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BRICS create new Development Bank as well as a $100 billion foreign currency reserves pool

By Helmo Preuss | The BRICS Post | July 15, 2014

Fortaleza, Brazil – After some tough rounds of negotiations, BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have created not only a new $100 billion Development Bank, but also a $100 billion foreign currency reserves pool.

The announcement was made after a plenary meet of the five BRICS heads of state in Fortaleza on Tuesday.

Shanghai finally won the bid to host the Bank while India will get the presidency of the Bank for the first six years. The Bank will have a rotating chair. The Bank will also have a regional office in Johannesburg, South Africa. All the five countries will have equal shareholding in the BRICS Bank.

The five Finance Ministers will constitute the Bank’s board which will be chaired by Brazil.

The Bank will initially be involved in infrastructure projects in the BRICS nations.

The authorized, dedicated and paid in capital will amount to $100 billion, $50 billion and $10 billion respectively.

The idea of the BRICS Bank was proposed by India during the 2012 Summit in New Delhi.

BRICS have long alleged that the IMF and World Bank impose belt-tightening policies in exchange for loans while giving them little say in deciding terms. Total trade between the countries is $6.14 trillion, or nearly 17 percent of the world’s total. The last decade saw the BRICS combined GDP grow more than 300 per cent, while that of the developed word grew 60 per cent.

Apart from the new development Bank, the group of five leading emerging economies also created a Contingency Reserve Arrangement on Tuesday.

BRICS central banks will keep their reserves in gold and foreign currencies.

China will fund $41 billion, Brazil, India and Russia $18 billion each and South Africa with $5 billion. The funds will be provided according to a multiple. China’s multiple is 0.5, which means that if needed, the country will get half of $41 billion. The multiple is 2 for South Africa and 1 for the rest.

BRICS Finance ministers or central banks’ governors will form a governing body to manage the CRA while it will be presided over by the BRICS President.

The BRICS CRA will not be open to outsiders.

Meanwhile, at the Summit in Fortaleza, Russian President Vladimir Putin said BRICS must form an energy alliance.

“We propose the establishment of the Energy Association of BRICS. Under this ‘umbrella’, a Fuel Reserve Bank and BRICS Energy Policy Institute could be set up,” Putin said on Tuesday.

July 15, 2014 Posted by | Economics | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Important Gitmo Ruling Leaves Future of Military Commissions Uncertain, Say Attorneys

Court Conclusively Finds Material Support Not a War Crime

Center for Constitutional Rights | July 14, 2014

Washington, D.C. – In response to today’s en banc ruling by the D.C. Court of Appeals in Al-Bahlul v. United States, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) issued the following statement:

Today’s Court of Appeals ruling defers resolving important questions — Can conspiracy charges be tried by military commission? Is domestic law relevant to that decision? — to a future case. But the five separate opinions, totaling 150 pages, are entirely clear on one point: all seven judges agreed that material support for terrorism is not a war crime triable by military commission, even for a defendant who forfeited his defenses at trial. That decision mandates that our client David Hicks’s conviction for material support, pending on appeal before the Court of Military Commission Review, be vacated. Today’s ruling is a reminder that a military commission prosecution or conviction can unravel at any time.

The court merely deferred the inevitable by failing to recognize that conspiracy is no more appropriately tried in a military commission than material support. We urge the Supreme Court to review today’s ruling regarding conspiracy and dispense with all fabricated war crimes charges once and for all.

The Center for Constitutional Rights represents Australian David Hicks, convicted of a sole count of material support by a military commission at Guantanamo, whose appeal seeking to have his conviction overturned has been stayed pending today’s D.C. Circuit decision.

The Center for Constitutional Rights has led the legal battle over Guantánamo for more than 12 years – representing clients in two Supreme Court cases and organizing and coordinating hundreds of pro bono lawyers across the country, ensuring that nearly all the men detained at Guantánamo have had the option of legal representation. Among other Guantánamo cases, the Center represents the families of men who died at Guantánamo, and men who have been released and are seeking justice in international courts.

press@ccrjustice.org

July 15, 2014 Posted by | Civil Liberties | , , , | Leave a comment

Qatar to buy $11bn worth of US arms

MEMO | July 15, 2014

Qatar will buy US patriot missile batteries and Apache helicopters in an arms deal worth $11 billion, senior officials at the US Pentagon said yesterday.

According to the US officials, Qatar will receive 10 radars, 34 launchers for Patriot systems designed to counter any missile attack, 24 Apache helicopters and Javelin anti-tank missiles.

Qatar has decided to buy the missile defence systems to confront any threat from Iran to the Gulf region.

The Qatari Minister of Defence Maj. Gen. Hamad Bin Ali Al-Atiyyah signed the deal in Washington yesterday following talks with his US counterpart Chuck Hagel, AFP reported.

