Syrian refugee Mohammad Eid fled Damascus after his mother and brother were arrested for marching in pro-democracy demonstrations at the outbreak of the Syrian uprising in 2011.
His mother spent almost a decade in jail, says Mr Eid.
His family heard nothing about his brother until they received a death certificate four years ago.
“You see why I cannot return to Syria,” says Mr Eid, 39.
He is one of thousands of Syrians living in Jordan.
With economic pressures in Jordan piling up, their prospects appear grim, even after Syria's return to the Arab League last month.
Mr Eid makes $420 a month working at a fruit and vegetable grocer owned by another Syrian in Yasmin-Badr, a drab district of Amman where some refugees have found low-paying jobs.
In Damascus, he made up to $3,000 a month trading cars, far more than the average income in the country.
He pays $280 a month to rent an apartment in Sahab, a low-income area just south of Amman. He, his wife and three children survive not least due to help from Syrian and Jordanian neighbours.
They bring the family large bags of rice, sugar and other staple foods.
“There are kind people everywhere,” Mr Eid says.
He says any other employer might have dismissed him because revenue did not justify keeping him on.
“Sales are very slow,” he says.
Generations of refugees
Jordan closed its borders to Syrian refugees in 2014 as the civil war intensified and more people fled Syrian army bombardment of Sunni urban and rural centres, which formed the backbone of the armed resistance to President Bashar Al Assad, who belongs to the minority Alawite sect.
From 2011 to 2014, about 760,000 registered Syrians entered Jordan.
An earlier generation of fleeing Syrians settled in Yasmin-Badr in the 1980s as the area become a magnet for newcomers who had escaped a crackdown by the current President’s father, Hafez Al Assad, which culminated in the 1982 Hama massacre.
The refugees, old and new, tend to come from territories with a more established commercial and cultural heritage than Jordan.
But family and clan ties between the two countries pre-date the remnants of the Ottoman Empire a century ago.
Youssef Obeidat, a Jordanian mechanical engineer who a few months ago opened a manakish shop in Yasmine-Badr, says he practised his craft while he was at university with a Syrian pastry maker.
“The Syrians rise up earlier than everyone else and work non-stop,” says Mr Obeidat, who works at the shop with his Jordanian partner.
He says he does not make manakish the Syrian way because it requires more meat or cheese.
“Customers won't pay for it, especially in these times,” he says, referring to the economic stagnation in Jordan.
Businesses forced to close
Even some Syrians with capital have struggled to keep their businesses running.
A high-end Syrian restaurant in Yasmin-Badr called Al Kamal closed earlier this year.
Hatem, a salesman at a nearby sweet shop, says the business is struggling to convince customers to pay for high-quality pistachios, ghee, dates and other primary ingredients.
Hatem, who makes $500 a month, was in 11th grade when he fled his hometown of Inkhil in southern Syria in 2013.
In 2017, his family obtained an opportunity most his compatriots could only dream of when he, his father, mother and three siblings were granted asylum in the US.
“A day before we were due to board the plane, my father changed his mind,” says Hatem from the empty shop. “I don’t really know why.”
Up the street, a Syrian shawarma and felafel shop had some customers at lunch.
Alaa Hariri, one of several employees, fled southern Syria to Jordan 10 years ago, when he was 14, after Syrian army bombing near their home killed his brother.
He says he is able to survive on his $420 per month salary because the Syrian shop owner lets him and other workers sleep in a spare room at the site free of charge.
When he was in Syria, Alaa did not go to school. He was working as an assistant to his bricklayer father.
Asked about the future, he simply said nothing.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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%3Cp%3EAverage%20amount%20of%20biofuel%20produced%20at%20DIC%20factory%20every%20month%3A%20%3Cstrong%3EApproximately%20106%2C000%20litres%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EAmount%20of%20biofuel%20produced%20from%201%20litre%20of%20used%20cooking%20oil%3A%20%3Cstrong%3E920ml%20(92%25)%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ETime%20required%20for%20one%20full%20cycle%20of%20production%20from%20used%20cooking%20oil%20to%20biofuel%3A%20%3Cstrong%3EOne%20day%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EEnergy%20requirements%20for%20one%20cycle%20of%20production%20from%201%2C000%20litres%20of%20used%20cooking%20oil%3A%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E%E2%96%AA%20Electricity%20-%201.1904%20units%3Cbr%3E%E2%96%AA%20Water-%2031%20litres%3Cbr%3E%E2%96%AA%20Diesel%20%E2%80%93%2026.275%20litres%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
List of alleged parties
May 12, 2020: PM and his wife Carrie attend 'work meeting' with at least 17 staff
May 20, 2020: They attend 'bring your own booze party'
Nov 27, 2020: PM gives speech at leaving party for his staff
Dec 10, 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson
Dec 13, 2020: PM and his wife throw a party
Dec 14, 2020: London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey holds staff event at Conservative Party headquarters
Dec 15, 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
Dec 18, 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
The specs
The specs: 2019 Audi Q8
Price, base: Dh315,000
Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 340hp @ 3,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 2,250rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.7L / 100km
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sucker%20Punch%20Productions%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sony%20Computer%20Entertainment%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsole%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20PlayStation%202%20to%205%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%205%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre V6
Power: 295hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 355Nm at 5,200rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km
Price: Dh179,999-plus
On sale: now
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The Al Barzakh Festival takes place on Wednesday and Thursday at 7.30pm in the Red Theatre, NYUAD, Saadiyat Island. Tickets cost Dh105 for adults from platinumlist.net
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20ASI%20(formerly%20DigestAI)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Quddus%20Pativada%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Artificial%20intelligence%2C%20education%20technology%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%243%20million-plus%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20GSV%20Ventures%2C%20Character%2C%20Mark%20Cuban%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MATCH INFO
CAF Champions League semi-finals first-leg fixtures
Tuesday:
Primeiro Agosto (ANG) v Esperance (TUN) (8pm UAE)
Al Ahly (EGY) v Entente Setif (ALG) (11PM)
Second legs:
October 23
HWJN
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