H&M CEO Karl-Johan Persson has urged Bangladesh to raise its minimum wage, days after the Swedish fashion giant agreed to back a building safety agreement in the wake of the world’s worst single garment industry disaster, which killed more than 1,100 people. … Read More
Hamas, Fatah agree to form unity government in 3 months
The announcement comes after a meeting late Tuesday at the Egyptian security services headquarters in Cairo between Azzam al-Ahmed, the Fatah official in charge of reconciliation affairs, and Mussa Abu Marzuq, his Hamas counterpart.“We must take immediate steps to agree on the Palestinian National Council’s [PLO parliament] electoral law and set a date for elections. We have said these measures must be carried out within three months,” Ahmed told Voice of Palestine radio.His words were echoed by Sami Abu Zohri, a Hamas spokesman, who told AFP that both factions had decided to “finalize all reconciliation issues in three months, including that of the national unity government.”Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in April that he would renew consultations with the Hamas movement, after the resignation of Prime Minster Salam Fayyad, who had served since 2007.The two movements signed a reconciliation deal in Cairo in 2011, which was meant to have paved the way for legislative and presidential elections within 12 months.But the implementation of the Cairo agreement stalled over the make-up of the interim government. A second agreement signed by Abbas and Khaled Masha’al, the political bureau chief of Hamas, in Doha, Qatar in February 2012, was opposed by Hamas members in Gaza.The resignation of Fayyad in April opens up the possibility of a joint government; Hamas had never recognized his authority, instead pushing forward their own Prime Minister Ismail Haniya.Reconciliation between Fatah, which controls the West Bank, and Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, is seen by many as an important prerequisite for securing peace between Israel and Palestine, since a lack of a unified government prevented any meaningful dialogue between the parties.However, there are considerable differences between Hamas and Fatah. Hamas is committed to violence and refuses to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist.Hamas’ charter sates that “There is no solution to the Palestinian problem except by jihad” and that “the land of Israel is forfeit to Islam forever.”Fatah on the other hand signed the Oslo peace accords with Israel in 1993, which accepted the right of Israel to exist.Hamas’ terms of reconciliation with Fatah have been that the PA cease security co-operation with Israel in the West Bank, and they also want control of key ministries currently dominated by Fatah, such as the Ministry of Interior. Hamas have also said that no change is made to their security services in Gaza.Amal Hamad, a member of the Fatah Central Committee from Gaza, told the Jerusalem Post on Monday that Hamas was not serious about achieving reconciliation with Fatah.“Hamas is interested in maintaining its Islamic emirate in the Gaza Strip, Hamas does not want to end the conflict with Fatah,” she said. She also accused the Islamist organization of cracking down on Fatah supporters in the Gaza Strip, noting that more than 30 Fatah activists have been summoned for interrogation in the past 24 hours by Hamas. … Read More
Hamas, Fatah agree to form unity government in three months
The announcement comes after a meeting late Tuesday at the Egyptian security services headquarters in Cairo between Azzam al-Ahmed, the Fatah official in charge of reconciliation affairs, and Mussa Abu Marzuq, his Hamas counterpart.“We must take immediate steps to agree on the Palestinian National Council’s [PLO parliament] electoral law and set a date for elections. We have said these measures must be carried out within three months,” Ahmed told Voice of Palestine radio.His words were echoed by Sami Abu Zohri, a Hamas spokesman, who told AFP that both factions had decided to “finalize all reconciliation issues in three months, including that of the national unity government.”Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in April that he would renew consultations with the Hamas movement, after the resignation of Prime Minster Salam Fayyad, who had served since 2007.The two movements signed a reconciliation deal in Cairo in 2011, which was meant to have paved the way for legislative and presidential elections within 12 months.But the implementation of the Cairo agreement stalled over the make-up of the interim government. A second agreement signed by Abbas and Khaled Masha’al, the political bureau chief of Hamas, in Doha, Qatar in February 2012, was opposed by Hamas members in Gaza.The resignation of Fayyad in April opens up the possibility of a joint government; Hamas had never recognized his authority, instead pushing forward their own Prime Minister Ismail Haniya.Reconciliation between Fatah, which controls the West Bank, and Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, is seen by many as an important prerequisite for securing peace between Israel and Palestine, since a lack of a unified government prevented any meaningful dialogue between the parties.However, there are considerable differences between Hamas and Fatah. Hamas is committed to violence and refuses to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist.Hamas’ charter sates that “There is no solution to the Palestinian problem except by jihad” and that “the land of Israel is forfeit to Islam forever.”Fatah on the other hand signed the Oslo peace accords with Israel in 1993, which accepted the right of Israel to exist.Hamas’ terms of reconciliation with Fatah have been that the PA cease security co-operation with Israel in the West Bank, and they also want control of key ministries currently dominated by Fatah, such as the Ministry of Interior. Hamas have also said that no change is made to their security services in Gaza.Amal Hamad, a member of the Fatah Central Committee from Gaza, told the Jerusalem Post on Monday that Hamas was not serious about achieving reconciliation with Fatah.“Hamas is interested in maintaining its Islamic emirate in the Gaza Strip, Hamas does not want to end the conflict with Fatah,” she said. She also accused the Islamist organization of cracking down on Fatah supporters in the Gaza Strip, noting that more than 30 Fatah activists have been summoned for interrogation in the past 24 hours by Hamas. … Read More