Officials said the US wants to preserve its role as “the favourite defence supplier” for Qatar and other Gulf countries.

The Qatari deal will enhance the US economy as it will reportedly create 54,000 jobs, the Pentagon said.

The deal came on the heels of Hagel’s visit to Qatar in December, as well as talks in May between Hagel and his Qatari counterpart.

July 15, 2014 Posted by | Economics, Militarism | , , | Leave a comment

9 EU countries ready to block economic sanctions against Russia

RT | July 15, 2014

France, Germany, and Italy are among EU members who don’t want to follow the US lead and impose trade sanctions on Russia. US sanctions are seen as a push to promote its own multibillion free-trade pact with Europe.

“France, Germany, Luxembourg, Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, Slovenia, and EU President Italy see no reason in the current environment for the introduction of sectorial trade and economic sanctions against Russia and at the summit, will block the measure,” a diplomatic source told ITAR-TASS.

In order for a new wave of sanctions to pass, all 28 EU members must unanimously vote in favor. EU ministers plan to discuss new sanctions against Russia at their summit in Brussels on Wednesday, July 16. Even if only one country vetoed, sanctions would not be imposed. With heavyweights like France and Germany opposed to more sanctions the measure will likely again be stalled, the source said.

According to the source, the US sees slapping Russia with sanctions as a way to promote its own trade agenda with Europe, a side rarely explored in mainstream media. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the US and Europe would create the world’s largest free trade zone, but some worry it could balloon into an “economic NATO” or could end up putting corporate interests above national.

“Last year the EU and the US started difficult negotiations on a free trade agreement, which would force the EU into serious concessions, in particular, agricultural quality standards and regulation on genetically modified products. In this circumstance, restrictions against Russia will force EU countries to expand trade with the US,” the source said, citing shale gas as an example.

On June 20, Czech President Milos Zeman came out against sanctioning Russia, saying there is “no reason” to further “isolate” the country.

America was successful in getting Europe to toe its sanctions agenda at the height of the Ukraine crisis, but now Russia has removed its troops from the Ukraine border and promised peace in the region, Europe isn’t interested in further sanctions.

The EU initially followed the US cue when it imposed sanctions on Russia after the reunification of Crimea in March, but these measures were limited to politicians and businessmen. The EU unleashed a second round which expanded the list to over 72 individuals, who cannot enter the EU or access any assets there.

Boomerang effect

Russian officials maintain that sanctions are counterproductive, and will end up hurting the West more than they will Russia.

Another reason EU countries are wary of slapping Russia with economic sanctions is the possible spillover effect. Unlike the US, European countries rely heavily on Russia as a trading partner, especially for natural gas. The World Bank estimates that if sanctions escalate European gas prices could jump 50 percent.

Europe clearly has much more to lose by punishing its neighbor, with annual trade in goods and services worth $330 billion. American trade with Russia, by contrast is just a tenth of that at $38.1 billion.

Deals with UK-based BP, US-based Weatherford International, and ExxonMobil, continue to show that most countries continue to do business with Russia, politics aside.

Italy was the first country to speak out against Russian sanctions. Rosneft, the world’s largest listed oil company, recently acquired a 26.2 percent stake in Italian tire company Pirelli. Igor Sechin, boss of Rosneft and on the US sanctions list, joined the board of the Milan-based company. Three other Rosneft representatives, as well as the CEO of Russia’s second largest bank, VTB, sit on the board.

July 15, 2014 Posted by | Economics | , , , , | Leave a comment

Egypt claims to have brokered ceasefire agreement; Palestinian factions say they were not consulted

By Celine Hagbard | IMEMC News | July 15, 2014

The Israeli security cabinet reportedly agreed to a ceasefire agreement on Tuesday proposed by the Egyptian government, but leaders with the Palestinian resistance said that no one had contacted them to negotiate any ceasefire.

According to Israeli military reports, the alleged ceasefire proposal would require the Israeli military to end its aerial and naval bombardment of the Gaza Strip that has been constant for the past week, while Palestinian armed factions would be required to stop firing homemade shells into Israel.

Despite claims of having agreed to a ceasefire, Israeli bombardment continued to pound Gaza on Tuesday morning.

The armed wing of the Hamas party, the Izz-al Deen al-Qassam Brigades, claimed that the ceasefire agreement amounted to a ‘surrender’, and that no representative of Hamas or any other armed resistance group had been involved in the negotiations. Therefore, the group said, they would continue their resistance to Israeli aggression in Gaza.

The supposed agreement does not meet the four key elements reiterated by Hamas leaders in recent days. These requirements include the lifting of the Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip, which has led to the unemployment rate of 80%, the sealing of all borders and the prevention of aid, construction materials and fuel, as well as staple goods, from entering Gaza.

