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A CEASEFIRE IN southern Syria brokered by the United States, Russia and Jordan began at noon local time (10am here), with a monitor reporting quiet in three southern provinces.
The ceasefire was announced on Friday by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and covers Daraa, Quneitra and Sweida provinces.
“The main fronts in the three provinces between regime forces and opposition factions have seen a cessation of hostilities and shelling since this morning, with the exception of a few scattered shells fired on Daraa city before noon,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor.
The Syrian regime had already announced its own unilateral ceasefire on Monday but fighting had continued on frontlines in the three provinces.
There has been no official comment from Syria’s government on the announcement, and there was no mention of the ceasefire on state television’s noon news bulletin.
The Al-Watan newspaper, which is close to the regime, quoted the head of Syria’s parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee suggesting that the agreement was negotiated in consultation with Damascus.
“No details on the agreement were presented, but the Syrian state has background on it,” the newspaper quoted Boutros Marjana as saying.
“The final word on adding southern Syria to the ‘de-escalation’ zones belongs to the Syrian state, and there is coordination with Russia on that,” he added.
The ceasefire in southern Syria comes in the wake of a deal inked in the Kazakh capital Astana in May between regime allies Russia and Iran and rebel backer Turkey to set up four “de-escalation” zones.
One of the mooted zones was in southern Syria, but the agreement has yet to go into effect as the three sides try to agree how the zones will be monitored.
On Friday, before the ceasefire deal was announced, a delegation of opposition factions that has attended talks in Astana expressed opposition to any ceasefire for just one part of the country.
In a statement, the factions said they were concerned about “secret meetings and understandings between Russia, Jordan and America on a deal for the south of Syria, separate from the north.”
Such an agreement “would divide Syria, as well as the delegation and the opposition, in two.”
The ceasefire begins on the eve of fresh peace talks in Geneva scheduled to begin on Monday.
Expectations for the seventh round of UN-sponsored talks are low, but a UN official said Saturday that the ceasefire deal created positive momentum.
“It helps create a suitable atmosphere for the talks, and we will see that on Monday,” said Ramzi Ezzedine Ramzi, deputy to UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura.
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This would definitely ensure that many small businesses would fold.
While they force up rates for business too, some up by 75%. Enda Kenny is killing Irish business but you are all to blind to see it.
A lot of lazy idiots will simply take the piss and take a load of sick in a row, knowing well the employer cant do anything about it.
I think most decent workers who don’t currently have a sick pay entitlement in work would only use it if they really needed it.
I’ve never heard such rubbish. There are no advantages in this to be had by an employee. In fact all this legislation does is give an employer another reason to lower wages even more. It also encourages infighting between healthy and sick employees.
I’d definitely be leaving at least one person go when this comes in. Government just don’t get it do they?….small businesses are on the cross at the moment and are treading water at best. This must be one of the most anti business measures they’ve brought it.
Well we do know the Government are dumb enough to be thinking about it…
Lets see how many jobs they create after this comes in….its serious enough to make a multi national company choose another location over Ireland
Hair brained scheme. Reckless carry on from our Government. SME’s would implode.
Corrupt, sleazy, reckless private sector mismanagement in the economy threatens 100% of us all
I think you mean public sector…
Kingstown the private sector create the wealth like it or not & if we ever get out of this we will have the private sector to thank for it.
The private sector does don’t create wealth the consumer does
So would that mean no more P.A.Y.E contribution? Nah dont think so!
I love these soundbites everyday coming up to the budget…..
Sad times for the PAYE employee.
What about the employer who can’t even get benefit if the company closes??
This nonsense is the law in France and cripples small businesses and as a result small businesses avoid hiring anybody other than family. A little restaurant I used to go to had 3 waitresses employed, 2 were “on the sick”. When the third did the same, the man’s wife became the waitress. They won’t employ anyone else in a long time.
This is an excellent idea. It is right wing crap to suggest workers would deliberately go sick. There will always be a tiny number but the overwhelming majority would never do such a thing. I am a public servant with decent sick pay provision and have not taken any sick days this year (as I haven’t been sick!). The private sector will see similar stories to me and my colleagues. It is anti-worker drivel to suggest otherwise. If people take the piss, deal with them through the disciplinary procedures
I’m guessing you do not have employees? Trust me, the piss gets taken.
Ridiculous law and more smoke and mirror games by the shambles of a government.
Its all part of the FG plan, divide and conquer. And people wonder why there are no protests? We are all arguing over this crap while the country is destroyed further.
a strategy known as it’s “the roman circus”
Right wing crap ? Really , and are you aware of the appalling track record of some of the public sector levels of sick …for example the health system as highlighted in the following article recently to illustrate
..”Staff in the ‘other patient and client care’ category had some of the highest absenteeism rates across the hospital system, reaching 15.63 per cent in Drogheda. Nursing absenteeism rates meanwhile varied from 0.4 per cent in St James’s Hospital to 11.17 per cent in Lourdes Orthopaedic.
The place for the government to start tackling real abuse in the sick system is its own front door as the public service employer , by hurting RTE really small business with 2 or 3 people which this does is crazy timing as they are struggling far more in a recession
Not RTE…..should read The really small business
As an employer take my word for it, this proposal will cost jobs and increase demand on social welfare. Nothing will be saved by dept of social protection as in the case of my business the cost of sick pay will have to be made up for in reduction in overall pay bill by reduction in numbers or more part-time working.
This government are brain dead if they don’t realise how many small businesses will have to close if they persist with this lunacy .
This must mean that 42% of Business were always unviable and were merely existing because of the PAYE sector
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