No more jokes about sanctions? Putin and Mugabe make jokes about sanctions at a meeting in "Russia"

[Litwin]

I am 100% sure these Thugs dont make jokes about sanctions anymore .... LOL , comment?

"
The fall of Mugabe: Zimbabwean strongman arrested by his own military.
www.slate.com/.../the_fall_of_mugabe_zimbabwean_strongma...

- Zimbabwe's military has put President Robert Mugabe under house arrest after a night of uncertainty and conflicting reports. Mugabe's ..."



"Putin and Mugabe make jokes about sanctions at a meeting in "Russia"

 

[waltky]

Mugabe steps down...

Zimbabwe's Mugabe resigns, ending four decades of rule
November 20, 2017 - Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s longstanding authoritarian president, agreed to step down on Tuesday, according to the speaker of the nation’s parliament.

The announcement comes a little less than a week after the country’s military seized power, setting in motion an end to the 37-year rule of the world’s oldest serving president. Impeachment proceedings against Mugabe had already begun early Tuesday, but the speaker of parliament read a letter to lawmakers later in the day that he said came from the president and offered a formal resignation. “I, Robert Gabriel Mugabe, in terms of section 96 of the constitution of Zimbabwe, hereby formally tender my resignation,” the speaker said, reading from what he said was Mugabe’s letter.

Mugabe has yet to appear or speak publicly since the letter was read, and it marks a reversal from a long-winded speech he gave on Sunday when he refused to address the push for his resignation. Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party had fired Mugabe as its leader earlier that day and expelled his politically powerful wife, Grace, from its ranks. Crowds of Zimbabweans gathered at Unity Square in the capital of Harare following the announcement of Mugabe’s resignation, cheering his ouster and waving signs.

Protesters hold signs during a gathering in Zimbabwe's capital of Harare on Nov. 21, 2017, calling for Mugabe to step down.​

Once a celebrated freedom fighter, Mugabe has been accused of orchestrating human rights abuses against impoverished black Zimbabweans, white farmers and thousands of LGBTQ people while amassing vast wealth as the nation spiraled into poverty. His resignation is the culmination of a military action that began last week, when Zimbabwe’s armed forces seized control of state television, surrounded government buildings and detained the president in his home on Wednesday.

Military officials denied at the time that they were attempting to depose the 93-year-old president, arguing that they were only targeting “criminals” around him. But as time went on and Mugabe kept silent, it became increasingly clear the leader’s days in power were numbered. Zimbabwe’s state-run newspaper released photos on Thursday purporting to show negotiations between military officials and the president. Tension and uncertainty dominated the days that followed, as Mugabe officially remained president but the military was effectively in control. Mugabe further confused observers when he made a public appearance last Friday, attending a graduation ceremony for Zimbabwe Open University.

MORE

See also:

Zimbabwe's Mugabe resigns, ending four decades of rule
November 20, 2017 - Robert Mugabe resigned as Zimbabwe’s president on Tuesday, a week after the army and his former political allies moved to end four decades of rule by a man once feted as an independence hero who became feared as a despot.

His former vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose sacking this month prompted the military takeover that forced Mugabe out, will be sworn in as president on Wednesday or Thursday, Patrick Chinamasa, legal secretary of the ruling ZANU-PF party, told Reuters. The 93-year-old Mugabe had clung on for a week after an army takeover, with ZANU-PF urging him to go. He finally resigned moments after parliament began an impeachment process seen as the only legal way to force him out. Wild celebrations broke out at a joint sitting of parliament when Speaker Jacob Mudenda read out Mugabe’s brief resignation letter. Mugabe, confined to his Harare residence, did not appear. People danced in the streets of Harare and car horns blared at the news that the era of Mugabe -- who had led Zimbabwe since independence in 1980 -- was finally over. Some brandished posters of Mnangagwa and army chief General Constantino Chiwenga.

Workers turned the Christmas lights on early in Africa Unity Square and people climbed aboard armored vehicles to pose for photographs with soldiers. Despite the public outpouring of joy, Mugabe’s downfall was as much the result of in-fighting among the political elite as a popular uprising, although thousands of people rallied against him in the days after the army intervened last week. The army seized power after Mugabe sacked Mnangagwa, ZANU-PF’s favorite to succeed him, in a bid to smooth a path to the presidency for his wife Grace, 52, known to her critics as “Gucci Grace” for her reputed fondness for luxury shopping. Since the crisis began, Mugabe has been mainly confined to his “Blue Roof” mansion in the capital where Grace is also believed to be. ZANU-PF chief whip Lovemore Matuke told Reuters that Mnangagwa would be sworn in within 48 hours and serve the remainder of Mugabe’s term until the next election, which must be held by September 2018.

“DIGNITY AND JUSTICE”

“I am very happy with what has happened,” said Maria Sabawu, a supporter of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), outside the hotel where the impeachment process was happening. “I have suffered a lot at the hands of Mugabe’s government,” she said, showing her hand with a missing finger that she said was lost in violence during a presidential run-off election between Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in 2008. Mugabe had led Zimbabwe since a guerrilla struggle ended white-minority rule in the country formerly known as Rhodesia. He took the once-rich nation to economic ruin, presiding over the forced takeover of white-owned farms at the end of the century, which devastated agricultural foreign exchange earnings and led to hyperinflation.

But brandishing his anti-colonial credentials and styling himself the Grand Old Man of African politics, Mugabe retained the admiration of many people across the continent. Amnesty International said that under Mugabe tens of thousands of people were tortured, forcibly disappeared or killed in a culture of impunity that allowed “grotesque crimes to thrive”. “The people of Zimbabwe deserve better. The next generation of leaders must commit itself to upholding the constitution, living up to Zimbabwe’s international human rights obligations and treating its people with dignity and justice,” the rights group said in a statement.

