US ambassadors to the UN and Turkey, Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Jeff Flake visit the only point of passage allowed for UN relief supplies to reach Idlib. AFP
US ambassadors to the UN and Turkey, Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Jeff Flake visit the only point of passage allowed for UN relief supplies to reach Idlib. AFP
US ambassadors to the UN and Turkey, Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Jeff Flake visit the only point of passage allowed for UN relief supplies to reach Idlib. AFP
US ambassadors to the UN and Turkey, Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Jeff Flake visit the only point of passage allowed for UN relief supplies to reach Idlib. AFP

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US pledges $756 million in aid as Syria battles cholera

The assistance comes as the UN warns the country could ‘return to large scale combat’

The National

September 14, 2022

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The US has pledged $756 million in humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people, US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the UN Security Council.

The extra funding will help partners “provide clean water, food, hygiene and relief supplies, shelter, protection services, and critical health and nutrition assistance", read a statement from the US mission.

The announcement comes amid a cholera outbreak that has killed at least seven and the UN fears it could spread from Aleppo in the north to all 14 provinces.

About 13 million Syrians, which is more than half of the country’s population, are currently displaced.

Of those, 6.8 million have fled beyond the country’s borders and are now refugees.

According to the UN, the civil war, which has ravaged the country for more than a decade, is at risk of flaring up again.

"Syria cannot afford a return to larger-scale fighting, but that is where it may be heading," said Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, chair of the UN's Syria commission.

The US announced in May it would send $800m to Syria to “supporting the future of Syria and the region".

Since the start of the Syrian civil war 11 years ago, the US government has been the single biggest donor of humanitarian aid providing over $15 billion in assistance.

Syria's soaring temperatures – in pictures

  • Children play in a makeshift pool in the back of a pick-up truck as the temperature soars, at a camp for the internally displaced in Idlib, north-western Syria. All photos: AFP
    Children play in a makeshift pool in the back of a pick-up truck as the temperature soars, at a camp for the internally displaced in Idlib, north-western Syria. All photos: AFP
  • Volunteers spray water for the children to cool down.
    Volunteers spray water for the children to cool down.
  • A woman cools down her tent with water amid soaring temperatures in a camp near Syria's Bab Al Hawa border area with Turkey.
    A woman cools down her tent with water amid soaring temperatures in a camp near Syria's Bab Al Hawa border area with Turkey.
  • Volunteers provide ice for internally displaced people at the camp in Killi in rebel-held Idlib, Syria.
    Volunteers provide ice for internally displaced people at the camp in Killi in rebel-held Idlib, Syria.
  • Children play in a makeshift pool in the back of a pick-up truck in Killi, where the temperature has regularly exceeded 40°C in the past few days.
    Children play in a makeshift pool in the back of a pick-up truck in Killi, where the temperature has regularly exceeded 40°C in the past few days.
  • The sun beats down on the camp in Killi.
    The sun beats down on the camp in Killi.
  • An inventive method for keeping cool.
    An inventive method for keeping cool.
  • Many in Idlib province will be delighted to know that cooler temperatures are forecast for the week ahead, with highs of about 33°C. Nights will remain warm with lows of 21°C.
    Many in Idlib province will be delighted to know that cooler temperatures are forecast for the week ahead, with highs of about 33°C. Nights will remain warm with lows of 21°C.

Reuters contributed to this report

Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten

Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a  month before Reaching the Last Mile.

Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

 

The Bio

Name: Lynn Davison

Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi

Children: She has one son, Casey, 28

Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK

Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Favourite Author: CJ Sansom

Favourite holiday destination: Bali

Favourite food: A Sunday roast

Five famous companies founded by teens

There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:

  1. Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate. 
  2. Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc. 
  3. Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway. 
  4. Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
  5. Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
The bio

Job: Coder, website designer and chief executive, Trinet solutions

School: Year 8 pupil at Elite English School in Abu Hail, Deira

Role Models: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk

Dream City: San Francisco

Hometown: Dubai

City of birth: Thiruvilla, Kerala

Results

6.30pm Madjani Stakes Rated Conditions (PA) I Dh160,000 I 1,900m I Winner: Mawahib, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)

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10pm Handicap I Dh160,000 I 1,600m I Winner Sea Skimmer, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi

On Women's Day
Updated: September 14, 2022, 4:29 PM
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