PEOPLES DAILY, WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 2013
Asia and Middle East Kerry in Moscow to bridge gap with Russia on Syria
U
S Secretary of State John Kerry is in Russia to try to bridge the divide with Washington over the Syria conflict. He is to have talks with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow but the two disagree on the future of President Bashar al-Assad. Russia, which supports Mr Assad, refuses to back US pressure designed to force him to step down. The US recently said it does not rule out providing arms for the Syrian opposition. "Arming the rebels - that's an option," US Defence Secretary, Chuck Hagel said last week. Mr Kerry's visit comes days after Israel launched air strikes in southern Syria. Russia condemned the attacks which Israeli sources said targeted missiles destined for Hezbollah in Lebanon - as a threat to regional stability. President Putin had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Kremlin said. Ahead of Mr Kerry's visit, Russia's foreign ministry called on the West to stop politicising the issue of chemical weapons in Syria, BBC Moscow correspondent Steven Rosenberg reports. It expressed concern that world public opinion was being prepared for possible military intervention, he adds. The United Nations has played down claims by one of its experts that there was evidence rebels had used nerve gas. Investigator Carla Del Ponte earlier said testimony from victims and doctors had given rise to "strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof" that opposition forces had used sarin. But the Commission of Inquiry on Syria stressed on Monday it had not reached any "conclusive findings". The colourless, odourless gas is classed as a weapon of mass destruction and is banned under international law. In Washington, White House spokesman Jay Carney said it was "highly likely" that any use of chemical weapons that had taken place had been carried out by government forces. Both the US and Israel have described the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict as a "game-changer", which could trigger international military intervention. Correspondents say it is unlikely that Mr Kerry will be able to change President Putin's stance on Syria. Moscow genuinely fears that a bad situation will get even worse if President Bashar al-Assad is pushed from power, and that Islamists will fill the void, reports the BBC's Steven Rosenberg in Moscow.
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Bangladesh building collapse death toll passes 700 T
he death toll from the collapse of an eightstorey factory building near the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, has passed 700, officials say. The announcement came after workers pulled dozens more bodies from the rubble. Many people are still missing. Several people, including the building's owner, have been arrested. The collapse of the Rana Plaza on 24 April stands as
Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster. It sparked outrage among workers in the country. The previous most deadly structural failure in modern times - excluding the 9/11 terror attacks in New York was the Sampoong department store in Seoul, South Korea, in 1995, in which 502 people died. The death toll from Bangladesh now stands at 705. Officials say about 2,500
people were injured in the collapse and that 2,437 people have been rescued. Rescue officials also say they do not know exactly how many people are still missing as factory owners have not given them precise figures. It came as hundreds of garment workers who survived the collapse protested by blocking a highway close to the accident site demanding unpaid wages and benefits.
Reports say many of them were working in some of the factories housed in the illegally constructed building. Local government administrator YousufHarun told the Associated Press news agency that they are working with a garment industry body to ensure the workers are paid. The disaster put the spotlight on conditions in the country's garment sector. Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, and some of the clothes produced in the building were made for Western retailers. The EU has said it is considering "appropriate action" to encourage an improvement in working conditions in Bangladesh factories. This includes the use of its trade preference system, which gives Bangladesh duty- and quota-free access to markets in member states. On Monday the government announced a panel that would inspect garment factories for building flaws.
Korean Peninsula peace meets interests of all - FM spokeswoman
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President Putin
China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman HuaChunying
UN peacekeepers seized near Syria border
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our UN peacekeeper's are being held in the so-called Area of Limitation between Syria and Israel, where neither Israeli nor Syrian forces can operate. Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, said the soldiers are a part of the Disengagement Observer force and have been in the Golan Heights
since the end of the ArabIsraeli war in 1973. He said the peacekeepers monitor the Area of Limitation. He said there are no details of the missing peacekeepers' nationalities, adding that the force comprises personnel from Austria, India, Morocco and the Philippines. Our correspondent said
Tuesday's incident follows a similar situation in March involving peacekeepers from the Philippines, and UN diplomats are worried about the continuation of the peacekeeping operation at a time of extreme tension in the region. A UN spokeswoman told Reuters news agency that the organisation did not know who had detained the peacekeepers.
hina says that maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula meets interests of all relevant sides. China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman HuaChunying made the comments in response to a journalist's question at a daily press briefing. Maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula should also be "the common responsibility of all relevant sides," Hua said. "The current situation on the peninsula remains highly complex and sensitive. We hope all sides do more things conducive to relaxing tensions on the peninsula," she said. According to media reports, officials from the United States said that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has withdrawn two Musudan missiles from a launch site on its east coast. When asked to comment on the summit between the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States, Hua said that "it is a matter between them to keep normal relations." She added, "Meanwhile, we hope the ROK-US relationship can play a constructive role for peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the East Asia region at large." ROK President Park Geunhye and US President Barack Obama will meet on May 7 in Washington DC. Source: Xinhua