Syria crisis: Siege victims await aid convoys
- 17 February 2016
- Middle East
Aid convoys are due to be sent to Syria's besieged areas, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has said.
He said it would be a test of whether warring parties were committed to allowing in humanitarian supplies.
Among the areas due to receive aid is the town of Madaya, where people have been dying of starvation.
World powers last week agreed to seek a nationwide "cessation of hostilities" and to accelerate and expand aid deliveries.
Where the aid is going
The seven areas named by the UN are:
- Deir el-Zour, a city in the east under siege from so-called Islamic State
- Foah and Kefraya, in northern Idlib province, besieged by rebels
- Madaya, Muadhamiya, Kafr Batna and Zabadani, all in the Damascus area under siege from government forces
Jakarta attacks prompt tougher anti-terrorism laws in Indonesia
Proposals include extending detention without trial to three months and making it easier for police to arrest terrorist suspects
Indonesia has drawn up plans for tougher anti-terrorism laws a militant attack on the capital in January, including detention without trial for up to three months compared with a week now.
The proposals, which were disclosed by government sources, are likely to draw be criticised by human rights activists, who have warned against jeopardising hard-won freedoms over nearly two decades since the end of authoritarian president Suharto’s rule.
However, officials anticipate little opposition in parliament to the legislation, which would not be as strict as counter-terrorism laws passed in recent years by Indonesia’s neighbours Australia and Malaysia.
Paris Survivors: Healing the Scars of Bataclan
By Julia Amalia Heyer and Petra Truckendanner
A colorful cup emblazoned with the children's book character Barbapapa stands in the sink and a bib belonging to his youngest daughter, who is two, hangs from the window handle. It has three smiling Dalmatians on it.
Arnaud, a 41-year-old graphic artist who asked us not to use his last name, is sitting at the kitchen table in front of a brightly tiled wall. He draws a circle on a piece of paper using a black ballpoint pen.
"The pile of bodies," he says.
In Arnaud's kitchen, the horror of that night is illustrated with pen marks, cross-hatches and arrows. They indicate stairs, emergency exits and the stage, with the security barrier in front of it. The circle marks the spot where the dead bodies piled up on top of each other. Right in the middle of the concert hall. He had to pass the spot on two separate occasions that night.
Islamic State faces budget crunch, cuts salaries, energy drinks and Snickers
February 17, 2016 - 4:52PMLori Hinnant, Zeika Karam, Susannah George
Beirut: Faced with a cash shortage in its so-called caliphate, Islamic State has slashed salaries across the region, asked residents to pay utility bills in black market American dollars, and is now releasing detainees for a price.
The extremists who once bragged about minting their own currency are having a hard time meeting expenses, thanks to coalition air strikes and other measures that have eroded millions from their finances since the last northern autumn. Having built up loyalty among militants with good salaries and honeymoon and baby bonuses, the group has stopped providing even the smaller perks: free energy drinks and Snickers bars.
Necessities are dwindling in its urban centres, leading to shortages and widespread inflation, according to exiles and those still suffering under its rule. Interviews gathered over several weeks included three exiles with networks of family and acquaintances still in the group's stronghold in Raqqa, residents in Mosul, and analysts who say IS is turning to alternative funding streams, including in Libya.What the US media ignores — Pakistan through the eyes of an American
AZEEM HAIDER
On a freezing February morning in a bustling Soho cafe, I was to meet American-born Lebanese, Afeef Nessouli.
A New York-based CNN reporter, with a focus on Middle Eastern politics, Afeef had recently visited Pakistan on a "no-agenda" trip — today, he was bounding with energy to tell me all about his experiences.
Having grown up in Karachi, I was equally curious to learn what his perception of Pakistan was.
Afeef's stories were about places even an average Karachi dweller would rarely go to, he met with inspiring people that I wish to meet some day and most of all, he ended up engaging in interesting conversations with the public in ways that I, as a Pakistani, have never been able to.Women in Zanzibar learn the law to keep control of their land
A PATH TO PROGRESS
The government and several NGOs have embarked on a series of awareness campaigns to help women understand their rights of land ownership.
JAMBIANI, TANZANIA — Zuhura Salim was not entirely sure her family would ever recover a piece of land that her father-in-law seized when her husband died in a fishing accident some 11 years ago.
The widow, who lives with her four children in Jambiani village, South Unguja, in Zanzibar in Tanzania, had grown food crops on the four-acre farm for years until her father-in-law seized and tried to sell the land after her husband's burial.
Although Tanzania's constitution upholds equal rights to property ownership, customary practices continue to impact women who often only have access to land via their husbands, fathers, or other male relatives and have no idea of their rights.
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