How long before they start asking for the USA's help. This is a $hit Storm waiting to happen. The whole eastern and mid-eastern worlds are tilted cockeyed.

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Vietnam accuses China of sinking fishing boat

By CHRIS BRUMMITT5 hours ago

In this May 7, 2012 file photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, CNOOC 981, the first deep-water drilling rig developed in China, is pictured at 320 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Hong Kong in the South China Sea. Vietnam warned China on Tuesday, May 6, 2014, that it would take all necessary measures to defend its interests in the South China Sea if Beijing does not remove the large oil rig from waters claimed by both countries. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Jin Liangkuai, File)

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HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam and China traded accusations Tuesday over who was the aggressor in a clash that led to the sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat in the South China Sea, sharpening tensions already dangerously high after China moved an oil rig into the disputed waters.

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Hanoi accused a Chinese vessel of ramming the wooden Vietnamese boat Monday then fleeing the scene. Beijing said the Vietnamese boat was trying to get close to the oil rig, rammed into one of its vessels, and then sank. The crew was rescued.

The clash occurred around 30 kilometers (18 miles) south-southwest of the large oil rig that China deployed on May 1 in waters both nations claim.

The rig deployment infuriated Hanoi and set off violent anti-China protests that further soured ties between the neighboring communist countries with close economic relations. Vietnam sent patrol ships to confront the rig, and China has deployed scores of vessels to protect it. The two sides have been involved in a tense standoff, occasionally colliding with each other.

China and Vietnam have long sparred over who owns what in the oil- and gas-rich waters. Incidents between fishing crews are quite common, but Monday's incident was the first time a Vietnamese boat had been sunk, said Tran Van Linh, president of the Fisheries Association in the central port city of Danang.

"I call this an act of attempted murder because the Chinese sank a Vietnamese fishing boat and then ran away," Linh said. "We vehemently protest this perverse, brutal and inhumane action by Chinese side."

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Head of Vietnam's Foreign Ministry legal department Nguyen Thi Thanh Ha (R) speaks next to Vietn …

Linh said about 40 Chinese steel vessels surrounded a group of smaller, wooden Vietnamese fishing ships on Monday afternoon. He said one then rammed into the Vietnamese ship, tossing 10 fishermen into the water and sinking the boat. The fishermen were picked by the other Vietnamese boats and there were no injuries.

In Beijing, the government said that a Vietnamese fishing boat had forced its way into the area around the oil rig and rammed into a Chinese fishing boat. "I think the fact that this incident happened at all shows that Vietnam's illegitimate and illegal harassment and sabotage against China's regular operations are futile and will only hurt their own interests," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang.

Since May 1, Vietnam has accused China of ramming into or firing water cannons at Vietnamese vessels trying to get close to the rig, damaging several boats and injuring fisheries surveillance officers. They have shown video footage of some of the incidents. China accuses Vietnam of doing the same.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea as its own, bringing it into conflict with far smaller neighbors like Vietnam and the Philippines. In recent years it has been more assertive in pressing its claims in the waters and resisting attempts to negotiate.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said Tuesday his country was watching developments in the Vietnam-China standoff. "We're trying to learn the right lessons and our armed forces and coast guard and other concerned agencies are looking at the possible scenarios and what should be our appropriate response," he said.

He spoke from a western Philippine naval base he said had been equipped with surveillance and better communications to better guard against territorial intrusions.

The United States, which shares the concerns of the smaller claimant states about China's rising military might, called China's deployment of the rig "provocative." Vietnam is trying to rally regional and international support against Beijing, but its options are limited because China is the country's largest trading partner.

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Associated Press writers Louise Watt in Beijing and Jim Gomez in Manila contributed to this report.

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Vietnam accuses China of escalating crisis

That a Vietnamese fishing boat sank is undisputed. But Hanoi and Beijing differ as to why it happened.
'Act of attempted murder'

Gotta keep the heroin flowin' and the poppie a growin' or something like that. This can be the only true reasoning, the supply line can't be broken plus we still need to drone Pakistan and others.

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APNewsBreak: U.S. to keep 9,800 troops in Afghanistan

By JULIE PACE50 minutes ago

On a surprise visit to Afghanistan, President Barack Obama pledged Sunday to bring America's longest war to a "responsible end" by the close of the year. He promised a decision soon on keeping a small contingent of troops to help protect gains made over nearly 13 years of combat. He told troops at this sprawling military base that the war had reached a pivotal point, with Afghan forces assuming primary responsibility for their country's security.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will seek to keep 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan after the war formally ends later this year and then will withdraw most of those forces by 2016, senior administration officials said Tuesday.

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Obama's decision is largely in line with what military commanders have been seeking and will allow the president to fully end the American-led military effort by the time he leaves office.

The two-year plan is contingent on the Afghan government signing a bilateral security agreement with the U.S. While current Afghan President Hamid Karzai has declined to sign the agreement, U.S. officials are confident that either of the candidates seeking to replace him would give his approval.

The plan calls for the U.S. military to draw down from its current force of 32,000 to 9,800 by the start of next year. Those troops would be dispatched throughout Afghanistan and focus on counterterrorism missions and training Afghan security forces. They would not be engaged in combat missions.

Over the course of next year, the number of troops would be cut in half and consolidated in the capital of Kabul and at Bagram Air Field, the main U.S. base in Afghanistan. Those remaining forces would largely be withdrawn by the end of 2016, with fewer than 1,000 remaining behind to staff a security office in Kabul.

The American forces would likely be bolstered by a few thousand NATO troops. The total NATO presence, including U.S. troops, is expected to be around 12,000 at the start of next year.

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This May 25, 2014 file photo shows President Barack Obama speaking during a troop rally after arrivi …

Obama was to announce the plan at the White House Tuesday afternoon. He is just back from a surprise weekend trip to Afghanistan where he met with U.S. commanders and American forces serving in the closing months of America's longest war.

The officials providing details of the announcement insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plan by name ahead of the president.

Ahead of his remarks, Obama was expected to speak with Karzai, who has had a tumultuous relationship with the White House. The two leaders did not see each other while Obama was in Afghanistan, but they did speak by phone as Air Force One was returning to Washington.

Obama has also discussed his plans with several European leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

After Karzai refused to sign the bilateral security agreement, Obama asked the Pentagon to plan for the possibility that all American forces would withdraw by a year-end 2014 deadline. But given the supportive comments of the candidates in Afghanistan's presidential election, Obama signaled during his holiday weekend trip to Bagram that he was likely to keep some American troops in the country.

"After all the sacrifices we've made, we want to preserve the gains that you have helped to win, and we're going to make sure that Afghanistan can never again, ever, be used again to launch an attack against our country," Obama declared.

At least 2,181 members of the U.S. military have died during the nearly 13-year Afghan war and thousands more have been wounded.

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Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC

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We must have used some poor quality duct tape or something there. Didn't we just pull out of that part of the world stating "Mission Accomplished" or something like that? Wait they're killing one another again. May I suggest we stand back and watch for a while?

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Suicide bomber kills 19 in Baghdad Shi'ite mosque

2 hours ago

Debris lays strewn at the site of a bomb attack inside a Shi'ite mosque in Baghdad May 27, 2014. (REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani)

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a Shi'ite mosque in central Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 19 people, security and medical sources said.

A Reuters photographer at the site of the blast in the busy district of Shorja said the mosque's walls were blackened with smoke, blood streaked the ceiling, and prayer mats were strewn around.

Most of the victims were merchants and shopkeepers from the area who had gone to pray. Policeman Abbas Inad told Reuters: “The bomb was so big and stuffed with tiny metal balls to kill as many people as possible."

It was not immediately clear who was behind the bombing, but Sunni Islamist insurgents have been regaining momentum in Iraq and have previously claimed responsibility for attacking Shi'ite places of worship.

Security and medical sources earlier said the bomb had exploded at an open-air bus station within range of the mosque.

The injured were rushed to nearby hospitals but the rescue effort was hampered by blast walls surrounding the market designed to limit the damage of an explosion.

Hospital sources said the death toll was likely to rise due to the severity of the injuries.

(Reporting by Baghdad bureau; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Alister Doyle)

This is a tough situation for sure. i can only think it would be like Canada or Mexico annexing border states unless the US Government decentralizes its own self. All coming from a centralized source of power within his own country. Sounds more like a Feudal system to me than anything else.

