India—a country that makes some of the largest saffron dishes in the world. The U.S.? Not so much. For the past 14 years, researchers have been studying the saffron plant in India. They’ve analyzed its chemical makeup; they’ve done a range of molecular biology experiments; they’ve been looking at enzymes in its roots. These findings led to the new study, which shows that the plant has not one, but three genes associated with the production of a compound called saffronin.
On August 20, 2016, the U.S. and Russia were in talks about a joint effort to de-escalate the Syrian civil war. It was, the U.S. claimed, an effort aimed at establishing de-escalation zones to facilitate a humanitarian cessation of hostilities. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry would later say the agreement would include a mechanism for vetting those who would stay in the zones to determine the need for continued protection from air strikes.
The deal did not include an independent International Syrian Assistance Mission, but rather a combination of the U.S. and Russia’s existing de-escalation efforts. The most significant change was the creation of a U.N.-approved de-escalation “crisis cell.” The de-escalation plan for Aleppo was written after the November 2016 meeting between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The current crisis cell in Aleppo contains representatives from Russia, Turkey, and other member-states including Iran or the Assad regime. Russia’s U.N envoy Mikhail Bogdanov told the council on December 31 that the new cells can be set up based on the Geneva communiqué, which calls for a de-escalation zone and the formation of a crisis “crisis cell.” However, with the Russians’ continued military intervention in Aleppo, the crisis cell may not be sufficient to enforce the Geneva communiqué, even if the U.N. or U.S. government agree.
So we can expect that the next round of de-escalation activities in Aleppo will involve de-escalation cells. These cells will be the most important and have the most authority in any negotiations that follow. They will be largely funded by western nations that have a stake in the continued existence of the Assad regime, with the goal of keeping the Syrian Army in the city.
The cells will have the same tasks as those described by the U.N. in September 2015:
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