Follow the latest news on the earthquake in Turkey and Syria
As Syrians continue to comb through the rubble from last week's earthquake with little international support, Washington's decision to temporarily ease sanctions against Damascus has been met with mixed reactions.
The US Treasury Department issued a general licence on Thursday authorising all transactions related to the earthquake response for 180 days. The move was met with confusion by some and celebration by others.
Among those in favour was the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, which said existing sanctions “impose obstacles that make it difficult for aid and disaster relief to reach many of those directly impacted”.
“The notion that sanctions don't impact humanitarian aid is naive,” Abed Ayoub, the committee's executive director, told The National.
“In fact, historically, sanctions have hurt the people of the country the most, whether you look at Iraq, Cuba … sanctions impact people the most. And that's the bigger picture.”
But some Syria experts assert there is “no relationship” between western sanctions against the regime of President Bashar Al Assad and delivery of humanitarian aid.
Charles Lister, a senior fellow and director of the Syria and Countering Terrorism and Extremism programmes at the Middle East Institute, said billions of dollars in aid was delivered to regime-held areas each year through the UN, 91 per cent of which is funded by the US, EU, UK and Canada.
“To suggest that the West is somehow complicit in blocking humanitarian aid to regime regions of Syria is patently absurd, runs contrary to the most basic facts and is a regime talking point, nothing else,” Mr Lister told The National.
After last week's 7.8-magnitude earthquake and its aftershocks, the Assad regime quickly made an emergency statement at the UN.
Its UN ambassador, Bassam Al Sabbagh, announced Syria would accept aid from any country and co-ordinate assistance to all areas of control, but it would not agree to more cross-border access from Turkey into areas not held by the government.
The UN has failed several times to approve more cross-border assistance for opposition-held north-west Syria, with Damascus ally Russia routinely vetoing Security Council efforts to expand access points.
This has arguably been the biggest hurdle keeping aid from reaching the area, and not the sanctions on the Assad regime.
Steven Heydemann, a non-resident senior fellow in the Centre for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, said that there had been “almost no” cross-line aid from regime-held areas into contested regions in war-torn Syria.
“Corruption is so pervasive [in regime-held areas] that even the humanitarian aid that is being delivered, we can't really have much confidence in the ways it's being used or whether it's reaching the right people,” Mr Heydemann said.
Organisations such as the Syrian Emergency Task Force, which sponsors women's centres and schools in Syria's north-west, were disappointed by the US sanctions exemptions.
“Anyone who is asking for the sanctions on a war criminal to be lifted has absolutely no idea what they are talking about,” the organisation's executive director, Mouaz Mustafa, told The National.
“Not only does this feed into the pro-Assad narrative, we already have licences authorising humanitarian aid, so why was this necessary?
"At best it's redundant, at worst it's going to open the floodgates with some corrupt transactions with Assad.”
But US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed that any humanitarian assistance would not benefit Damascus.
“These funds go to the Syrian people, not the regime,” he tweeted.
As time runs out to rescue earthquake victims in north-western Syria, Mr Heydemann said the question of aid will move to “whether assistance will be provided to begin to permit people to rebuild their lives”.
“That's going to produce a change in the political context as well," he said.
"We'll see backlash in northern Syria against the failure of international actors to recognise the severity of this crisis, put political considerations aside and just get things into the hands of people who need them."
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Henrik Stenson's finishes at Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship:
2006 - 2
2007 - 8
2008 - 2
2009 - MC
2010 - 21
2011 - 42
2012 - MC
2013 - 23
2014 - MC
2015 - MC
2016 - 3
2017 - 8
Fixtures and results:
Wed, Aug 29:
- Malaysia bt Hong Kong by 3 wickets
- Oman bt Nepal by 7 wickets
- UAE bt Singapore by 215 runs
Thu, Aug 30:
- UAE bt Nepal by 78 runs
- Hong Kong bt Singapore by 5 wickets
- Oman bt Malaysia by 2 wickets
Sat, Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong; Oman v Singapore; Malaysia v Nepal
Sun, Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman; Malaysia v UAE; Nepal v Singapore
Tue, Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore; UAE v Oman; Nepal v Hong Kong
Thu, Sep 6: Final
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
ZAYED SUSTAINABILITY PRIZE
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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.
HOW TO WATCH
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Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community
• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style
“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.
Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term.
From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”
• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International
"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed. Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."
• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."
• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com
"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.
His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.
Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."
• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher
"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen. He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”
• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: ten-speed
Power: 420bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: Dh325,125
On sale: Now
match info
Union Berlin 0
Bayern Munich 1 (Lewandowski 40' pen, Pavard 80')
Man of the Match: Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich)
Results
4pm: Al Bastakiya Listed US$300,000 (Dirt) 1,900m; Winner: Emblem Storm, Oisin Murphy (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer).
4.35pm: Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 $350,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: Wafy, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.
5.10pm: Nad Al Sheba Turf Group 3 $350,000 (Turf) 1,200m; Winner: Wildman Jack, Fernando Jara, Doug O’Neill.
5.45pm: Burj Nahaar Group 3 $350,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Salute The Soldier, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass.
6.20pm: Jebel Hatta Group 1 $400,000 (T) 1,800m; Winner: Barney Roy, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 Group 1 $600,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Matterhorn, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer.
7.30pm: Dubai City Of Gold Group 2 $350,000 (T) 2,410m; Winner: Loxley, Mickael Barzalona, Charlie Appleby.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Director: Paul Weitz
Stars: Kevin Hart
3/5 stars
THE SPECS
Touareg Highline
Engine: 3.0-litre, V6
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Power: 340hp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: Dh239,312
Read more from Johann Chacko
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Australia squads
ODI: Tim Paine (capt), Aaron Finch (vice-capt), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye.
T20: Aaron Finch (capt), Alex Carey (vice-capt), Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Jack Wildermuth.