Presidential post: Putin’s response to Obama letter to be ‘mailed’ soon
The exact content of the personal message from Obama to Putin remains secret, but Russia’s Kommersant daily has learnt the main topics of the letter.The central idea of the letter delivered to Moscow by the National Security Advisor in the Obama Administration, Thomas Donilon, on April 15 is that the two great states should not waste time on insignificant quarrels and concentrate on global issues. That is why the letter does not even mention such troubling matters as the Magnitsky List, Russia’s so-called Foreign Agents law and the matters of Russian citizens jailed in the US on controversial accusations.Instead, Washington proposes that Moscow focuses on managing strategic issues and the Obama administration is full of determination to reach a number of breakthrough agreements this year.Reportedly, Obama proposes to sign a mutual legally binding agreement that would make American and Russian missile defenses transparent to each other to ensure that the countries are not planning aggressive moves against each other.According to Interfax, Obama can sign such agreement without approval from Congress, but that would make the document highly time-sensitive: it would be valid as long as Barack Obama remains in office – and not a minute longer. The American president also proposed further denuclearization of the US and Russia, following the Measures to Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms treaty signed on 8 April, 2010, by Obama and then-President Dmitry Medvedev.Obama’s letter also contains some sort of proposals aimed at strengthening economic ties between Washington and Moscow. The Obama administration proposed to establish a new consultation body on a ‘US vice-president – Russian PM’ level to achieve this economic objective, Kommersant reported.The daily’s sources in the Kremlin shared that the answer is halfway through and there are no obstacles that might interfere with completing the reply by May 20, when Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev is expected to hand over Putin’s answer to the US president.Whether or not the exchange of personal letters between the two presidents becomes lost in the labyrinth of mutual distrust between the two countries remains to be seen.The first round of negotiations is set to take place in June at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland.Moscow suggested that President Obama might visit Russia on a special visit, but Washington initially turned the proposal down, scheduling another round to take place on the sidelines of the G20 summit in St. Petersburg in September.Still, there is a possibility that the most principal issues will be finalized at the bilateral meeting of two presidents in Moscow – if President Obama agrees to come to the Russian capital two days ahead of the G20 summit.In the meantime, on May 15, President Vladimir Putin chaired a council of country’s military top brass. The meeting has been specifically dedicated to development of home-grown missile defense systems and penetration of missile defenses of potential adversaries. … Read More
How the TPP can rewrite US domestic laws
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H&M backs Bangladesh building safety accord
Sweden’s retail giant H&M has decided to sign up to a building safety agreement in the wake of the factory collapse that killed more than 1,000 garment workers in Bangladesh. … Read More
US wants 9 permanent bases in Afghanistan after 2014 ISAF withdrawal
As US and other NATO troops begin to withdraw from the country by 2014, Washington is in talks with Karzai’s government to allow the US Military to retain a residual presence. The size of the force has not yet been determined, but could number between 2,500 and 12,000, according to US officials.The stated aim of the plan is that soldiers would continue to train the Afghan army and police, and carry out attacks on Al-Qaeda militants.“Our conditions are that the US intensify its efforts in the peace process, strengthen Afghanistan’s security forces, provide concrete support for the economy – power, roads, dams – and provide assistance in governance,” Karzai said at a ceremony at Kabul University. “When they do this, we are ready to sign [a partnership agreement].”Previously, the US said that if 6,000 troops were kept behind in Afghanistan only the bases in Kabul and Bagram airfield would be maintained.As the US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) draws down troop deployments in Afghanistan, security in the country is still in a perilous state, with the Taliban able to operate largely with impunity.While addressing a meeting of the Russian Security Council on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the ISAF has not achieved significant improvements in security and has done nothing to eliminate heroin production in the country, which is now at record levels.“There are all grounds to believe that we may face an escalation of the situation in Afghanistan in the short term,” Putin said.“The foreign military contingent, whose backbone is American forces, has not achieved a breakthrough in the fight against terrorist and radical groups as yet. On the contrary, their activity has been particularly increasing lately,” Putin explained.Putin’s comments come after an embarrassing revelation earlier this week that British intelligence agency MI6 regularly provided Karzai’s government with ‘ghost money’ in order to buy influence through bribes.The money from MI6 is a fraction of what the CIA paid to Karzai’s government, and although the exact figures have been withheld for “reason of national security” they are estimated to run in the tens of millions of dollars.Karzai’s government is deeply unpopular with many Afghans, and is widely seen as corrupt. There was significant overlap between the corrupt Afghan political establishment and the country’s illegal heroin trade, including the president’s brother Ahmed Wali Karzai, who was assassinated in 2011.A UN report released last month showed that Afghan poppy production was rapidly expanding, and that the country was expected to produce 90 percent of the world’s opium this year. … Read More
