Tag: agreement

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Politics

Biden unable to succeed in settlement with Turkey’s Erdogan over Russian S-400

Biden unable to reach agreement with Turkey's Erdogan over Russian S-400

Russian S-400 missile battalions participate in tactical training to counter attacks of potential sabotage and reconnaissance groups. 

Vitaly Nevar | TASS via Getty Images

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration was unable to work out a resolution with Turkey following Ankara’s defiant purchase of a Russian weapons system, which the NATO alliance views as a security risk.

National security advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters Thursday on a call that President Joe Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the 2017 multibillion-dollar weapons deal with Russia this week at NATO’s headquarters.

In December, the Trump administration slapped sanctions on Turkey, a NATO member, for buying the S-400 missile system in a confrontation not typically seen within the alliance.

“On the S-400, they discussed it. There was not a resolution of the issue. There was a commitment to continue the dialogue on the S-400,” Sullivan said, adding the Biden administration would have more to say on the matter after Washington and Ankara hold additional talks.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) and US President Joe Biden (R) hold a meeting at the NATO summit at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters in Brussels, on June 14, 2021.

Murat Cetinmuhurdar | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

During a NATO news conference, Erdogan said he had not changed his position on the S-400 despite having a “sincere” meeting with Biden.

Biden also said the meeting with Erdogan was productive, adding he was confident the U.S. will “make real progress with Turkey.”

Erdogan said Thursday that he told Biden to “not expect Turkey to take a different step on the F-35 and S-400 issues,” according to a report from Turkey’s state media.

“We must monitor developments closely. We will be following up on all our rights,” he said. “In the next period, our foreign ministers, defense ministers and defense industry chairs will be moving this process forward by meeting with their counterparts,” Erdogan added.

In multiple efforts to deter Turkey from buying Russia’s S-400 missile system, the State Department offered in 2013 and 2017 to sell the country Raytheon’s Patriot missile system. Ankara passed on the Patriot both times because the U.S. declined to provide a transfer of the system’s sensitive missile technology.

A F-35 fighter jet is seen as Turkey takes delivery of its first F-35 fighter jet with a ceremony at the Lockheed Martin in Forth Worth, Texas, United States on June 21, 2018.

Atilgan Ozdil | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act any foreign government working with the Russian defense sector will find itself in the crosshairs of U.S. economic sanctions.

Despite warnings from the United States and other NATO allies, Turkey accepted the first of four S-400 missile batteries from the Kremlin in July 2019.

A week later, the U.S. cut Turkey, a financial and manufacturing partner, from the F-35 program.

Due to Turkey’s removal from the F-35 program, U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin offered the jets originally slated to join Ankara’s arsenal to other customers.

Correction: Erdogan said Thursday that he told Biden to “not expect Turkey to take a different step on the F-35 and S-400 issues,” according to a report from Turkey’s state media. An earlier version misstated the day.

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Politics

Bipartisan Group of Senators Say They Reached Settlement on Infrastructure Plan

Bipartisan Group of Senators Say They Reached Agreement on Infrastructure Plan

But the bipartisan group of senators are part of a broader coalition of moderates who have quietly met since Mr. Biden took office, in an effort to explore avenues of compromise on a number of issues. Moderate Democrats in particular have been resistant to immediately bypassing the need for Republican votes on an infrastructure package, long seen as a particularly ripe area for a bipartisan agreement.

The five Republicans are Senators Rob Portman of Ohio, Mitt Romney of Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. The Democrats are key moderates: Senators Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, Mark Warner of Virginia, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Jon Tester of Montana.

“I think it’s important that there is this initiative, that again is a bipartisan initiative,” Ms. Murkowski said before the announcement. “What is happening now is as Republicans and Democrats, we are going out to folks within our respective conferences, talking about the contours of what we put together to see what that level of support might be.”

With razor-thin margins in both chambers, Democratic leaders have begun to quietly work on the legislation needed to use the fast-track budget reconciliation process, which would allow them to move a sweeping infrastructure package with a simple majority. But the maneuver would require near unanimity from the caucus and promises to be challenging, given the strict budgetary rules that govern the process.

“We either need to do it in a bipartisan fashion that gets 60 votes, which shows no sign of occurring given the substance of the ongoing bipartisan negotiations, or we need to be prepared to use the reconciliation process,” said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island and one of the most vocal proponents for the preservation of the climate provisions. “It’s got to happen.”

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, refused to comment on the details from the bipartisan group as he left the Capitol on Thursday, telling reporters, “We continue to proceed on two tracks — a bipartisan track and a reconciliation track — and both are moving forward.”

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Business

Fears for Bangladesh Garment Employees as Security Settlement Nears an Finish

Fears for Bangladesh Garment Workers as Safety Agreement Nears an End

“The Europeans are trying to entice the North American retailers toward contributing more to collective safety monitoring by watering down accountability,” Ms. Hajagos-Clausen said. “At one level, of course we want more brands to sign up — after all, the same factories produce for both American and European and other international brands. But all that’s happening here is a reduction in the credibility of the overall program, making it impossible to use the agreement as a possible blueprint for global coverage at a dangerous time for garment workers everywhere.”

Faruque Hassan, the president of the garment manufacturers association, did not respond to requests for comment. And while some Western brands like Asos have said publicly that they would support a legally binding agreement, most were not willing to comment while negotiations were going on. H&M, the Swedish retailer that was instrumental in the creation of the original accord, is also a leader of the current talks and remains “committed” according to Payal Jain, H&M’s head of sustainability global production.

Ms. Jain said H&M “strongly supported” a structure involving trade unions, employer organizations and the government, as well as clear accountability for brands, and increased fire and building safety capacity within the country.

“We are confident we can come to good solutions,” she added.

Bangladeshi factory workers, already dealing with pay cuts and late wages, will be counting on it. Garment exports, which account for 80 percent of Bangladesh’s annual export revenue, fell 17 percent in 2020. The country’s apparel sector was devastated as brands closed shops during the pandemic and canceled orders worth as much as $3.5 billion, leaving many factory owners facing ruin. The industry has seen a recovery, but the future remains uncertain — particularly with continuing lockdowns and virus outbreaks.

Owners of small and medium-size factories have long said they have been squeezed by the investments needed to meet safety standards. Now, their finances are suffering further as many global brands continue to drive order prices down in a tough trading environment. Brands have also asked the factories to undertake costly new Covid 19-related safety measures.

According to Mr. Posner, while improvements have unequivocally been made for worker safety in Bangladesh, the work is far from over. While the accord and alliance reached roughly 2,500 factories, it is well known by the industry that there are more than double that number of facilities, including subcontractors. A significant proportion of factories in Bangladesh remain unsafe.

“As the world starts to open up again and demand picks up further, no one in this equation can afford to take their eye off the ball,” Mr. Posner said. “The legacy of the accord is at stake.”

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Politics

Senators attain bipartisan settlement on $300 billion for highways, roads and bridges

Senators reach bipartisan agreement on $300 billion for highways, roads and bridges

Traffic flows through a construction area near the Bay Bridge in Annapolis, Maryland on May 21, 2021.

Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images

A group of Republican and Democratic senators unveiled a transportation package over the weekend that would increase funding for highways, roads and bridges as Congress searches for bipartisan paths to repair the nation’s infrastructure.

The legislation, released by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, would increase funding by 34% to a baseline of about $300 billion over five years. The previous authorization expired in 2020 and Congress passed a one-year extension which is up in September.

“Not only will this comprehensive, bipartisan legislation help us rebuild and repair America’s surface transportation system, but it will also help us build new transportation infrastructure,” the committee’s ranking member Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said in a press release Saturday.

The bipartisan proposal is backed by committee chair Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., as well as the chair and ranking members of the transportation subcommittee, Sens. Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Kevin Cramer, R-.N.D.

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House Republicans on Wednesday introduced their take on a reauthorization of the surface transportation funding program — a $400 billion bill directing funding to highways, bridges and transit systems.

The push on surface transportation comes as Washington struggles to strike a deal on a broader infrastructure package.

The White House on Friday trimmed its original $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan to $1.7 trillion in a counteroffer to Republican senators, who outlined their own $568 billion infrastructure proposal in April.

However, Moore Capito’s office said the White House proposal is still “well above the range” of what Republicans in Congress would support.

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Health

Tilray inventory rallies on pot distribution settlement with Develop Pharma

Tilray stock rallies on pot distribution agreement with Grow Pharma

Tilray shares rose 38.8% on Tuesday after the company signed an agreement with Grow Pharma to import and distribute its medical cannabis products in the UK.

Under the contract, Tilray will be able to make these products available to UK patients on prescriptions obtained through the country’s National Health Service or a general practitioner. The company expects these products to be available in the UK next month.

“This partnership with Grow Pharma provides patients in need with access to sustainable supplies of GMP-certified, high-quality medical cannabis and is an important step towards improving access in the UK,” said Brendan Kennedy, CEO of Tilray, in a statement.

Pierre van Weperen, CEO of Grow Pharma, also noted that the agreement will provide British patients with “safe and sustainable supply of the highest quality medical cannabis products”.

This deal is Tilray’s latest move to expand its market share in the cannabis space. In December, Tilray announced it would merge with Aphria in an all-stock deal to create the world’s largest cannabis company when the deal is closed.

Tilray shares were on fire this year, rising nearly 400% as demand for cannabis products grows in the US and around the world.

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Business

U.S. rejoins Paris local weather settlement

U.S. rejoins Paris climate agreement

President Joe Biden signs Executive Orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington upon his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States on January 20, 2021.

Tom Brenner | Reuters

President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday to reintroduce the US to the Paris Agreement. This is his first major global warming move as it brings in the largest team of climate change experts to ever come to the White House.

The Biden administration also plans to revoke approval for the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the United States and to sign additional contracts in the coming days to reverse several measures taken by former President Donald Trump to weaken the environment.

Biden pledges to act swiftly on climate change, and his inclusion of scientists across the government marks the beginning of a major political reversal after four years of the Trump administration weakening climate rules in favor of fossil fuel producers.

Almost every country in the world is part of the Paris Agreement, the non-binding agreement between nations to reduce their CO2 emissions. Trump withdrew the US from the deal in 2017.

Mitchell Bernard, President of the Defense Council for Natural Resources, said Biden’s order to re-join the deal makes the US part of the global solution to climate change rather than part of the problem.

“This is a quick and determined action,” Bernard said in a statement. “It creates the conditions for comprehensive measures to deal with the climate crisis, as long as there is still time to act.”

With a slim Democratic majority in the Senate, Biden could potentially achieve large chunks of his ambitious climate change agenda, including a $ 2 trillion economic plan to drive a clean energy transition, cut electricity sector carbon emissions by 2035, and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

During his first few months in office, Biden is expected to sign a wave of executive orders to combat climate change, including preserving 30% of American land and waters by 2030, protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from drilling, and restoring and enhancing the role of science in government decisions.

Some legal actions related to the climate will take longer, including the government’s plan to undo a number of Trump environmental setbacks related to clean air and water rules and emissions to warm the planet. The Trump administration reversed more than 100 environmental regulations in four years, according to research by Columbia Law School.

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“From Paris to Keystone to protecting gray wolves, these great first steps by President Biden show that he is serious about stopping the climate and extinction crises,” said Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biodiversity, in a statement. “These strong steps must be the start of a furious race to avert disaster.”

The next major UN climate summit will take place in Glasgow, Scotland, in November. The countries in the agreement will set updated emissions targets for the next decade.

The aim of the agreement is to keep the global temperature increase well below 2 degrees Celsius or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit compared to pre-industrial values. The earth will warm by 1.5 ° C in the next two decades.

Robert Schuwerk, executive director for North America at Carbon Tracker, said the resumption of the deal signals to global markets that the US will give priority to tackling climate change, but added that this is only part of what the government is doing must to reduce their emissions.

The USA is the second largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world after China. It is expected that an updated climate target and a concrete plan for reducing emissions from the electricity and energy sectors will be available.

“Re-entry is just a table,” said John Morton, President Barack Obama’s director of energy and climate on the National Security Council. “The hard work to get the country on track to net zero emissions by the middle of the century begins now.”