Day: May 5, 2024

The delegation of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) will return to Egypt’s capital Cairo on Tuesday to deliver the movement’s “final response” to the Egyptian proposal over a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and a prisoner exchange with Israel, a Palestinian source told Xinhua on Sunday.

The source, who preferred not to mention his name, said the Hamas delegation, who departed Cairo on Sunday for consultations with the movement’s leadership in Doha, Qatar, will return with a “final response” to the Egyptian proposal two days later.

According to the source, during the two-day talks in Cairo, the Hamas delegation met with Egyptian security officials and addressed “all issues” that could hinder reaching an agreement on the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange with Israel, confirming that “significant” consensus has been achieved between the delegation and the Egyptian mediators.

The Egyptian proposal consists of three stages, aimed at exchanging Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, taking necessary measures to reach a ceasefire, and restoring sustainable calm.

The first stage would span 40 days and bring out a temporary halt of military operations between the two sides, an exchange of hostages and prisoners, and the return of internally displaced civilians to their areas of residence in Gaza.

It also includes facilitating the entry of sufficient humanitarian aid, relief materials, and fuel into Gaza, as well as the equipment needed to remove rubble, establish camps for the displaced, and rehabilitate and operate hospitals, health centers, and bakeries in the strip.

Earlier in the day, Hamas said in a statement that the current round of negotiations in Cairo had concluded, adding the delegation left Egypt on Sunday night for further consultation with the movement’s leadership.

It affirmed that it takes “a positive and responsible approach with determination” towards reaching an agreement that “meets the national demands of our people, ends the aggression completely, achieves withdrawal of Israeli troops from the entire Gaza Strip, allows for the return of the displaced, intensifies relief efforts, begins reconstruction, and completes the prisoner exchange.”

Also on Sunday, Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh said in a statement that his movement is keen to reach a comprehensive agreement that ends the current conflict in Gaza and ensures a prisoner exchange with Israel.

In the meantime, he accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “inventing constant justifications to continue the aggression, expand the scope of the conflict, and sabotage mediation efforts.”

The Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Saturday for talks on the Gaza ceasefire. Qatar, Egypt, and the United States are seeking to reach a deal for a prisoner exchange and a second ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, following the first one that ended last December.

Israel estimated that there were still about 134 Israelis held hostage in Gaza, whereas Hamas announced that 70 of them had been killed in Israeli indiscriminate airstrikes.

Israel holds more than 9,000 Palestinian prisoners in its jails. According to relevant Palestinian organizations, some of these prisoners have died due to worsening conditions since the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict began last October.

However, despite intensive mediation efforts and international calls for a ceasefire, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Sunday that Israel assesses the likelihood of reaching an agreement with Hamas as low, adding the order to launch an onslaught on Rafah, the enclave’s southernmost city, will be given “very soon.”

Source: Xinhua

Bangladesh has wavered over reopening schools for some 33 million students amid pressure to prepare pupils for exams, even as the worst heatwave in seven decades sent temperatures as high as 43.8 C (110.84° Fahrenheit) last week.

Many people have died across the region, and experts warned the heat could exacerbate inequalities, widen a learning gap between developing and developed nations in the tropics.

Bangladesh, which follows the Islamic work week from Sunday to Thursday, will hold classes on Saturdays until further notice, the education ministry said. Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury has said schools would open on Friday if needed to complete the curriculum.

Parents have welcomed the decision.

“Children don’t want to study at home. This will help them make up for the loss,” said Fatema Akhtar, who was waiting to pick up her grade-two daughter outside a school.

Scientists have said climate change is causing more frequent, severe, and lengthy heat waves during summer months.

The U.N. children’s agency has estimated that one in three children, or nearly 20 million children, in low-lying Bangladesh bear the brunt of such climate change every day.

Separately, a fire that broke out amid the heatwave on Saturday and spread across three acres of the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest that is home to the Royal Bengal tiger, was brought under control on Sunday, officials said.

Intense heatwaves have caused water shortages and frequent power cuts, hitting the key apparel sector that accounts for more than 80% of exports and supplies retailers such as H&M, Walmart and Gap Inc.

Analysts say Mahamat Idriss Deby, who seized power the day rebels killed his long-ruling father Idriss Deby in April 2021, is most likely to win, although his chief opponent has been drawing larger-than-expected crowds on the campaign trail.

Deby has promised to bolster security, strengthen the rule of law and increase electricity production.

The vote coincides with a temporary withdrawal of U.S. troops from Chad, an important Western ally in a region of West and Central Africa courted by Russia and wracked by jihadism.

Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 5 p.m., with some 8.5 million people registered to vote.

Soldiers began early voting on Sunday.

Provisional results are expected by May 21 and final results by June 5. If no candidate wins more than 50% of the votes, a run-off will be held on June 22.

Since replacing his father at the helm of the oil-producing Central African country, Deby has remained close with former colonial power and longtime ally France.

While other junta-ruled Sahel countries including Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have told Paris and other Western powers to withdraw and turned to Moscow for support, Chad remains the last Sahel state with a substantial French military presence.

The U.S., however, announced a temporary withdrawal of at least some troops last month, saying it would continue with a review of security operations after the election.

Opposition concerns

Monday’s vote pits Deby against his prime minister Succes Masra, previously a political opponent who fled into exile in 2022 but was allowed back a year later. Also running are former prime minister Albert Pahimi Padacke and seven other candidates.

Yaya Dillo, an opposition politician who had been expected to run against Deby despite coming from the same clan, was shot and killed in the capital N’Djamena on Feb. 28, the day the election date was announced.

Padacke has accused Masra of collaborating with Deby. But Masra has attracted large crowds to his own rallies.

Some opposition members and civil society groups have called for a boycott, citing concerns about possible vote-rigging.

That has raised fears of potential violence.

“This presidential election is of capital importance for the country because an entire people aspires for change,” said Baniara Yoyana, a former minister and magistrate.

“The process must be conducted with transparency to avoid any risk of confrontation.”

One Deby supporter, however, said he expected no problems.

“We want the election to go well and peacefully,” said Abdelkhader Sougui, a 28-year-old student.

“My wish is to go out and vote the morning of May 6 to confirm our victory… in the first round.”

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

#Azerbaijan #UnitedStates #America #Armenia #Artsakh #NagornoKarabakh #caucasus #southcaucasus #caucasusregion #oil #energy #foreignpolicy #foreignrelations #internationalrelations #thinktank #policypaper

— Aram Manoukian Institute for Strategic Planning (@ManoukianInst) May 6, 2024

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy