The UN Security Council adopted a resolution on Monday requiring the Taliban to honour their commitment to let people freely leave Afghanistan, but the measure did not mention a "safe zone" as brought up by French President Emmanuel Macron.
The resolution offered by France, the UK and the US says that the Taliban pledges Afghans will be able to travel abroad and leave the country by air or ground, “including at the reopened and secured Kabul airport, with no one preventing them from travelling.”
The vote was 13 in favour, with Russia and China abstaining.
The council also called for “strengthened efforts” to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and to allow for “full, safe, and unhindered access for the United Nations” and its agencies.
The resolution also "reaffirms the importance" of upholding human rights, including those of children, women and minorities, and encourages all parties to seek an inclusive, negotiated political settlement with the "full, equal and meaningful representation of women".
The text also calls for Afghanistan to "not be used to threaten or attack any country or to shelter or train terrorists, or to plan or to finance terrorist acts".
Although it was unclear how the international community will ensure safe passage through the airport without an international force, diplomats said that tools such as sanctions were available to coax the Taliban into action.
Officials from Turkey and Qatar have acknowledged discussions for them to take over operations at the airport.
Mr Macron raised hopes of more concrete proposals in comments published in the weekly Journal du Dimanche at the weekend.
He said Paris and London would present a draft resolution that would define a safe zone in Kabul where humanitarian operations could continue under UN control.
But the UN resolution on the table is far less ambitious. It is not clear whether another resolution proposing a safe zone will be circulated later.
"This resolution is not an operational aspect. It's much more on principles, key political messages and warnings," a UN diplomat said.
UN diplomats said compromises had to be made to accommodate concerns voiced over the weekend by Russia and China, which have veto power in the Security Council.
"This is a pretty thin text," Richard Gowan, UN expert at the International Crisis Group, told AFP.
"Macron was guilty of overselling the idea of a safe zone at Kabul airport this weekend, or at least not communicating very clearly.
"The resolution does at least send a political signal to the Taliban about the need to keep the airport open and help the UN deliver aid."
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was expected to meet ambassadors from the permanent Security Council members – France, the UK, US, China and Russia – on Monday evening.
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
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.
Maestro
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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
Landfill in numbers
• Landfill gas is composed of 50 per cent methane
• Methane is 28 times more harmful than Co2 in terms of global warming
• 11 million total tonnes of waste are being generated annually in Abu Dhabi
• 18,000 tonnes per year of hazardous and medical waste is produced in Abu Dhabi emirate per year
• 20,000 litres of cooking oil produced in Abu Dhabi’s cafeterias and restaurants every day is thrown away
• 50 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s waste is from construction and demolition
THE DETAILS
Kaala
Dir: Pa. Ranjith
Starring: Rajinikanth, Huma Qureshi, Easwari Rao, Nana Patekar
Rating: 1.5/5
Specs
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5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,200m
Winner: Shafaf, Sam Hitchcott (jockey), Ahmed Al Mehairbi (trainer)
5,30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,200m
Winner: Noof KB, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
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Winner: Rmmas, Tadhg O’Shea, Jean de Roualle
7pm: Arabian Triple Crown Listed (PA) Dh230,000 1,600m
Winner: Ihtesham, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner: AF Mekhbat, Antonio Fresu, Ernst Oertel
