That’s probably because the military still runs the country despite the political opening of the past few years.ħ. Aung San Suu Kyi, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and Myanmar’s most prominent official, has done little publicly to end the violence. government has charged, that the Myanmar government is engaged in ethnic cleansing. The Myanmar military denies committing atrocities, insisting that it is combating attacks on police posts and army bases by Rohingya insurgents. At last count, more than 400,000 have fled Myanmar and thousands more have been displaced internally. The latest and ugliest surge of violence began in August when Rohingya began fleeing into neighboring Bangladesh telling stories of mass killings, systematic rape, and torture. The Rohingya have long been discriminated against, often violently so, and the Myanmar government refuses to acknowledge them as citizens. Most of them are Muslims, though some are Hindus, in a country in which nearly nine out of ten people are Buddhists. They have lived in Myanmar for centuries. The Rohingya may be the most persecuted minority group in the world. Unless a deal is signed, sealed, and delivered by March 29, 2019, or a unanimous EU agrees to an extension, Britain faces a “ hard Brexit.” That would maximize how much disruption its divorce from the EU causes. Those negotiations will likely be difficult EU members have yet to agree among themselves on what terms to offer and the British Parliament has asserted its right to vote on the final agreement. Assuming that deal holds, the two sides can now focus on the rules that will govern their future economic relationship. In early December, Britain and the EU reached an agreement on several critical preliminary issues, including how much Britain has to pay to settle its debts to the EU (somewhere between €40 billion and €60 billion). The decision backfired her Conservative Party lost its parliamentary majority and she ended up leading a hung parliament. Prime Minister Theresa May tried to shore up Britain’s weak negotiating leverage this spring by calling a snap election. Britain now has until Mato negotiate the terms of its departure. The move “ from which there can be no turning back” finally came on March 29. Actually initiating divorce proceedings from the European Union (EU) required Britain to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. The June 2016 “Brexit” vote was merely advisory. Based on his early decisions, however, the new boss looks a lot like the old boss.ĩ. Zimbabweans rejoiced at the news of his ouster, and Mnangagwa promised to hold new elections next year. Mugabe quickly lost the support of his party, the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), and after some hesitation, finally resigned. Rather than go quietly, the man known as “ the Crocodile” because of his ruthlessness struck back. The seventy-five year-old Mnangagwa had been Mugabe’s associate for more than half a century. The trigger was his decision to shove aside his vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, in favor his wife, Grace. His presidency ended only when tanks rolled into Harare in November to force him from power. He ran Zimbabwe for thirty-seven years and planned to rule for longer, even if that meant running the economy into the ground and becoming increasingly ruthless. But unlike Mandela, Mugabe never grasped that democracy means letting go of power. That victory for human decency is to his credit. Like Nelson Mandela in South Africa, Mugabe endured years in prison to lead the movement that ended white minority rule in his country, then known as Rhodesia, but known today as Zimbabwe. Can someone be both a hero and a villain? The career of Robert Mugabe suggests the answer is yes. Several of these stories will continue into 2018.ġ0. You may want to read what follows closely. Below is my top ten, listed in descending order. ( It wasn’t.) I haven’t seen anyone making similar claims about 2017, but that doesn’t mean that this year didn’t produce its share of significant world events. Last year a lot of people were asking if 2016 was the worst year ever.
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