inothernews:

From the New York Times:

Barely 20 miles from the national capital, this gritty suburb is now a dusty, chaotic industrial center littered with factories that produce clothes for leading Western brands. Building codes are often unenforced, regulatory oversight is flimsy and the men wielding power often travel with armed guards.

And perhaps no one wielded power more brazenly than Sohel Rana. He traveled by motorcycle, as untouchable as a mafia don, trailed by his own biker gang. Local officials and the Bangladeshi news media say he was involved in illegal drugs and guns, but he also had a building, Rana Plaza, that housed five factories.

Upstairs, workers earned as little as $40 a month making clothes for retailers like J. C. Penney. Downstairs, Mr. Rana hosted local politicians, playing pool, drinking and, the officials say, indulging in drugs.

Now Mr. Rana, 35, is under arrest, the most reviled man in Bangladesh after the horrific collapse of Rana Plaza last week left nearly 400 people dead, with many others still missing. On Tuesday, a top Bangladeshi court seized his assets, as the public bayed for his execution, especially as it appears that the tragedy could have been averted if the frantic warnings of an engineer who examined the building the day before had been heeded.

But if Mr. Rana has been vilified, he is partly a creation of the garment era in Bangladesh, during which global businesses have arrived in search of cheap labor to keep profits high and costs low. Directly or indirectly, international brands are now sometimes interlinked with men like Mr. Rana, and placed at risk by them.

Global apparel companies often depict their international supply chains as tightly scrutinized systems to ensure that clothing sold to American buyers is produced in safe, monitored factories. Yet their inspectors usually check safety factors and working conditions, but not the soundness of the buildings themselves, and the companies often have little control over the subcontractors who do much of the work.

(Photo of Sohel Rana, in handcuffs and protected with a police helmet, by Strdel / AFP / Getty Images via the Times)

yesscotland:

Scotland can afford to be a fairer, more prosperous nation. If Holyrood had full powers over all policy areas then we would have the opportunity to change things to better reflect the values of the people of Scotland. Westminster isn’t working for Scotland.

More: http://scoty.es/17YXgqC

guardian:

Masked policemen take cover behind shields during clashes at a May Day demonstration in Istanbul. 

Pagan rituals and global protests brought to you by the Guardian’s award-winning picture team, rounding up the most eye-catching images of the day

Photograph: Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images

(via dirtyshovelflowerfarm)

theatlantic:

How to Follow Today’s Supreme Court Prop 8 Hearing, Voraciously

No more politicians switching sides. No more talk of what the polls mean. The long awaited gay marriage arguments at the Supreme Court have arrived, and the stakes are high for the most important civil rights cases before the nation’s highest court in years. Here’s a guide to keeping track of the proceedings, beginning with today’s oral arguments on Hollingsworth v. Perry (aka Proposition 8) with expectations high and low, conclusions fast and slow, on social media and by way of a drinking game — with coffee, but still.

Read more. [Image: Reuters]

haaretz:

The Israeli calf that started a mass tattoo movement: In the past few months, Calf 269 has become known far and wide. Hundreds of people around the world are tattooing the animal’s ID number on their body, and ten of them have branded the number on their skin with white-hot steel ‏(as is done to calves‏ destined for the meat industry). Unexpectedly, the 269life movement, established originally by activists in Israel to generate identification with an individual animal in the faceless food industry, has become one of the most-talked about and viral animal-rights groups in the world. Read more.