DECADES OF ISOLATION

 

[Litwin]

Mugabe steps down...

Zimbabwe's Mugabe resigns, ending four decades of rule
November 20, 2017 - Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s longstanding authoritarian president, agreed to step down on Tuesday, according to the speaker of the nation’s parliament.

The announcement comes a little less than a week after the country’s military seized power, setting in motion an end to the 37-year rule of the world’s oldest serving president. Impeachment proceedings against Mugabe had already begun early Tuesday, but the speaker of parliament read a letter to lawmakers later in the day that he said came from the president and offered a formal resignation. “I, Robert Gabriel Mugabe, in terms of section 96 of the constitution of Zimbabwe, hereby formally tender my resignation,” the speaker said, reading from what he said was Mugabe’s letter.

Mugabe has yet to appear or speak publicly since the letter was read, and it marks a reversal from a long-winded speech he gave on Sunday when he refused to address the push for his resignation. Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party had fired Mugabe as its leader earlier that day and expelled his politically powerful wife, Grace, from its ranks. Crowds of Zimbabweans gathered at Unity Square in the capital of Harare following the announcement of Mugabe’s resignation, cheering his ouster and waving signs.

Protesters hold signs during a gathering in Zimbabwe's capital of Harare on Nov. 21, 2017, calling for Mugabe to step down.​

Once a celebrated freedom fighter, Mugabe has been accused of orchestrating human rights abuses against impoverished black Zimbabweans, white farmers and thousands of LGBTQ people while amassing vast wealth as the nation spiraled into poverty. His resignation is the culmination of a military action that began last week, when Zimbabwe’s armed forces seized control of state television, surrounded government buildings and detained the president in his home on Wednesday.

Military officials denied at the time that they were attempting to depose the 93-year-old president, arguing that they were only targeting “criminals” around him. But as time went on and Mugabe kept silent, it became increasingly clear the leader’s days in power were numbered. Zimbabwe’s state-run newspaper released photos on Thursday purporting to show negotiations between military officials and the president. Tension and uncertainty dominated the days that followed, as Mugabe officially remained president but the military was effectively in control. Mugabe further confused observers when he made a public appearance last Friday, attending a graduation ceremony for Zimbabwe Open University.

MORE

See also:

Zimbabwe's Mugabe resigns, ending four decades of rule
November 20, 2017 - Robert Mugabe resigned as Zimbabwe’s president on Tuesday, a week after the army and his former political allies moved to end four decades of rule by a man once feted as an independence hero who became feared as a despot.

His former vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose sacking this month prompted the military takeover that forced Mugabe out, will be sworn in as president on Wednesday or Thursday, Patrick Chinamasa, legal secretary of the ruling ZANU-PF party, told Reuters. The 93-year-old Mugabe had clung on for a week after an army takeover, with ZANU-PF urging him to go. He finally resigned moments after parliament began an impeachment process seen as the only legal way to force him out. Wild celebrations broke out at a joint sitting of parliament when Speaker Jacob Mudenda read out Mugabe’s brief resignation letter. Mugabe, confined to his Harare residence, did not appear. People danced in the streets of Harare and car horns blared at the news that the era of Mugabe -- who had led Zimbabwe since independence in 1980 -- was finally over. Some brandished posters of Mnangagwa and army chief General Constantino Chiwenga.

Workers turned the Christmas lights on early in Africa Unity Square and people climbed aboard armored vehicles to pose for photographs with soldiers. Despite the public outpouring of joy, Mugabe’s downfall was as much the result of in-fighting among the political elite as a popular uprising, although thousands of people rallied against him in the days after the army intervened last week. The army seized power after Mugabe sacked Mnangagwa, ZANU-PF’s favorite to succeed him, in a bid to smooth a path to the presidency for his wife Grace, 52, known to her critics as “Gucci Grace” for her reputed fondness for luxury shopping. Since the crisis began, Mugabe has been mainly confined to his “Blue Roof” mansion in the capital where Grace is also believed to be. ZANU-PF chief whip Lovemore Matuke told Reuters that Mnangagwa would be sworn in within 48 hours and serve the remainder of Mugabe’s term until the next election, which must be held by September 2018.

“DIGNITY AND JUSTICE”

“I am very happy with what has happened,” said Maria Sabawu, a supporter of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), outside the hotel where the impeachment process was happening. “I have suffered a lot at the hands of Mugabe’s government,” she said, showing her hand with a missing finger that she said was lost in violence during a presidential run-off election between Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in 2008. Mugabe had led Zimbabwe since a guerrilla struggle ended white-minority rule in the country formerly known as Rhodesia. He took the once-rich nation to economic ruin, presiding over the forced takeover of white-owned farms at the end of the century, which devastated agricultural foreign exchange earnings and led to hyperinflation.

But brandishing his anti-colonial credentials and styling himself the Grand Old Man of African politics, Mugabe retained the admiration of many people across the continent. Amnesty International said that under Mugabe tens of thousands of people were tortured, forcibly disappeared or killed in a culture of impunity that allowed “grotesque crimes to thrive”. “The people of Zimbabwe deserve better. The next generation of leaders must commit itself to upholding the constitution, living up to Zimbabwe’s international human rights obligations and treating its people with dignity and justice,” the rights group said in a statement.

DECADES OF ISOLATION

Mugabe moved to Rostov last night , he is a neighbor of yanuk (zek) already