• Children play in a makeshift pool in the back of a pick-up truck as the temperature soars, at a camp for the internally displaced in Idlib, north-western Syria. All photos: AFP
    Children play in a makeshift pool in the back of a pick-up truck as the temperature soars, at a camp for the internally displaced in Idlib, north-western Syria. All photos: AFP
  • Volunteers spray water for the children to cool down.
    Volunteers spray water for the children to cool down.
  • A woman cools down her tent with water amid soaring temperatures in a camp near Syria's Bab Al Hawa border area with Turkey.
    A woman cools down her tent with water amid soaring temperatures in a camp near Syria's Bab Al Hawa border area with Turkey.
  • Volunteers provide ice for internally displaced people at the camp in Killi in rebel-held Idlib, Syria.
    Volunteers provide ice for internally displaced people at the camp in Killi in rebel-held Idlib, Syria.
  • Children play in a makeshift pool in the back of a pick-up truck in Killi, where the temperature has regularly exceeded 40°C in the past few days.
    Children play in a makeshift pool in the back of a pick-up truck in Killi, where the temperature has regularly exceeded 40°C in the past few days.
  • The sun beats down on the camp in Killi.
    The sun beats down on the camp in Killi.
  • An inventive method for keeping cool.
    An inventive method for keeping cool.
  • Many in Idlib province will be delighted to know that cooler temperatures are forecast for the week ahead, with highs of about 33°C. Nights will remain warm with lows of 21°C.
    Many in Idlib province will be delighted to know that cooler temperatures are forecast for the week ahead, with highs of about 33°C. Nights will remain warm with lows of 21°C.

MENA

Syria's soaring temperatures – in pictures

Sizzling summer heat offers no respite for the country as it remains embroiled in a long-running civil war

The National

August 07, 2022

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Whiile you're here
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
New UK refugee system

 

  • A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
  • Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
  • A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
  • To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
  • Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
  • Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Coffee: black death or elixir of life?

It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?

Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.

The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.

The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.

Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver. 

The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.

But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.

Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.

It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.

So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.

Rory Reynolds

Updated: August 07, 2022, 7:32 AM
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