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Can the International Community Restore Peace to Myanmar

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Can the International Community Restore Peace to Myanmar

Geographically, Myanmar’s location is strategically important. After gaining independence from the British in 1948, the country suffered from long military rule. Myanmar has a long history of conflict between the military and the government with various regional ethnic groups, but it has become more widespread recently.

The military coup has plunged the country into a crisis with strained ethnic relations and a resurgence of civil war. According to geopolitical analysts, Myanmar’s governance is divided into three entities. The first is the State Administration Council (SAC), or the body of top officials engaged in the country’s governance; the second is the body of senior military officers and, finally, the Cabinet.

However, Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the armed forces and the coup’s leader, overshadowed these entities and gradually axed power. By issuing martial law, the state has absolute power. The military junta is using torture and killing as a weapon to suppress any dissent against the government following the policy of autocracy.

It has also enacted a series of draconian laws to consolidate its grip on power, threatening the legal protections and fundamental rights of the Myanmar people. In addition, internet access is limited and online newspapers and social media platforms are blocked. Recently, a new law has been issued where liking or sharing an anti-government post on social media is punishable by imprisonment.

myanmar economy

Distressed economy

In February last year, Myanmar’s military government declared a state of emergency for the first time since taking power. In August, the state of emergency was extended for another six months.

The junta’s main priority is to stay in power at any cost. As a result, the country’s economy is in a crisis, and the people have to pay the price. After the imposition of military rule in the post-coup period, the country was subjected to a Western economic embargo. Foreign aid and investment were suspended.

As a result, the country’s reserves have decreased since last April. Due to the internal crisis and the war in Ukraine, the prices of everyday products are increasing. On the other hand, many people are not paying electricity bills, and no one is paying taxes as part of the non-violent movement supported by the NLD government.

The government’s revenue collection has fallen to the bottom.

The country’s economy has shrunk by nearly 20 percent in the past year. According to a report published by the International Labor Organization (ILO) last January, by the end of 2021, half of the country’s population or about two and a half million people, will be below the poverty line, 1.6 million people or about eight percent of the total workforce have lost their jobs, and about 1.3 million people are at risk of food insecurity.

On the other hand, given the global and domestic crisis, the value of the Kyat, the currency continues to fall against the dollar. On February 1, 2021, one dollar was available at 1,395 kyats, which has increased by more than 40 percent to 2,113 kyats.

According to the British magazine Economist, the country’s central bank decided to sell 10 percent of its reserves to prevent the fall of the kyat. In this situation, the junta is trying to retain reserves by imposing currency controls and import bans. As a result, people are deprived of essential services like medicines.

myanmar junta

The declining power of the junta

The military junta is now facing fierce resistance from various ethnic minorities. Moreover, a shadow government called National Unity Government (NUG) was formed to counter the government.

The shadow government has already appealed to the international community for support, to which the United States, the European Union and ASEAN member states have responded. The NUG also formed a guerrilla force called the People’s Defense Force (PDF), which was formed to counter the military’s brutal crackdown on protesters.

As a result, the government has to fight against various ethnic groups in the border provinces, while on the other hand, it has to face pro-democracy PDF forces in various provinces inside the country. Because of this, the government is facing deep problems establishing political control in the country.

On the other hand, the military junta is diplomatically losing acceptance with the rest of the world due to authoritarian tactics and brutal repression. As a result, they were almost defeated on three fronts – diplomatic, political and military.

Ethnic armed insurgent groups operating in the country have become stronger than before. They are now having a lot of success in fighting against the army, and the area they control is also increasing. Armed groups from different ethnic groups have stepped up cooperation among themselves to overthrow the junta.

myanmar

Myanmar’s Special Advisory Council

News website The Irrawaddy reported that members of Myanmar’s top seven-armed ethnic groups met in September in Pangsang, Wa state, amid rising violence. At the same time, the anti-military Myanmar people are fighting against the government by joining the activities of various insurgents and armed groups.

According to a statement by Myanmar’s Special Advisory Council, only 72 of the country’s 330 townships are now under the junta’s control; As a percentage, that is only 17 percent of the total land area; 52 percent is under NUG, and various ethnic groups and no party has absolute control over the rest of the region.

