Abdelsalam Al Youssef, director of Teh displaced camp in northern Idlib, takes a selfie during a protest against the proposed closure of Bab Al Hawa crossing in Idlib, Syria. Reuters
Abdelsalam Al Youssef, director of Teh displaced camp in northern Idlib, takes a selfie during a protest against the proposed closure of Bab Al Hawa crossing in Idlib, Syria. Reuters
Abdelsalam Al Youssef, director of Teh displaced camp in northern Idlib, takes a selfie during a protest against the proposed closure of Bab Al Hawa crossing in Idlib, Syria. Reuters
Many things separate Idlib province from the rest of Syria. One of them is its ambulances, which are often painted the colour of mud or covered in camouflage netting to avoid attracting the attention of government jets trying to bomb them.
Idlib is the last rebel stronghold in the Syrian civil war. It is also the site of the last international humanitarian aid corridor into the country that isn’t connected to the government, in the town of Bab Al Hawa along the Turkish border.
The UN agreement that allows the corridor to operate, known as the Cross-Border Mechanism (CBM), originally included three others. But disagreements within the UN Security Council, which authorises the CBM, led to their closure.
Authorisation for the one at Bab Al Hawa is set to expire on July 10, and will not be renewed without positive votes from Russia and China, who appear unlikely to give them.
The Russian and Chinese position is rooted in geopolitics, but also the letter of the law. Generally speaking, the CBM is an illegal enterprise.
It was set up to allow UN aid to be channelled into areas of Syrian territory effectively outside the government’s control and without Damascus’s permission.
A 1991 UN General Assembly resolution prohibits the distribution of aid in this manner, in case humanitarian operations are used to undermine state sovereignty.
While Moscow and Beijing initially allowed the CBM to be created under the exceptional circumstances of the Syrian war’s early days, they now say it is time to return to international norms and send aid exclusively through Damascus.
But it was the Syrian regime’s breach of such norms, which include the right of civilians to receive humanitarian assistance unobstructed, that gave birth to the CBM in the first place, and Damascus has done nothing to inspire global confidence.
The regime continues to delay, refuse or obstruct much of whatever aid does pass through its fingertips.
Relief funds destined for the people of Idlib, who are portrayed by the regime as traitors, will not fare any better.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the UN, examines aid during a visit to the Bab Al Hawa border crossing between Turkey and Syria on June 3. AP
At the same time, Bab Al Hawa is no model of UN principles in action.
Its border post is overseen by a nominally civilian administration known to be controlled by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, which is affiliated to Al Qaeda.
HTS frequently withholds UN aid as leverage over the local civilian population and operates a profitable smuggling business with the help of corrupt Turkish officials.
Its tyranny and the UN’s inability to ensure transparency lend weight to the Russian and Chinese argument, even if the proposed alternative is flawed.
A better solution would be to bring more order and transparency to the CBM until the broader situation in Syria is more stable.
Monitoring and verification systems that track aid from donor to recipient would be a start.
This would be easier if control over aid delivery were directly in the hands of the UN, which lacks a solid presence in Idlib, and the Red Cross, rather than local groups.
That would require the Turkish government, which exerts wide influence in Syria’s north-west, to lean on these groups.
At the same time, a joint monitoring mechanism that includes representatives from regional governments and world powers would instil confidence that the system works.
And if it did, such a system could be used to verify regime-controlled aid routes if and when UN assistance is eventually channelled entirely through Damascus.
Whatever transpires in the Security Council next month, Bab Al Hawa will not be the last border town of its kind.
The world will have no shortage of complex conflicts and situations that must be navigated on the ground to bring relief to suffering citizens.
A system to ensure that this is done effectively, and transparently, would help aid dollars to get where they need to go.
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Position: Left Wing
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Name: Mohammed Bouherrafa (Almeria)
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Name: Mohammed Rajeh (Cadiz)
Position: Striker
Nationality: Jordanian
U16 Age Group
Name: Mehdi Elkhamlichi (Malaga)
Position: Lead Striker
Nationality: Morocco
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Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
Going grey? A stylist's advice
If you’re going to go grey, a great style, well-cared for hair (in a sleek, classy style, like a bob), and a young spirit and attitude go a long way, says Maria Dowling, founder of the Maria Dowling Salon in Dubai.
It’s easier to go grey from a lighter colour, so you may want to do that first. And this is the time to try a shorter style, she advises. Then a stylist can introduce highlights, start lightening up the roots, and let it fade out. Once it’s entirely grey, a purple shampoo will prevent yellowing.
“Get professional help – there’s no other way to go around it,” she says. “And don’t just let it grow out because that looks really bad. Put effort into it: properly condition, straighten, get regular trims, make sure it’s glossy.”
