to one owner, Apple's new MacBook runs Microsoft's Windows 10 better than its native OS.
Newsweek: Why Putin Is Afraid of Ukraine
At its heart, however, the conflicts within Ukraine, and the fight Putin has picked with Ukraine, are about post-Soviet kleptocracy, and where and whether there is a popular will to resist it.
The New York Times: Do Churches Fail the Poor?
Ross Douthat (editorial): A church that pays out to help the poor, but doesn?t pray with them, looks less like a church than what Pope Francis has described, unfavorably, as merely another N.G.O.
Washington Times: If you want to arm Ukraine, arm it with economic progress
Todd Wood: The best way to help Ukraine is to arm them not with weapons, but with economic progress. This is what scares the Kremlin the most, a prosperous Ukraine associated with the West.
The Diplomat: Taiwan and Strategic Security
The U.S. declarative policy on Taiwan of ?strategic ambiguity? needs to change sooner rather than later. From a purely naval and military perspective, control of the island of Taiwan would constitute a huge strategic asset for China and a threat to the region in both Southeast and Northeast Asia as well as to the United States.
Bloomberg: China Absent as Japan Parades Gear at First Defense Show
In his opening remarks, Admiral Tomohisa Takei, head of Japan?s Maritime Self-Defense Force, referred to an Abe essay in 2012. Abe set out plans in the article for a ?democratic security diamond? stretching between Japan, Hawaii, Australia and India, and enlisting help from the U.K. and France to counterbalance China?s growing power.
AFP: India's Modi tells China to 'reconsider' approach
Visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told his Chinese counterpart on Friday that Beijing needs to "reconsider its approach" to relations between the Asian giants, as the Hindu nationalist leader departed from the usual diplomatic pleasantries.
Reauters: U.S., China set for high-stakes rivalry in skies above South China Sea
(Reuters) - When the U.S. navy sent a littoral combat ship on its first patrol of the disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea during the past week, it was watching the skies as well.
CNN: 72 killed in fire at footwear factory in Philippines
(CNN)A fire that engulfed a footwear factory in a suburb of the Philippine capital has killed 72 people, authorities said Thursday.The blaze swept through the slipper and shoe factory in Valenzuela City on Wednesday, sending huge clouds of thick black smoke billowing into the sky.
AP: China defends fishing ban, brushes off Vietnam's protest
(AP) ? China on Monday rejected Vietnam's protest over Beijing's seasonal fishing ban in the South China Sea, underscoring their dispute over ownership of islands and marine resources in the area.
ZDNet: Windows 10 "unequivocally better" than OS X on Apple's new MacBook
Apple designs and builds its MacBooks to get the best performance possible out of the OS X operating system. But according to one owner, Apple's new MacBook runs Microsoft's Windows 10 better than its native OS.
Newsweek: Why Putin Is Afraid of Ukraine
At its heart, however, the conflicts within Ukraine, and the fight Putin has picked with Ukraine, are about post-Soviet kleptocracy, and where and whether there is a popular will to resist it.
The New York Times: Do Churches Fail the Poor?
Ross Douthat (editorial): A church that pays out to help the poor, but doesn?t pray with them, looks less like a church than what Pope Francis has described, unfavorably, as merely another N.G.O.
Washington Times: If you want to arm Ukraine, arm it with economic progress
Todd Wood: The best way to help Ukraine is to arm them not with weapons, but with economic progress. This is what scares the Kremlin the most, a prosperous Ukraine associated with the West.
The Diplomat: Taiwan and Strategic Security
The U.S. declarative policy on Taiwan of ?strategic ambiguity? needs to change sooner rather than later. From a purely naval and military perspective, control of the island of Taiwan would constitute a huge strategic asset for China and a threat to the region in both Southeast and Northeast Asia as well as to the United States.
Bloomberg: China Absent as Japan Parades Gear at First Defense Show
In his opening remarks, Admiral Tomohisa Takei, head of Japan?s Maritime Self-Defense Force, referred to an Abe essay in 2012. Abe set out plans in the article for a ?democratic security diamond? stretching between Japan, Hawaii, Australia and India, and enlisting help from the U.K. and France to counterbalance China?s growing power.
AFP: India's Modi tells China to 'reconsider' approach
Visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told his Chinese counterpart on Friday that Beijing needs to "reconsider its approach" to relations between the Asian giants, as the Hindu nationalist leader departed from the usual diplomatic pleasantries.
Reauters: U.S., China set for high-stakes rivalry in skies above South China Sea
(Reuters) - When the U.S. navy sent a littoral combat ship on its first patrol of the disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea during the past week, it was watching the skies as well.
CNN: 72 killed in fire at footwear factory in Philippines
(CNN)A fire that engulfed a footwear factory in a suburb of the Philippine capital has killed 72 people, authorities said Thursday.The blaze swept through the slipper and shoe factory in Valenzuela City on Wednesday, sending huge clouds of thick black smoke billowing into the sky.