A review of the operations of the struggling UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has laid out four possibilities for its future, including closure.
It comes ahead of a vote by UN member states on whether UNRWA should continue its operations.
Commissioned by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the review headed by former senior UN official Ian Martin concluded the discrepancy between UNRWA's mandate and its lack of financial support would mean major changes.
The review was prompted by "political and financial pressures" that are preventing UNRWA from fully carrying out its mandate, its director of external relations and communications Tamara Al Rifai told The National.
Four options were put forward for the agency. The first was to cut back on services, according to Reuters, which saw the document. The second was to create an executive board to advise and support UNRWA’s commissioner general in an effort to enhance accountability and secure more funding. A third option was to transfer some services to governments and the Palestinian Authority. The final scenario was closure.
The UN General Assembly is set to vote on renewing UNRWA's mandate at the end of this year. Only the 193-member assembly can change it. The review of its options has been distributed to all the member states.
Created in 1949, UNRWA provides aid, health care and education for millions of Palestinians in the occupied territories as well as Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. But in recent months it has lost US funding and been banned by Israel. The organisation is dealing with a deficit of about $200 million as a result of the US pausing funding last year.
The deterioration of UNRWA's position has been hastened by an Israeli campaign against the agency in which it accused members of colluding with Hamas in the October 7 attacks. UNRWA launched an investigation into the claim and suspended staff suspected of involvement.
Israel's Knesset then passed a vote to ban the work of the agency altogether.
"While we continue to implement our mandate given to us by the General Assembly, we never do it comfortably – especially since the war in Gaza ... where Israel has made the dismantling of UNRWA one of its objectives," Ms Al Rifai said.
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
if you go
The flights
Emirates have direct flights from Dubai to Glasgow from Dh3,115. Alternatively, if you want to see a bit of Edinburgh first, then you can fly there direct with Etihad from Abu Dhabi.
The hotel
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Located in the heart of Mackintosh's Glasgow, the Dakota Deluxe is perhaps the most refined hotel anywhere in the city. Doubles from Dh850
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Events and tours
There are various Mackintosh specific events throughout 2018 – for more details and to see a map of his surviving designs see glasgowmackintosh.com
For walking tours focussing on the Glasgow Style, see the website of the Glasgow School of Art.
More information
For ideas on planning a trip to Scotland, visit www.visitscotland.com
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MATCH INFO
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Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
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December 5 - 23: Shooting competition, Al Dhafra Shooting Club
December 9 - 24: Handicrafts competition, from 4pm until 10pm, Heritage Souq
December 11 - 20: Dates competition, from 4pm
December 12 - 20: Sour milk competition
December 13: Falcon beauty competition
December 14 and 20: Saluki races
December 15: Arabian horse races, from 4pm
December 16 - 19: Falconry competition
December 18: Camel milk competition, from 7.30 - 9.30 am
December 20 and 21: Sheep beauty competition, from 10am
December 22: The best herd of 30 camels
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4am-7am – Main card
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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)
MWTC
Tickets start from Dh100 for adults and are now on sale at www.ticketmaster.ae and Virgin Megastores across the UAE. Three-day and travel packages are also available at 20 per cent discount.
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The specs: 2019 Haval H6
Price, base: Dh69,900
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 315Nm @ 2,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
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