Following the dramatic events of Friday, which saw the Syrian government delegation quit the United Nations-led peace talks in Geneva, the UN's special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, released a statement later on that day to clarify how the talks were progressing.
Mr de Mistura's statement said that "over several rounds of talks, [he] periodically identified commonalities emerging from his separate consultations with the government and the opposition. These included 12 points of commonalities regarding the end-state of Syria.
"Since that time," the statement continues, "the Special Envoy has received valuable proposals regarding the content of the 12 points from the government and the opposition, and he and his team have consulted painstakingly and carefully on all material received.
"He has also received useful insights on principles during consultations with the Women’s Advisory Board and Syrian civil society through the Civil Society Support Room."
Mr de Mistura had thus "shared with the two delegations a document entitled 'Special Envoy’s 12 Living Intra-Syrian Essential Principles'. As he explained to the delegations, these seek to embody end-state commonalities.
"They seek to offer an enduring perspective on the vision of a future that can be shared by all Syrians, and do not address the question of how to realise the vision, which will continue to be developed in parallel with the four baskets.
"They are consistent with and reflect many of the end-state principles contained in Security Council resolution 2254 (2015) and can serve to inform the parallel discussions of the four baskets which remain the agenda of the talks," the statement added.
The document was presented to both delegations on Thursday, and Mr de Mistura "underscored that these remain living, and thus subject to further discussion, development, modification and updating ... to strengthen commonalities in negotiations.
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Read more:
Syrian government negotiator quits Geneva talks, says may not return
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"The Special Envoy has therefore requested the delegations to further reflect and offer their reactions on the living principles and to engage on baskets 2 (constitutional schedule and process) and 3 (elections) in talks next week."
As reported in The National, the Syrian government's chief negotiator Bashar Al Ja'afari had earlier said that "for us (this) round is over, as a government delegation. [Mr de Mistura] as mediator he can announce his own opinion.
"As long as the other side sticks to the language of Riyadh 2 ..., there will be no progress," Mr Ja'afari said, referring to the position of Syrian opposition delegates at a meeting in Riyadh last week that demanded president Bashar Al Assad be excluded from any transitional government.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
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Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
