Acclaimed filmmaker M Night Shyamalan is known for his ability to craft stories – and on the sidelines of this week's pivotal Nato summit, he came to Washington in a bid to convince Congress to pay more attention to Syria.
“It is a fascinating discrepancy, the energy around Ukraine versus the energy around Syria, when they're almost identical situations with identical perpetrators,” Shyamalan said on Capitol Hill.
Speaking alongside his wife Bhavna Shyamalan, a psychologist and cofounder of the M Night Shyamalan Foundation, the couple spoke to The National after a hearing with the congressional Helsinki Commission on Russia's mirrored influences in both Syria and Ukraine.
Shyamalan testified alongside Syrian Emergency Task Force executive director Mouaz Moustafa and the Syrian-American civil society leader Mohammed Alaa Ghanem.
The Shyamalan Foundation supports Mr Moustafa and his work with SETF, and the Shyamalans have also brought their children into north-west Syria for visits alongside the Washington-based organisation.
World leaders have descended on the US capital city this week, rallying Nato support for Ukraine's defence against the Russian invasion.
For the Shyamalans and the Syrian advocates they joined in Congress on Wednesday, the Syrian plight, and Moscow's defining role in it, must also be addressed.
“The prejudice that we feel in the United States about countries that are not white versus countries that are white, and oh my gosh, the white ones are 'us' and the brown ones are 'oh, they're troubled over there,'” Mr Shyamalan said.
“That's deep in our genetics of how we react. But those things hopefully will change, and that's partly why we were here, to say it's the same. It's the same.”
Russia has played a decisive role in the Syrian conflict since 2015, providing air power to Syrian and Iranian-backed ground forces that has propped up President Bashar Al Assad’s territorial control and solidified the regime’s hold on power.
Mr Ghanem told the committee: “Russia got away with it all. A lesson that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin noted and replicated again in Ukraine.”
The hearing unfolded at the same time that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy worked his way through Capitol Hill in a bid to solidify congressional support – after US President Joe Biden announced a “historic donation” of long-range air defence systems to Kyiv.
Mr Moustafa added that “it's incredibly important that this hearing is happening on the sidelines of the Nato summit”.
“Because Ukraine wouldn't be where it is today if we had done something about Russia and Syria, and we can still do something about Russia in Syria and Ukraine,” he told The National.
Ms Shyamalan said that her husband was trying to portray to congressional leaders “the very human side” of the continuing conflict in Syria, and the hearing largely touched on the refugee crisis the conflict has created.
According to a 2023 UN report, the war in Syria has killed 230,224 civilians, including 15,272 who died due to torture, in addition to the arbitrary arrest/enforced disappearance of 154,817 others.
An estimated 14 million citizens have been displaced, and Mr Ghanaam argued that Russia is deeply implicated, with Europe grappling with the effects today.
“Russia dropped tens of thousands of tonnes of munitions on residential areas in Syria … Now, after they left, Putin realises that there is a great potential for using these massive refugee flows, to destabilise domestic European politics, especially with fuelling the rise of the far right,” he said.
Ms Shyamalan emphasised: “There's no bigger human rights issue right now, other than all of the killing that's happening in Syria from Assad.
“It's hard to know if there's going to be movement forward, but it was really hopeful to see both sides come together in this bipartisan way.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
'Shakuntala Devi'
Starring: Vidya Balan, Sanya Malhotra
Director: Anu Menon
Rating: Three out of five stars
Cracks in the Wall
Ben White, Pluto Press
Aston martin DBX specs
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 542bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Top speed: 291kph
Price: Dh848,000
On sale: Q2, 2020
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
How it works
A $10 hand-powered LED light and battery bank
Device is operated by hand cranking it at any time during the day or night
The charge is stored inside a battery
The ratio is that for every minute you crank, it provides 10 minutes light on the brightest mode
A full hand wound charge is of 16.5minutes
This gives 1.1 hours of light on high mode or 2.5 hours of light on low mode
When more light is needed, it can be recharged by winding again
The larger version costs between $18-20 and generates more than 15 hours of light with a 45-minute charge
No limit on how many times you can charge
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
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The five pillars of Islam
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
UAE squad
Esha Oza (captain), Al Maseera Jahangir, Emily Thomas, Heena Hotchandani, Indhuja Nandakumar, Katie Thompson, Lavanya Keny, Mehak Thakur, Michelle Botha, Rinitha Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Siya Gokhale, Sashikala Silva, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish (wicketkeeper) Udeni Kuruppuarachchige, Vaishnave Mahesh.
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – First ODI
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
The biog
Alwyn Stephen says much of his success is a result of taking an educated chance on business decisions.
His advice to anyone starting out in business is to have no fear as life is about taking on challenges.
“If you have the ambition and dream of something, follow that dream, be positive, determined and set goals.
"Nothing and no-one can stop you from succeeding with the right work application, and a little bit of luck along the way.”
Mr Stephen sells his luxury fragrances at selected perfumeries around the UAE, including the House of Niche Boutique in Al Seef.
He relaxes by spending time with his family at home, and enjoying his wife’s India cooking.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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