China has confirmed that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un did indeed meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. It was Kim’s first foray outside of North Korea and he was given a very official welcome by the Chinese, realizing one of Kim’s most important objectives: recognition by a Great Power. Kim can now also look forward to perhaps a face-to-face meeting with US President Trump in which the US will now be obliged to give Kim similar recognition. Kim has thus played the Chinese against the US very deftly and has given up little in return. China purchased a say in the upcoming negotiations with the US which preserved its role in East Asia. I am not sure what the US will gain. But the situation remains fluid. Much depends on how loosely the US is willing to define “denuclearization”.
The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front has chosen Abiy Ahmed as its new chairman which may mean that he may be Ethiopia’s next Prime Minister. The selection is significant since Ahmed is an Oromo Member of Parliament. Oromos make up a third of Ethiopia’s population, but they have never been effectively represented in the Ethiopian government. The Oromia Region of Ethiopia has experienced significant protests in recent years because of its exclusion from decision-making in the country. There are high hopes that Ahmed will be able to stabilize the country, but the turmoil in the country has been going on for a very long time.
Abiy Ahmed
World Politics News 
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