The last remaining route for aid convoys into Syria could be shuttered within weeks, closing the door on a humanitarian lifeline for more than three million Syrians in the country’s rebel-held north-west.
The Bab Al Hawa checkpoint on the Turkey-Syria border is the last crossing with a UN mandate to let aid into the country -- and that mandate expires on July 10.
The US and others say the crossing should remain open and that the operation should be expanded.
But Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, says checkpoints are no longer needed and that aid should be managed from Damascus.
About 1,000 aid lorries pass through Bab Al Hawa each month. The UN’s aid chief Mark Lowcock and the heads of several other UN agencies say they are essential for providing assistance to 3.4 million Syrians, including 1 million children.
“A large-scale UN cross-border response for an additional 12 months remains essential to avert a humanitarian catastrophe,” Mr Lowcock and others said in a statement this week.
The UN first authorised cross-border aid operations into Syria in 2014 at four points – Bab Al Hawa between Turkey and Idlib, Bab Al Salam between Turkey and northern Syria, Al Ramtha near the Jordanian border and Al Yaroubia on the north-east frontier with Iraq.
Last year, the council cut that access down to only Bab Al Hawa due to opposition from Russia and China, veto-wielding members of the 15-nation Security Council.
The UN's top body is set to debate the crossings on Wednesday, the last public session on the issue before the mandate expires.
Russia says cross-border deliveries are no longer necessary and that aid should be overseen by Damascus, some of it passing across front lines with rebel forces.
Mr Lowcock says cross-line deliveries “could not replicate the size and scope of the cross-border operation".
“There is simply no alternative,” he wrote.
A resolution to extend approval of the cross-border aid operation needs nine votes in favour and no veto from any of the five permanent members – Russia, China, Britain, France and the US.
The US has pushed to further expand cross-border operations, while Russia has accused the US and Europe of politicising the humanitarian convoys.
US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed the crossings at their summit in Geneva on June 16, but reportedly failed to break the deadlock on the issue.
The north-western Idlib region, accessible via Bab Al Hawa, is the last remaining rebel stronghold against the government of Mr Al Assad, who has largely regained control of Syria after a decade of civil war that has left the country and its economy in ruins.
David Miliband, a former UK foreign minister and chief executive of the International Rescue Committee, called for more cross-border aid to assist the 13 million Syrians in need of support.
“Reaching all Syrians in need via the most direct routes is not a political choice; it is a humanitarian imperative,” Mr Miliband said.
“The humanitarian case is clear and indisputable. These stark humanitarian realities must drive Security Council action on Syria.”
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German plea
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the German parliament that. Russia had erected a new wall across Europe.
"It's not a Berlin Wall -- it is a Wall in central Europe between freedom and bondage and this Wall is growing bigger with every bomb" dropped on Ukraine, Zelenskyy told MPs.
Mr Zelenskyy was applauded by MPs in the Bundestag as he addressed Chancellor Olaf Scholz directly.
"Dear Mr Scholz, tear down this Wall," he said, evoking US President Ronald Reagan's 1987 appeal to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.
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Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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MORE ON THE US DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES
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The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
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