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The Arab Ministerial Contact Committee on Syria offered to support the country in its transition from more than 50 years of Assad family rule and outlined their vision for a political process that would meet the aspirations of all Syrians.
In a statement issued following its meeting in Jordan's port city of Aqaba on Saturday, the committee stressed the need for an inclusive national dialogue and for Syrians to unite in building a free, safe, stable and unified country.
The full text of the statement is as follows:
At the invitation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Foreign Ministers of the member states of the Arab Ministerial Contact Committee on Syria, formed under Resolution No 8914 issued by the extraordinary session of the Council of the League of Arab States at the ministerial level, met today, Saturday, in the city of Aqaba, namely the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Republic of Iraq, the Lebanese Republic, the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the Secretary General of the League of Arab States, with the participation of the Foreign Ministers of the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the current President of the Arab Summit, and the State of Qatar.
The attendees discussed the developments that Syria has witnessed over the past weeks.
The attendees stressed:
1. Standing by the brotherly Syrian people, providing them with all aid and support at this critical stage, and respecting their will and choices.
2. Supporting a peaceful, inclusive Syrian political transitional process, in which all Syrian political and social forces are represented, including women, youth and civil society, with justice, sponsored by the United Nations and the Arab League, and following the principles, objectives and mechanisms of Security Council Resolution No 2254, including the formation of an inclusive transitional governing body with Syrian consensus, and beginning to implement the steps specified in the resolution to move from the transitional phase to a new political system that meets the aspirations of the Syrian people with all its components, through free and fair elections supervised by the United Nations, based on a new constitution approved by the Syrians, and within specific timeframes in accordance with the mechanisms adopted by the resolution.
3. Supporting the role of the UN envoy to Syria and requesting the UN Secretary General to provide him with all necessary capabilities and begin work on establishing a UN mission to assist Syria in sponsoring the transitional process and assisting the brotherly Syrian people in achieving a political process led by the Syrians in accordance with Resolution 2254.
4. This delicate stage requires a comprehensive national dialogue and the solidarity of the Syrian people with all its components, spectrums, and political and social forces to build a free, secure, stable and unified Syria that the Syrian people deserve after long years of suffering and sacrifices.
5. The necessity of an immediate cessation of all military operations.
6. The necessity of respecting the rights of the Syrian people with all its components, without any discrimination based on race, sect, or religion, and ensuring justice and equality for all citizens.
7. The necessity of preserving the institutions of the Syrian state and enhancing their ability to carry out their roles in serving the Syrian people, protecting Syria from slipping into chaos, and working immediately to empower a police force to protect citizens, their property, and the capabilities of the Syrian state.
8. Commitment to enhance efforts to combat terrorism and co-operation in combating it because it poses a threat to Syria and to the security of the region and the world, and its defeat is a collective priority.
9. Absolute solidarity with the Syrian Arab Republic in protecting its unity, territorial integrity, sovereignty, security, stability and the safety of its citizens.
10. Providing the humanitarian support needed by the Syrian people, including through co-operation with the relevant United Nations organisations.
11. Preparing the security, living and political conditions for the voluntary return of Syrian refugees to their homeland and providing all necessary assistance for this, in co-operation with the relevant United Nations organisations.
12. Achieving national reconciliation and the principles of transitional justice in accordance with legal and humanitarian standards and without retaliation, and stopping the bloodshed of the brotherly Syrian people who deserve to end their suffering.
13. Condemning the incursion of the Zionist entity into the buffer zone with Syria and the chain of sites adjacent to it in Mount Hermon and the governorates of Quneitra and Rif Dimashq, and rejecting it as a brutal occupation and violation of international law and the disengagement agreement concluded between Syria and the Zionist entity in 1974, and demanding the withdrawal of the Zionist forces, and condemning the Zionist raids on other areas and facilities in Syria, and stressing that the Golan Heights is an occupied Arab Syrian land whose occupation must end, and demanding the Security Council to take the necessary measures to stop these violations.
14. The security and stability of Syria is a pillar of security and stability in the region, and we will stand with its brotherly people in the process of rebuilding it as a unified, independent, stable and safe Arab state for all its citizens, in which there is no place for terrorism or extremism and no violation of its sovereignty or aggression on the unity of its territories from any party.
15. Dealing with the new reality in Syria will be based on the extent of its consistency with the principles and foundations above, and in a manner that ensures achieving the common goal of meeting the rights and aspirations of the Syrian people.
16. Co-ordinating with the rest of the Arab countries to hold a meeting of the League Council to submit the committee’s report on this meeting to it.
17. Communicating with partners in the international community to formulate a comprehensive position that supports Syria in its efforts to build the future that the brotherly Syrian people deserve, in a manner consistent with the principles agreed upon above, and in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions.
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.
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Pre-school (three - five years)
You can’t yet talk about investing or borrowing, but introduce a “classic” money bank and start putting gifts and allowances away. When the child wants a specific toy, have them save for it and help them track their progress.
Early childhood (six - eight years)
Replace the money bank with three jars labelled ‘saving’, ‘spending’ and ‘sharing’. Have the child divide their allowance into the three jars each week and explain their choices in splitting their pocket money. A guide could be 25 per cent saving, 50 per cent spending, 25 per cent for charity and gift-giving.
Middle childhood (nine - 11 years)
Open a bank savings account and help your child establish a budget and set a savings goal. Introduce the notion of ‘paying yourself first’ by putting away savings as soon as your allowance is paid.
Young teens (12 - 14 years)
Change your child’s allowance from weekly to monthly and help them pinpoint long-range goals such as a trip, so they can start longer-term saving and find new ways to increase their saving.
Teenage (15 - 18 years)
Discuss mutual expectations about university costs and identify what they can help fund and set goals. Don’t pay for everything, so they can experience the pride of contributing.
Young adulthood (19 - 22 years)
Discuss post-graduation plans and future life goals, quantify expenses such as first apartment, work wardrobe, holidays and help them continue to save towards these goals.
* JP Morgan Private Bank
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
The struggle is on for active managers
David Einhorn closed out 2018 with his biggest annual loss ever for the 22-year-old Greenlight Capital.
The firm’s main hedge fund fell 9 per cent in December, extending this year’s decline to 34 percent, according to an investor update viewed by Bloomberg.
Greenlight posted some of the industry’s best returns in its early years, but has stumbled since losing more than 20 per cent in 2015.
Other value-investing managers have also struggled, as a decade of historically low interest rates and the rise of passive investing and quant trading pushed growth stocks past their inexpensive brethren. Three Bays Capital and SPO Partners & Co., which sought to make wagers on undervalued stocks, closed in 2018. Mr Einhorn has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the poor performance this year, while remaining steadfast in his commitment to value investing.
Greenlight, which posted gains only in May and October, underperformed both the broader market and its peers in 2018. The S&P 500 Index dropped 4.4 per cent, including dividends, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, an early indicator of industry performance, fell 7 per cent through December. 28.
At the start of the year, Greenlight managed $6.3 billion in assets, according to a regulatory filing. By May, the firm was down to $5.5bn.
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