Moreover, the Myanmar army is in a very tight position in Rakhine. More than two-thirds of Rakhine State’s land area is now under the control of the Arakan Army. According to the NUG statement, more than 20,150 soldiers of the army were killed in the clashes from September 7, 2021, to September 2022.

The Bama ethnic group dominates Myanmar’s military. But the recent military operation in Bama-dominated areas has created anti-junta sentiment among them. More than 2,000 soldiers and 5,000 police officers have defected since the coup, according to the People’s Embrace group.

The army lost lives and troops and lost control of several military outposts. In the last 17 months, Myanmar’s military junta has lost control of about 90 military posts to armed groups from various ethnic groups in the country.

After the military coup in 2021, people from all walks of life participated peacefully in the anti-junta movement. But due to the retaliatory brutal repression by the Min Aung Hlaing administration, the peaceful movement turned into armed resistance, which continues to this day.

The conflict is escalating. Added to this are the country’s economic crisis and insurgency by ethnic armed groups in border areas. All in all, an anarchic situation prevails across the country. As the days go by, along with the overall situation in the country, the junta’s position is also weakening.

In this situation, the international community’s intervention is necessary to restore peace in Myanmar.

Author Bio: Tilottama Rani Charulata is an independent researcher and journalist. She is interested in Bangladesh and Rohingya refugee affairs. She is currently living in Canada

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Trudeau’s Gun Grab Could Cost Taxpayers a Whopping $7 Billion

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Trudeau plans to purchase 2,063 firearm from legal gun owners in Canada - Rebel News Image

A recent report indicates that since Trudeau’s announcement of his gun buyback program four years ago, almost none of the banned firearms have been surrendered.

The federal government plans to purchase 2,063 firearm models from retailers following the enactment of Bill C-21, which amends various Acts and introduces certain consequential changes related to firearms. It was granted royal assent on December 15 of last year.

This ban immediately criminalized the actions of federally-licensed firearms owners regarding the purchase, sale, transportation, importation, exportation, or use of hundreds of thousands of rifles and shotguns that were previously legal.

The gun ban focused on what it termed ‘assault-style weapons,’ which are, in reality, traditional semi-automatic rifles and shotguns that have enjoyed popularity among hunters and sport shooters for over a century.

In May 2020, the federal government enacted an Order-in-Council that prohibited 1,500 types of “assault-style” firearms and outlined specific components of the newly banned firearms. Property owners must adhere to the law by October 2023.

Trudeau’s Buyback Hasn’t Happened

“In the announcement regarding the ban, the prime minister stated that the government would seize the prohibited firearms, assuring that their lawful owners would be ‘grandfathered’ or compensated fairly.” “That hasn’t happened,” criminologist Gary Mauser told Rebel News.

Mauser projected expenses ranging from $2.6 billion to $6.7 billion. The figure reflects the compensation costs amounting to $756 million, as outlined by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO).

“The projected expenses for gathering the illegal firearms are estimated to range from $1.6 billion to $7 billion.” “This range estimate increases to between $2.647 billion and $7 billion when compensation costs to owners are factored in,” Mauser stated.

Figures requested by Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs concerning firearms prohibited due to the May 1, 2020 Order In Council reveal that $72 million has been allocated to the firearm “buyback” program, yet not a single firearm has been confiscated to date.

In a recent revelation, Public Safety Canada disclosed that the federal government allocated a staggering $41,094,556, as prompted by an order paper question from Conservative Senator Don Plett last September, yet yielded no tangible outcomes.

An internal memo from late 2019 revealed that the Liberals projected their politically motivated harassment would incur a cost of $1.8 billion.

Enforcement efforts Questioned

By December 2023, estimates from TheGunBlog.ca indicate that the Liberals and RCMP had incurred or were responsible for approximately $30 million in personnel expenses related to the enforcement efforts. The union representing the police service previously stated that the effort to confiscate firearms is a “misdirected effort” aimed at ensuring public safety.

“This action diverts crucial personnel, resources, and funding from tackling the more pressing and escalating issue of criminal use of illegal firearms,” stated the National Police Federation (NPF).

The Canadian Sporting Arms & Ammunition Association (CSAAA), representing firearms retailers, has stated it will have “zero involvement” in the confiscation of these firearms. Even Canada Post held back from providing assistance due to safety concerns.

The consultant previously assessed that retailers are sitting on almost $1 billion worth of inventory that cannot be sold or returned to suppliers because of the Order-In-Council.

