BEIRUT // ISIL no longer has a presence in Syria’s Aleppo province after withdrawing from a series of villages where regime forces were advancing.
“ISIL withdrew from 17 towns and villages and is now effectively outside of Aleppo province after having a presence there for four years,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the UK-based war monitoring service, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Regime forces had been advancing on a sliver of southeastern Aleppo province around a key motorway linking Hama province to the south-west and Raqqa province further east. But Syrian government forces seized control of the road late on Thursday night, prompting the remaining ISIL fighters to flee. A Syrian military source in rural Aleppo confirmed the withdrawal, saying the Syrian army was “ clearing out the last few metres.” .
Since early 2015, multi-front offensives have eaten away at territory ISIL held in Aleppo province. US-backed Kurdish and allied Arab fighters drove the extremists out of Kobane on the Turkish border in 2015 and from the key city of Manbij last year. Rebel fighters backed by Turkey seized the town of Al Bab in February and Syrian government troops have steadily chipped away at ISIL-held towns in the south of the province.
In neighbouring Raqqa province, a US-backed offensive is bearing down on the provincial capital of the same name, which has served as the jihadists’ so-called capital in Syria.. However, the Syrian Observatory said ISIL recaptured an eastern district of Raqqa on Friday. The day before, dozens of militants disguised in SDF uniforms launched an attack on Al-Senaa from the city centre, carrying out three suicide car bomb attacks and overrunning six SDF positions.
By Friday, the SDF and its allies withdrew from Al-Senaa to the adjacent neighbourhood of Al-Meshleb.
“IS fully retook Al Senaa, which was the most important neighbourhood taken by the Syrian Democratic Forces,” Mr Rahman said.
The densely built-up neighbourhood was the closest that the SDF and allied Arab fighters known as the Elite Forces had come to the city centre.
In Geneva, the United Nations refugee agency on Friday said nearly half a million displaced Syrians have returned to their homes since the beginning of the year. Since January, about 440,000 people displaced by the war have returned mainly in Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Damascus. About 31,000 refugees in neighbouring countries had also returned, the UNHCR said, bringing to 260,000 the number of refugees who have returned to the country since 2015. But the numbers constitute “a fraction” of the five million Syrian refugees in the region.
A UNHCR spokesman said the main reasons for returning were “seeking out family members, checking on property, and, in some cases, a real or perceived improvement in security conditions in parts of the country.”
Though the UNHCR believes conditions for refugees to return in safety and dignity are not yet in place, the agency has begun scaling up ts operations inside Syria to better be able address the needs of the returnees.
* Agence France-Presse
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
How Filipinos in the UAE invest
A recent survey of 10,000 Filipino expatriates in the UAE found that 82 per cent have plans to invest, primarily in property. This is significantly higher than the 2014 poll showing only two out of 10 Filipinos planned to invest.
Fifty-five percent said they plan to invest in property, according to the poll conducted by the New Perspective Media Group, organiser of the Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition. Acquiring a franchised business or starting up a small business was preferred by 25 per cent and 15 per cent said they will invest in mutual funds. The rest said they are keen to invest in insurance (3 per cent) and gold (2 per cent).
Of the 5,500 respondents who preferred property as their primary investment, 54 per cent said they plan to make the purchase within the next year. Manila was the top location, preferred by 53 per cent.
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Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
The view from The National
