Daily Brief: Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi Visits Rakhine

Council on Foreign Relations Newsletter If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view. November 2, 2017 Daily News Brief   TOP OF THE AGENDA Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi Visits Rakhine Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's de facto leader, visited Rakhine State on Thursday (DW) for the first time since a crackdown by security forces against Rohingya Muslims began there in August. The crackdown, which the United Nations has called disproportionate and tantamount to ethnic cleansing, has prompted an exodus of more than half a million refugees from the ethnic minority, largely to Bangladesh. The leader, accompanied by military and state officials, met with Rohingya still residing in the country. She told locals that the government is there to help them and said that they should not fight among themselves (Guardian), according to an advocate for Rohingya citing a witness account of her visit.  ANALYSIS "As longtime democracy activists fear a return to international isolation and military dominance, diplomats are torn between the need to stand on the right side of history and fear that stronger rebukes, such as sanctions, will further imperil the country's fragile democratic transition," Poppy McPherson writes for the Guardian. "As [Myanmar] inched toward civilian rule, many foreign countries seemed convinced that its military, which was still committing massive abuses, had already changed; foreign leaders were buying a new narrative that the country was inevitably on the path to democratization," CFR's Joshua Kurlantzick writes for the Atlantic. "Her government's actions suggest that Aung San Suu Kyi is broadly sympathetic to the security forces' approach," Lynn Kuok writes for Foreign Affairs.  PACIFIC RIM Migrants Protest Detention Center Shutdown Asylum seekers at Australia's offshore detention facility on Manus Island lost electricity and access to water after officials closed the center on Tuesday, shutting off all utilities there (Guardian). The approximately six hundred asylum seekers (BBC), who originally sought to reach Australia, have said they fear for their safety outside the camp following reports of anti-immigrant attacks. Nicholas Van Hear proposes a new transnational polity for refugees in Foreign Affairs. SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA Ousted PM Returns to Pakistan for Trial Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has arrived in Islamabad from London to face corruption charges (Dawn) at a national accountability court on Friday. The Supreme Court disqualified Sharif from his office (Reuters) in July over unreported income. INDIA: At least sixteen workers were killed and eighty injured in an explosion at a state-run coal-fired plant (DW) in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday. MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Twenty-Nine Yemeni Civilians Killed in Strike Local sources have reported that an air strike on a hotel and nearby market in the northwestern province of Saada on Wednesday killed at least twenty-nine civilians (VOA). The area has been repeatedly targeted by a Saudi-led coalition (Al Jazeera) carrying out air strike campaigns in Yemen since 2015, after Houthi rebels took control of the capital. SYRIA: The Syrian National Council, a Turkey-based opposition coalition, said it will not participate in peace negotiations (Guardian) planned for later this month in Sochi, and that it would only meet with the Syrian government in Geneva or at UN-sponsored talks. This CFR Backgrounder looks at who's who in Syria's civil war. SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Dozens Dead in Eritrea Protests An opposition group has reported that security forces killed more than two dozen people in the capital Asmara after the government ordered an Islamic school to ban head coverings and religious instruction (Al Jazeera). The U.S. embassy there has confirmed reports of gunfire and protests (DW). NIGER: Prime Minister Brigi Rafini said Wednesday that he is open to the United States using armed drones in Niger (WSJ) and that the United States operates there at the government's request. U.S. officials recently revealed that deploying an armed drone was considered ahead of a patrol by Green Berets who were the target of a deadly ambush last month. EUROPE Catalan Leaders Appear in Madrid Court Nine officials from Catalonia's regional government appeared in a Madrid court on Thursday to face charges of rebellion and sedition (BBC) following an October 1 independence referendum opposed by the central government. Ousted Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, currently in Belgium, did not appear. R. Joseph Huddleston discusses the roots of the Catalan independence crisis in Foreign Affairs. UK: Defense Minister Michael Fallon has resigned after a female journalist accused him of sexual harassment. When asked if he may face additional harassment charges (EUobserver), Fallon said what "might have been acceptable" fifteen years ago is "clearly not acceptable now." AMERICAS Colombia's Timochenko to Run for President Rodrigo Londono, popularly known as Timochenko and former leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), has announced that he will run for president in 2018 (BBC). Londono and other former FARC commanders are expected to face trial for human rights crimes (Reuters) committed during the country's decades-long civil conflict. CUBA: The United States and Israel were the only dissenters in an annual United Nations voteon Wednesday to condemn the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba (NYT). The United States has traditionally opposed the motion, but abstained from the vote for the first time last year. UNITED STATES New York Terrorism Suspect Charged in Federal Court Federal prosecutors charged Sayfullo Saipov on Wednesday with plowing a truck into cyclists (NYT) on a Manhattan bike path a day earlier, the deadliest terrorist attack in New York since 9/11. Prosecutors said Saipov has confessed to the attack (RFE/RL) and asked to hang the flag of the self-proclaimed Islamic State in his hospital room.  The Central Intelligence Agency released on Wednesday some 470,000 documents recovered in a 2011 raid (Guardian) on the Pakistan home of former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. The agency said the release aims to "enhance public understanding" of the militant group.          Council on Foreign Relations — 58 East 68th Street — New York, NY 10065 CFR does not share email addresses with third parties. Forward This Email | Subscribe to CFR Newsletters | Unsubscribe - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  

From: dailybrief@e.cfr.org

Date: November 02, 2017 at 09:59PM