“Despite the ongoing confusion surrounding the ban, after four years, we ought to be able to address one crucial question.” Has the prohibition enhanced safety for Canadians? Mauser asks.

Illegally Obtained Firearms are the Problem

Statistics Canada reports a 10% increase in firearm-related violent crime between 2020 and 2022, rising from 12,614 incidents to 13,937 incidents. In that timeframe, the incidence of firearm-related violent crime increased from 33.7 incidents per 100,000 population in 2021 to 36.7 incidents the subsequent year.

“This marks the highest rate documented since the collection of comparable data began in 2009,” the criminologist explains.

Supplementary DataData indicates that firearm homicides have risen since 2020. “The issue lies not with lawfully-held firearms,” Mauser stated.

Firearms that have been banned under the Order-in-Council continue to be securely stored in the safes of their lawful owners. The individuals underwent a thorough vetting process by the RCMP and are subject to nightly monitoring to ensure there are no infractions that could pose a risk to public safety.

“The firearms involved in homicides were seldom legally owned weapons wielded by their rightful owners,” Mauser continues. The number of offenses linked to organized crime has surged from 4,810 in 2016 to a staggering 13,056 in 2020.

“If those in power … aim to diminish crime and enhance public safety, they ought to implement strategies that effectively focus on offenders and utilize our limited tax resources judiciously to reach these objectives,” he stated.

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Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding, But Still Accounting 48% Search Revenue

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Google is so closely associated with its key product that its name is a verb that signifies “search.” However, Google’s dominance in that sector is dwindling.

According to eMarketer, Google will lose control of the US search industry for the first time in decades next year.

Google will remain the dominant search player, accounting for 48% of American search advertising revenue. And, remarkably, Google is still increasing its sales in the field, despite being the dominating player in search since the early days of the George W. Bush administration. However, Amazon is growing at a quicker rate.

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Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

Amazon will hold over a quarter of US search ad dollars next year, rising to 27% by 2026, while Google will fall even more, according to eMarketer.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the forecast.

Lest you think you’ll have to switch to Bing or Yahoo, this isn’t the end of Google or anything really near.

Google is the fourth-most valued public firm in the world. Its market worth is $2.1 trillion, trailing just Apple, Microsoft, and the AI chip darling Nvidia. It also maintains its dominance in other industries, such as display advertisements, where it dominates alongside Facebook’s parent firm Meta, and video ads on YouTube.

To put those “other” firms in context, each is worth more than Delta Air Lines’ total market value. So, yeah, Google is not going anywhere.

Nonetheless, Google faces numerous dangers to its operations, particularly from antitrust regulators.

On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Google must open up its Google Play Store to competitors, dealing a significant blow to the firm in its long-running battle with Fortnite creator Epic Games. Google announced that it would appeal the verdict.

In August, a federal judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly on search. That verdict could lead to the dissolution of the company’s search operation. Another antitrust lawsuit filed last month accuses Google of abusing its dominance in the online advertising business.

Meanwhile, European regulators have compelled Google to follow tough new standards, which have resulted in multiple $1 billion-plus fines.

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Pixa Bay

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

On top of that, the marketplace is becoming more difficult on its own.

TikTok, the fastest-growing social network, is expanding into the search market. And Amazon has accomplished something few other digital titans have done to date: it has established a habit.

When you want to buy anything, you usually go to Amazon, not Google. Amazon then buys adverts to push companies’ products to the top of your search results, increasing sales and earning Amazon a greater portion of the revenue. According to eMarketer, it is expected to generate $27.8 billion in search revenue in the United States next year, trailing only Google’s $62.9 billion total.

And then there’s AI, the technology that (supposedly) will change everything.

Why search in stilted language for “kendall jenner why bad bunny breakup” or “police moving violation driver rights no stop sign” when you can just ask OpenAI’s ChatGPT, “What’s going on with Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny?” in “I need help fighting a moving violation involving a stop sign that wasn’t visible.” Google is working on exactly this technology with its Gemini product, but its success is far from guaranteed, especially with Apple collaborating with OpenAI and other businesses rapidly joining the market.

A Google spokeswoman referred to a blog post from last week in which the company unveiled ads in its AI overviews (the AI-generated text that appears at the top of search results). It’s Google’s way of expressing its ability to profit on a changing marketplace while retaining its business, even as its consumers steadily transition to ask-and-answer AI and away from search.

google

Google has long used a single catchphrase to defend itself against opponents who claim it is a monopoly abusing its power: competition is only a click away. Until recently, that seemed comically obtuse. Really? We are going to switch to Bing? Or Duck Duck Go? Give me a break.

But today, it feels more like reality.

Google is in no danger of disappearing. However, every highly dominating company faces some type of reckoning over time. GE, a Dow mainstay for more than a century, was broken up last year and is now a shell of its previous dominance. Sears declared bankruptcy in 2022 and is virtually out of business. US Steel, long the foundation of American manufacturing, is attempting to sell itself to a Japanese corporation.

Could we remember Google in the same way that we remember Yahoo or Ask Jeeves in decades? These next few years could be significant.

SOURCE | CNN

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The Supreme Court Turns Down Biden’s Government Appeal in a Texas Emergency Abortion Matter.

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(VOR News) – A ruling that prohibits emergency abortions that contravene the Supreme Court law in the state of Texas, which has one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the country, has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. The United States Supreme Court upheld this decision.

The justices did not provide any specifics regarding the underlying reasons for their decision to uphold an order from a lower court that declared hospitals cannot be legally obligated to administer abortions if doing so would violate the law in the state of Texas.

Institutions are not required to perform abortions, as stipulated in the decree. The common populace did not investigate any opposing viewpoints. The decision was made just weeks before a presidential election that brought abortion to the forefront of the political agenda.

This decision follows the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended abortion nationwide.

In response to a request from the administration of Vice President Joe Biden to overturn the lower court’s decision, the justices expressed their disapproval.

The government contends that hospitals are obligated to perform abortions in compliance with federal legislation when the health or life of an expectant patient is in an exceedingly precarious condition.

This is the case in regions where the procedure is prohibited. The difficulty hospitals in Texas and other states are experiencing in determining whether or not routine care could be in violation of stringent state laws that prohibit abortion has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints concerning pregnant women who are experiencing medical distress being turned away from emergency rooms.

The administration cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case that bore a striking resemblance to the one that was presented to it in Idaho at the beginning of the year. The justices took a limited decision in that case to allow the continuation of emergency abortions without interruption while a lawsuit was still being heard.

In contrast, Texas has been a vocal proponent of the injunction’s continued enforcement. Texas has argued that its circumstances are distinct from those of Idaho, as the state does have an exemption for situations that pose a significant hazard to the health of an expectant patient.

According to the state, the discrepancy is the result of this exemption. The state of Idaho had a provision that safeguarded a woman’s life when the issue was first broached; however, it did not include protection for her health.

Certified medical practitioners are not obligated to wait until a woman’s life is in imminent peril before they are legally permitted to perform an abortion, as determined by the state supreme court.

The state of Texas highlighted this to the Supreme Court.

Nevertheless, medical professionals have criticized the Texas statute as being perilously ambiguous, and a medical board has declined to provide a list of all the disorders that are eligible for an exception. Furthermore, the statute has been criticized for its hazardous ambiguity.

For an extended period, termination of pregnancies has been a standard procedure in medical treatment for individuals who have been experiencing significant issues. It is implemented in this manner to prevent catastrophic outcomes, such as sepsis, organ failure, and other severe scenarios.

Nevertheless, medical professionals and hospitals in Texas and other states with strict abortion laws have noted that it is uncertain whether or not these terminations could be in violation of abortion prohibitions that include the possibility of a prison sentence. This is the case in regions where abortion prohibitions are exceedingly restrictive.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which resulted in restrictions on the rights of women to have abortions in several Republican-ruled states, the Texas case was revisited in 2022.

As per the orders that were disclosed by the administration of Vice President Joe Biden, hospitals are still required to provide abortions in cases that are classified as dire emergency.

As stipulated in a piece of health care legislation, the majority of hospitals are obligated to provide medical assistance to patients who are experiencing medical distress. This is in accordance with the law.

The state of Texas maintained that hospitals should not be obligated to provide abortions throughout the litigation, as doing so would violate the state’s constitutional prohibition on abortions. In its January judgment, the 5th United States Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with the state and acknowledged that the administration had exceeded its authority.

SOURCE: AP

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