The mostly Kurdish militia that controls large parts of eastern Syria is seeking to resurrect an integration deal with Damascus following moves by the US, its main backer, to bolster the authority of the new central government established by the former rebel group Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS).
The March 10 agreement faltered after the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the US-backed militia, convened a conference of Kurdish political groups in April that demanded that Syria be governed under a federal system. However, the SDF's position has been undermined by the recent Turkish and Saudi-brokered rapprochement between Washington and the HTS-led government in Damascus.
Syrian authorities and the Kurdish-led force exchanged more than 400 prisoners on Monday in an effort to "reduce tensions on the ground", said the deputy governor of Aleppo province, Mulham Al Akidi.
The SDF-dominated administration in the east "supports Syria’s unity and sovereignty", a Kurdish delegation said in a statement issued after a meeting with Syrian officials in Damascus on Sunday. The statement said that there would be another round of talks soon, but it did not specify a date.
The statement made no reference to the future of the SDF, which seeks to remain a separate unit rather than being absorbed into the new Syrian armed forces of the Damascus government. The secular SDF is the second-most powerful faction in Syria, after HTS, the religious armed group that led the rebel offensive that toppled former dictator Bashar Al Assad in December. Syria's President Ahmad Al Shara is also the leader of HTS.
Restoring control of the east to the central authorities would further strengthen Mr Al Shara, whose international acceptance as Syria's new leader received a major boost after his meeting with US President Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia last month.
The US special envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack, a close Trump ally who also serves as the US ambassador to Turkey, met Mr Al Shara in Damascus last week and announced that Washington would lift Syria's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. He said the US would "give this young government a chance by not interfering, not demanding, by not giving conditions".
The Kurdish delegation said they also discussed the thorny issue of returning displaced people to the east during the talks on Sunday. Many among the three million population of the area were forcibly displaced after Kurdish militias who were forerunners of the SDF captured the area from the Assad regime starting in 2012, the year after the start of an uprising against the former president.
The Kurdish militias expelled thousands of Arab families but many Kurds were also forced to leave after Turkey carved out a zone of control in the area in 2018.
The two sides agreed to explore "mechanisms to facilitate the return of displaced persons to their areas and addressing the obstacles hindering this return". They also agreed to reactivate an agreement for Damascus security forces to enter a mostly Kurdish neighbourhood in the northern city of Aleppo, the Kurdish delegation said.
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Match info
Deccan Gladiators 87-8
Asif Khan 25, Dwayne Bravo 2-16
Maratha Arabians 89-2
Chadwick Walton 51 not out
Arabians won the final by eight wickets
Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
Inside%20Out%202
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EKelsey%20Mann%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%C2%A0Amy%20Poehler%2C%20Maya%20Hawke%2C%20Ayo%20Edebiri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
More from UAE Human Development Report:
