Headlines:
* Burma Coup
* US Troops Staying in Afghanistan
* A Hijab Ban a Panacea to France’s Ills?
Burma Coup
America’s decade long work in Myanmar (Burma) went up in smoke on 1 Feb 2021 when the military undertook a coup and arrested and removed the elected government. Phone and mobile internet services in the city of Yangon were down on Monday morning and military trucks, were parked outside City Hall. The state-run MRTV network was unable to broadcast and Banks were closed across the nation. The announcement of the coup came Military television after the army had taken control of the country. In the November 2020 elections the military backed party performed miserably, winning only 33 seats out of the 475 parliamentary seats. The pro-democracy and pro-US parties including Aung Sang Sui Kyi. Fearing the potential for amendment in the constitution which guarantees the army 25% of the parliamentary seats the army moved, after alluding to a possible coup over the last week. The US came out with aggressive statements with the possibility of re-applying sanctions.
US Troops Staying in Afghanistan
Whilst President Trump pursued a peace deal with the Taliban, President Biden and his administration appear to be doing a U-turn on this arguing the US is very likely to keep its troops in Afghanistan beyond the deadline agreed with the Taliban. This comes just days after NATO reported that their own troops are staying in Afghanistan. The US now has a track records of reneging on its promises, whether it’s the Kurds in North Syria, whether it’s the Iran Nuclear deal and now the Taliban is the latest victim to US promises. The reason the US will not withdraw its troops is the day it does, the Taliban will overthrow the regime in Kabul that the US established, that is only surviving due the America’s military presence in the country. The US presence in Afghanistan is to deal with the rise of China as well as its plans for central Asia and keeping Russian influence there in check.
A Hijab Ban a Panacea to France’s Ills?
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has proposed a ban on Muslim headscarves in all public places, seeking to build on a record recent poll putting her almost neck-and-neck with President Emmanuel Macron. “I consider that the headscarf is an Islamist item of clothing,” Le Pen told reporters at a press conference where she proposed a new law to ban “Islamist ideologies” which she called “totalitarian and murderous.” The poll conducted online by Harris Interactive suggests that if a final-round presidential run-off were held today Le Pen would garner 48 percent while Macron would be re-elected with 52 percent, Le Parisien Newspaper reported. It’s a poll, it’s a snapshot of a moment, but what it shows is that the idea of me winning is credible, plausible even,” Le Pen said at a press conference. France has bene reeling with protests which brought the country to a standstill by the Yellow vests protests due to the incompetency of the government. Many in France feel the political class have failed them and represent the 1% only. French debt, depression, drug abuse and poverty is going through the roof, due to the failure of the system in France. Rather than propose solutions to these very real problems, Le Pen only sees a Hijab ban as some panacea to all of France’s problems.