Fatah and Hamas to form unity government
Agreement reached after three days of talks in Moscow paving the way for the formation of a new National Council.
The Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority (PA) has agreed to form a unity government with rival organisation Hamas, Al Jazeera has learned.
The agreement was reached late on Tuesday after a three-day negotiation in the Russian capital Moscow.
The two organisations will form a new National Council, which will include Palestinians in exile, and hold elections.
"Today the conditions for (such an initiative) are better than ever," said Azzam al-Ahmad, a senior Fatah official said.
Chelsea Manning: Why was the whistleblower who exposed some of America's most brutal war crimes serving such a harsh sentence?
In a last minute action, President Barack Obama significantly commuted the sentence of incarcerated whistleblower Chelsea Manning.
The outgoing administration had been under enormous pressure to grant Ms Manning clemency before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. She was included in a list of 209 commutations and 64 pardons.
Ms Manning, 29, had been serving a 35-year sentence in a prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for leaking classified military and diplomatic documents.
Compensation battle stalls for families of MH370 victims
Malaysia Airlines has received millions in insurance for the plane’s loss – yet relatives are still embroiled in court cases
Families of the victims of MH370 have found their battle for compensation has stalled over access to documents from Malaysia Airlines, which claims it has “actually gone beyond its legal obligations”.
Two hundred and thirty-nine people from 15 countries were on board the Boeing 777-200ER when it deviated from the course on 8 March 2014 en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur. The plane’s final resting place remains unknown.
Passengers’ next of kin around the world are seeking compensation from the airline and other entities associated with the loss of MH370, with action under way in Malaysia, China, the US and Australia.
Tale of two Islamic State cities: Mosul and Raqqa
Mosul fears Iraq’s government while Raqqa dreads anarchy once Isis is defeated
Michael Jansen
The people of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria are eagerly but fearfully awaiting liberation from Islamic State. Under its brutal rule, they face taxes and fines imposed to fund a harsh regime which forces men to grow beards and pray in mosques five times a day, women to cover themselves and remain at home, and boys to learn how to shoot and use suicide vests.
Islamic State, also known as Isis, punishes smokers and users of mobile phones and computers connected to the internet. Dissidents and suspected spies are decapitated, crucified, burnt alive or drowned. Isis fighters appropriate whichever girls and women they fancy and take over homes.
Income inequality: The good, the bad, and how to tackle it
Populism in the West is bringing concerns over economic inequality – and scrutiny over how to ameliorate it – to the forefront. Will nationalist leaders respond?
Eight of the world’s richest men now own as much wealth as half of the world’s poorest people, anti-poverty organization Oxfam said in a report released on Tuesday.
Public reaction to inequality is driving political division in rich countries, the group wrote. On the upside, poor countries have also seen hundreds of millions of their citizens escape poverty in recent decades, Oxfam acknowledges. But it suggests that these countries have also missed out on an opportunity to do the same for hundreds of millions more.
“The very design of our economies and the principles of our economics have taken us to this extreme, unsustainable and unjust point,” says the report. “It’s time to build a human economy that benefits everyone, not just the privileged few.”
Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong due to appear in court over scandal
The 48-year-old leader of the Korean chaebol is expected to face a judge who will decide on whether to issue an arrest warrant
JANUARY 18, 2017 10:10 AM
Lee Jae-yong, the 48-year-old leader of the Samsung Group, is due to appear at a court hearing on Wednesday when a judge will decide whether to issue an arrest warrant over his alleged role in a corruption scandal that has rocked South Korea.
A special prosecutor on Monday said it would seek a warrant to arrest the third-generation leader of the country’s largest conglomerate on suspicion of bribery, embezzlement and perjury.
Lee, questioned last week for 22 straight hours at the prosecutor’s office in Seoul, has denied wrongdoing.
No comments:
Post a Comment