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Heavy fighting in Ukraine

Rebel says 30 insurgents killed in eastern Ukraine

By PETER LEONARD1 hour ago

Firefighters work at a burnt ice hockey arena in Donetsk, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 27, 2014. Early Tuesday, a group of unidentified men stormed Donetsk's main ice hockey arena, which was to host the 2015 world championships and set it ablaze, according to the mayor's office. The ice hockey arena belongs to Ukrainian lawmaker Boris Kolesnikov. (AP Photo/Alexander Ermochenko)

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DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — At least 30 bodies of killed fighters have been brought to a hospital following a day of heavy fighting in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, in which government forces used combat jets against pro-Russia rebels, an insurgent said Tuesday.

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The rebel fighter, who wouldn't give his name because of security concerns, said outside the hospital in Donetsk that 30 bodies of his fellow insurgents were delivered there. He said the truck carrying the bodies was still parked outside the hospital, waiting for explosives experts to check it for any unexploded ordnance.

Donetsk, a city of 1 million, was engulfed by heavy fighting Monday when rebels moved to seize the airport, Ukraine's second largest, and were repelled by government forces using combat jets and helicopter gunships. Associated Press journalists witnessed sustained intensive gun fire throughout the day and into the night. Plumes of black smoke rose in the air.

The battles came just as billionaire candy magnate Petro Poroshenko claimed victory in Sunday's presidential vote. Poroshenko, who is yet to be sworn in, has vowed to negotiate a peaceful end to an insurgency in the east, where rebels have seized government offices and fought Ukrainian troops for more than a month.

Officials closed Donetsk airport and police shut nearby streets for traffic amid the fighting. The city mayor went on television advising residents to stay at home.

Early Tuesday, a group of unidentified men stormed Donetsk's main ice-hockey arena, which was to host the 2015 world championships and set it ablaze, according to the mayor's office.

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A woman reacts after seeing the lifeless body of a man killed by shrapnel following a shelling from …

In the neighboring Luhansk region, the Ukrainian Border Guards Service said that its officers engaged in a gunbattle with a group of gunmen who were trying to break through the border from Russia. It said one intruder was wounded and the border guards seized several vehicles loaded with Kalashnikov assault rifles, rocket grenade launchers and explosives.

The interim government has pledged to press ahead with the operation against insurgents, which has angered local residents, many of whom see the authorities in Kiev as nationalists bent on repressing Russian speakers in the east.

Speaking at a televised government session on Tuesday, Vitaly Yarema, a deputy prime minister in the interim cabinet said the "anti-terrorist operation" in eastern Ukraine will go on "until all the militants are annihilated."

Poroshenko has described the separatists as "Somali pirates," saying that arms should be used against "killers and terrorists," but he also indicated that he wants a quick end to the military operation in the east.

"The anti-terrorist operation cannot and should not last two or three months," he said Monday. "It should and will last hours."

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Pro-Russian gunmen take positions near the airport, outside Donetsk, Ukraine, on Monday, May 26, 201 …

Poroshenko, known for his pragmatism, supports building strong ties with Europe but also has stressed the importance of mending relations with Moscow. Upon claiming victory, he said his first step as president would be to visit the east.

He said he hoped Russia would support his efforts to bring stability and that he wanted to hold talks with Moscow.

Russia welcomed his intention to engage in talks with people in the east and said it would be ready to work with Poroshenko.

Moscow has denied accusations by the Ukrainian interim government and the West that it has fomented the insurgency in the east. Russian President Vladimir Putin has stonewalled the insurgents' appeal to join Russia and welcomed the Ukrainian presidential election in an apparent bid to de-escalate tensions with the West, which has plunged to a post-Cold War low after Russia's annexation of Crimea.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday that Moscow was ready for direct talks with Poroshenko and doesn't want the United States and the European Union as mediators.

But Ukraine's acting Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said that Ukraine has no intention to talk to Russia directly. "Regarding the negotiations with the Russian Federation, the government's stance is unchanged: bilateral talks without the presence of the United States and the European Union do not seem possible under current conditions," he said.

Russia has kept pushing for Ukraine to decentralize its government, which would give more power to regions, including those in the east, and wants Kiev to withdraw its troops from the area.

__

Nataliya Vasilyeva in Kiev, Ukraine contributed to this report.

At least 30 rebels reported killed in Ukraine

Government forces use combat jets against pro-Russia insurgents during heavy fighting in Donetsk.
Hockey arena set ablaze

Thank you Jim for your kind comments on my previous posts. I agree on them all save for your comments on the third post, where I don't see why either Vietnam or China should ask for help from the U.S. now that they don't recognize anymore its overall hegemony... not right now at least.

Miguel