Ismail Haniyeh, the elected Prime Minister of the Palestinians people who has not been recognized by Israel because of his association with the Hamas party, said on Monday, “The Gaza blockade must be lifted so that our people live in freedom like all other peoples around the world.”

Egyptian officials negotiated with Israel, apparently without involving Palestinians in the negotiation of the proposed ceasefire. Despite the lack of involvement, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with the Fateh party urged rival parties to accept the agreement.

Hamas officials stated over the weekend that Egypt was an unacceptable negotiator for any ceasefire negotiations, and only Turkey or Qatar could be considered as potential negotiators of a ceasefire.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has kept the Egyptian border with Gaza closed over the last week, apart from one opening to allow critically wounded patients through. This has led to widespread disapproval of Egypt as a negotiator among the Palestinian populace of Gaza, who have not had any way to escape the near-constant bombardment that began on July 8th.

In the two weeks prior to July 8th, 13 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers.

In the week since, 195 Palestinians have been killed, including three babies under age two, and several families that were totally wiped out.

2 Israeli girls were wounded on Monday night by a Palestinian shell, the first such injuries in the week of escalation. One of them, age 10, was wounded critically, according to Israeli sources.

Over the past week of escalation, at least 1,385 Palestinians have been wounded, many with head injuries, amputated limbs, permanent disabilities and embedded shrapnel. They include a four-day old infant, who was critically wounded by Israeli forces on Tuesday morning.

More than 180 Palestinians have been killed and 1,385 injured since Israel launched Operation Protective Edge against Gaza exactly a week ago.

Early on Tuesday evening, as Operation Protective Edge entered its second week, Israeli air strikes and rocket continued to strike Gaza even while reports of the ceasefire began to emerge.

Hamas rockets also continued to fly toward Israel where they have largely caused minor injuries and damage. Monday evening saw the most serious incident of the week-long conflict so far with two sisters – aged 10 and 13 – being hospitalised following a rocket attack. The younger sister, 10-year-old Maram Wakili remains in critical condition.

July 15, 2014 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation | , , , , | Leave a comment

The fatal Palestinian trinity

hanin-zoabi-2

By Haneen Zoabi | MEMO | July 15, 2014

There are no concrete military outcomes for what is happening in Gaza. Israel has not eliminated Hamas nor has it obliterated any other resistance forces or liberation movements that seek to break the hold of the occupation. Israel has achieved nothing through its use of excessive military force; through its killing; through its destruction of Gaza.

Yet, at the same time, Hamas alone has not been able to prevent Israel from deepening the roots of the occupation, nor has it been able to prevent it from continuing its violence and killings.

What will result from this aggression is that Israel will soon realise that the limits of its power are defined clearly, and that while basic rockets do not kill human beings they do kill the strategic vision on which Israel has based its understanding of security and politics. To this effect, the fatal trinity that is imposed on the Palestinians ‑ the siege of Gaza, the apartheid wall and Israel’s security coordination with the Palestinian Authority ‑ is what afforded the Zionist entity the opportunity to impose a relatively “soft occupation”, and this is precisely what Hamas’s rockets have threatened.

Indeed, what Hamas has killed is Israel’s conviction that it is able to impose a state of occupation without a physical occupier via this trinity. It [the trinity] has facilitated the stability of Israel’s grip on occupied Palestinian territory for the past ten years.

Recent resistance efforts have revived the concept of the Palestinians as an occupied people within the Israeli conscience. This notion has been largely absent from both Israeli reality and mentality. The resistance in Palestine reminds Israel that there is an occupation in place, which is something that it wants to forget so that it can live in security and stability without acknowledging that it is an occupier.

The aggression will eventually be stopped by a state that does nothing more than enforce the status quo through a series of crimes against the Palestinian people. Moreover, the rockets will also stop and both sides will have to sit and re-evaluate their position and the rules of the game that have been shaken in the recent aggression and resistance operations.

In the light of the Arab region’s and international community’s complicit silence, and the lack of any official and concrete action on the part of the Palestinian leadership, Israel will argue that it has been given the green light to prepare for the next round of aggression, repressive policies and practices, and death and destruction.

In order to bring a complete and final end to the possibility that Israel will maintain and deepen its occupation, and to dismantle the fatal trinity of the siege, the wall and security coordination, we, the Palestinians, must also end our own fatal trinity: coordination, negotiations and separation. We have to abandon this other trinity and declare our intention to continue popular resistance in lieu of security coordination; isolate Israel as opposed to negotiating with it; and insist on our unity instead of fragmentation.

Translated from Arabs48, 13 July, 2014

July 15, 2014 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , | 3 Comments