Britain moved Tuesday to close a gap in the regime banning use of chemicals weapons by giving the international watchdog the power to name states it believed were responsible for the illegal attacks.
A British-led proposal – backed by countries including Germany, France and the United States – wants to bolster the role of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) amid a rise in the use of weapons in Syria and worldwide.
Britain pushed for expanded powers for the OPCW following a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy on UK territory in March, which resulted in a tit-for-tat series of diplomatic expulsions by the two sides and their allies.
“We now owe a duty to the world to seize the opportunity that this meeting provides to uphold and strengthen that ban, so that chemical weapons are truly banished to the past,” said the UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in a statement.
The meeting comes as the organisation prepares a report on an April alleged poison attack on Douma, near Damascus, Syria, that killed dozens and triggered air strikes by the United States, France and Britain.
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Russia warns against beefing up chemical watchdog
Britain calls for meeting to strengthen resolve against chemical weapons
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Western governments have blamed Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and his backers, Russia, of using chemical weapons and protracting the dispute. Both countries deny using chemical weapons.
The OPCW, which oversees a 1997 treaty banning the use of toxins as weapons, has the technical expertise to assess what chemical weapons were used but currently does not have the powers to apportion blame.
A joint UN-OPCW team, known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism, previously held the responsibility of trying to identify those behind chemical weapons attacks in Syria. It concluded that Syrian government troops had used the nerve agent sarin and chlorine bombs.
But the body was disbanded last year after Russia used its veto power on the UN Security Council to refuse to extend its mandate.
"The widespread use of chemical weapons by Syria in particular threatens to undermine the treaty and the OPCW,” Gregory Koblentz, a non-proliferation expert at George Mason University in the United States, told Reuters.
The special meeting called to discuss bolstering the OPCW’s powers was delayed after Russian, Iranian and Syrian representatives raised a series of procedural points on Tuesday morning.
“One delegation has made it quite clear… they intend to dispute everything,” said Kenneth Ward, the US ambassador to the OPCW, during heated exchanges between the rival blocs.
Russian representative Alexander Shulgin denied it was using “procedural tricks” to hold up the debate on expanding the powers of OPCW – a move it opposes.
“We’re not trying here to be a stumbling block,” he said. “Before we cross the Rubicon, we want to understand where the stepping stones are.”
Despite the Russian filibustering, the UK-led intervention will see a vote on Wednesday involving more than 140 nations attending the special session in The Hague, Netherlands.
If the UK is successful in persuading more than two-thirds of nations to back the measures, it would thrust the 20-year-old OPCW to the centre of the dispute between western powers and Russia over the use of chemical weapons.
It comes after relations between the UK and Moscow fell to their lowest level for years following the attempted murder Russian former double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury in southern England.
While the weapons have been used most commonly in Syria, they have also been used since 2012 in Iraq and Malaysia, where the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was assassinated with VX nerve agent.
Factfile on Garbine Muguruza:
Name: Garbine Muguruza (ESP)
World ranking: 15 (will rise to 5 on Monday)
Date of birth: October 8, 1993
Place of birth: Caracas, Venezuela
Place of residence: Geneva, Switzerland
Height: 6ft (1.82m)
Career singles titles: 4
Grand Slam titles: 2 (French Open 2016, Wimbledon 2017)
Career prize money: $13,928,719
Buy farm-fresh food
The UAE is stepping up its game when it comes to platforms for local farms to show off and sell their produce.
In Dubai, visit Emirati Farmers Souq at The Pointe every Saturday from 8am to 2pm, which has produce from Al Ammar Farm, Omar Al Katri Farm, Hikarivege Vegetables, Rashed Farms and Al Khaleej Honey Trading, among others.
In Sharjah, the Aljada residential community will launch a new outdoor farmers’ market every Friday starting this weekend. Manbat will be held from 3pm to 8pm, and will host 30 farmers, local home-grown entrepreneurs and food stalls from the teams behind Badia Farms; Emirates Hydroponics Farms; Modern Organic Farm; Revolution Real; Astraea Farms; and Al Khaleej Food.
In Abu Dhabi, order farm produce from Food Crowd, an online grocery platform that supplies fresh and organic ingredients directly from farms such as Emirates Bio Farm, TFC, Armela Farms and mother company Al Dahra.
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
The specs
Price: From Dh529,000
Engine: 5-litre V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 520hp
Torque: 625Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.8L/100km
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
PRISCILLA
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How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
India Test squad
Virat Kohli (c), Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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