After the fall of Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir, protests between pro-democracy forces and government militia forces turned violent.
Security forces killed dozens of protesters who were engaged in a sit-in outside military headquarters in the capital of Khartoum.
The BBC reports that “opposition activists say a paramilitary group has killed 108 people this week, but officials put the figure at 46.” Pro-democracy forces are asking for a quick transition to civilian rule.
The African Union suspended Sudan this week due to the violence.
How likely is it that these clashes will continue?
And this week marked two significant anniversaries — the 75th anniversary of D-Day and the 30th anniversary of Chinese military forces opening fire on peaceful protesters in Tiananmen Square.
Military forces killed hundreds, at minimum, of demonstrators in Beijing. Thousands were arrested and possibly dozens were later executed.
The New Yorker’s Jiyang Fan wrote about her memories of the protest and its legacy in China.
The last time I visited Tiananmen Square, I was fifteen. It was just after the tenth anniversary of “liusi,” and by then I had read the truth about the massacre. One line in particular from an eyewitness account struck me, describing how the blood was immediately washed away, so that no one would know what had happened. I paced the square that afternoon, fruitlessly looking for some trace of the lives that had been lost there, of someone who would remember them.
Veterans of the D-Day landings and world leaders, including President Donald Trump, assembled on the beaches at Normandy to commemorate the thousands of troops who died or were injured there.
Journalist Ernie Pyle covered the landing. A review of his dispatches from that time was published in The New York Times Magazine this week.
These columns were particularly important because few Americans had television in 1944.
By allowing the objects he saw in the sand to tell an eloquent story of loss, Pyle showed his readers the true cost of the fighting, without explicitly describing the blood and mangled bodies. “It extends in a thin little line, just like a high-water mark, for miles along the beach,” Pyle wrote about the detritus of the battle. “Here in a jumbled row for mile on mile are soldiers’ packs. Here are socks and shoe polish, sewing kits, diaries, Bibles and hand grenades. Here are the latest letters from home. . . . Here are toothbrushes and razors, and snapshots of families back home staring up at you from the sand. Here are pocketbooks, metal mirrors, extra trousers and bloody, abandoned shoes.”
Here’s what French president Emanuel Macron said at the ceremony, according to The Guardian.
In a speech that trod a fine diplomatic line, Macron offered both sincere expressions of gratitude for the valour of US troops in the second world war and vehement calls for the White House to re-engage with the principles of multilateralism.
What is the legacy of D-Day? Will President Trump reach a different conclusion about international cooperation in the wake of these memorials?
And the Canadian government concluded that violence against indigenous women and girls amounted to genocide.
The report said “this genocide has been empowered by colonial structures,” and over 1,500 people across Canada testified about these murders and disappearances.
How effective will the report be in preventing future violence?
We analyze the news that made headlines around the world.
GUESTS
Daniel Kurtz-Phelan, Executive editor, Foreign Affairs; author, “The China Mission: George Marshall’s Unfinished War, 1945-1947”; @dankurtzphelan
Kate Brannen, Editorial director, Just Security; @K8brannen
Hayes Brown, Deputy World News editor, Buzzfeed News; @HayesBrown
For more, visit https://the1a.org.
© 2019 WAMU 88.5 – American University Radio.
Copyright 2021 WAMU 88.5. To see more, visit WAMU 88.5. 9(MDEwMDkzMjQzMDEzNDc2MjU4NDA0M2ExOA004))