On the 15th of March 2016, Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has declared the immediate withdrawal of the majority of Russian forces present in Syria. The Russian mission which started 6 months earlier in September, coincided with the start of the Syrian peace talks in Geneva of March 2016 (initiated earlier in February) and can be seen as sign that Russia believes it has succeeded in protecting the Syrian regime under Assad from collapsing and to have won Russian political leverage on the peace negotiations. Militarily and politically, Syria is the main element for Russian influence in the Middle East and the Mediterranean and the only country outside of the former Soviet Union with Russian military bases. With its military involvement in the conflict, Russia has secured its bases in Syria and contacts in the Syrian military. It now has to force Assad to negotiate a peace deal and retrieving Russian forces has given Assad more incentives to do so.
Read More
Myanmar's parliament has elected Htin Kyaw as the country's next president, the first civilian leader after more than 50 years of military rule. Htin Kyaw is a close ally of Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) party swept to victory in historic elections in November. The new government will take office on April 1, marking the end of five decades of military dictatorship and another five years of army-backed rule.
On 14 and 15 March 2016 the national currency of Brazil, the Real, plunged after the biggest newspaper of Brazil confirmed that former President Lula da Silva is trying to become Minister in the Cabinet of Dilma Rousseff. The currency dropped by 2% on Monday and by another 0,6% on Tuesday. Stock market values dropped over 7,4%. It is said Lula da Silva is trying to prevent being prosecuted and potentially jailed, which he wants to accomplish by receiving immunity that a Minister post would give.
Read More
The European Union has suspended direct financial support for the Burundian government after concluding that it had not done enough to find a political solution to the conflict that has so far cost more than 400 lives and lead to nearly 240000 people fleeing the country. Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza triggered the crisis in April last year when he announced a bid for a third term. He went on to win a disputed election in July, in the face of street protests and violent clashes. The European Council said in a statement on Monday that it had finished talks with Burundi and declared that commitments proposed by Bujumbura were insufficient to address EU concerns.
On Sunday, three German states held regional elections that will allow their incumbent premiers to stay in office. The breakthrough of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) – a party that did not exist a little more than three years ago and last year was on the verge of collapse – was arguably most striking. In Saxony-Anhalt in the former East Germany, the party with links to the far-right Pegida movement had gained 24.4%, according to initial exit polls, thus becoming the second-biggest party behind the CDU. In both Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg, it appeared to have gained 12% and 15%.
Read More More than a million Brazilians have joined anti-government rallies across the country, ramping up the pressure on embattled president Dilma Rousseff. Opponents blame Ms Rousseff for a severe recession and a corruption scandal also engulfing her predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The peak of the march reached 1.4 million people in Sao Paulo, the city's state security office said. Smaller marches took place in many cities across the country.
Egypt's Justice Minister Ahmed al-Zind has been dismissed after boasting that he would jail Islam's Prophet Muhammad himself if the prophet broke the law. Mr Zind made the remark in a televised interview on Friday. He immediately said "God forgive me" and apologised the following day. He was layed off by the Prime Minister, Sherif Ismail.
The opposition Demoratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) party launched a plan on Saturday 12 March to unseat current President Nicolás Maduro, following earlier plans to do so in February this year. They plan to do so by organising protests on the one hand and on the other hand by trying to organise a recall referendum or amend the constitution to limit the current term of President Nicolás Maduro. Protests took place in major cities such as Caracas on the same day. The MUD had won elections earlier last year in December and managed to secure a two-third majority in the Parliament together with representatives of the indigenous community. The President however subsequently curbed down the powers of the Parliament by Presidential decree, which was backed up by the Supreme Court that is composed of pro-government judges.
Read More
On 10 March 2016, US President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a joint statement in which they made clear they would live up to the earlier Paris Agreement on climate change and came up with ideas on how to implement it. Both countries want to take a leading role when it comes to climate change, a big change compared to the former Canadian governments of Stephen Harper that was more sceptic of climate change and whether to tackle it, while it re-confirms Obama's policy of tackling climate change as well. The two leaders now want to get NAFTA partner Mexico on board as well in their joint effort.
Read More Brazilian prosecutors are filing charges against ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a money laundering probe, officials say. The charges, which are related to a major corruption scandal at state oil company Petrobras, still have to be formally accepted by a judge. Lula denies any wrongdoing and says the accusations are politically motivated. He is among 16 people who are formally being accused of money laundering by Sao Paulo prosecutors.
