Jordan's army chief of staff Maj Gen Yousef Al Huneiti visits the Third Royal Border Guards battalion, which operates near the border with Saudi Arabia. Photo: Jordan Armed Forces
Jordan's army chief of staff Maj Gen Yousef Al Huneiti visits the Third Royal Border Guards battalion, which operates near the border with Saudi Arabia. Photo: Jordan Armed Forces
Jordan's army chief of staff Maj Gen Yousef Al Huneiti visits the Third Royal Border Guards battalion, which operates near the border with Saudi Arabia. Photo: Jordan Armed Forces
Jordan's army chief of staff Maj Gen Yousef Al Huneiti visits the Third Royal Border Guards battalion, which operates near the border with Saudi Arabia. Photo: Jordan Armed Forces

Jordan's military determined to stop cross-border smuggling, says senior general


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Jordan's army is determined to stop the smuggling of drugs and other contraband into the kingdom, the chief of staff said on Tuesday during a visit to a border unit.

Maj Gen Yousef Al Huneiti's visit to the Third Royal Border Guards battalion came days after the military intercepted the third drone flown from Syria in a month.

“The armed forces are firmly resolute about preventing infiltration and smuggling operations, and confronting all forms of threats on the border fronts,” an army statement quoted Maj Gen Al Huneiti as saying.

The morale of border troops is high "in all their areas of responsibility", he said.

The Third Royal Border Guards battalion is in charge of areas bordering Saudi Arabia, where smugglers look to send drugs that have been moved through Jordan from Syria.

Jordan's military intercepted a drone carrying TNT on August 16, in an apparent escalation by smuggling groups operating in areas of southern Syria.

Three days earlier, a drone carrying crystal meth was intercepted as it crossed into Jordanian territory from Syria.

Another drone flown from Syria was shot down on Sunday, the military said without providing details.

Southern Syria became a main transit and manufacturing point for drugs, especially Captagon, a type of amphetamine, after the area was recaptured by the Syrian army and pro-Iranian militias in 2018.

Jordanian officials have accused them of backing traffickers.

Jordan's military has responded to smuggling attempts more swiftly and with greater firepower since 2020, as the US and the kingdom's other western allies sent hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade its border defences.

Amman also started a rapprochement with Damascus, a move that was strengthened after Syria was readmitted to the Arab League in May.

Syria was suspended from the group in 2011 over the suppression of an uprising against President Bashar Al Assad that led to the country's civil war.

Although Mr Al Assad has regained large parts of the country with support from Iran and Russia, his government is struggling to cope with a collapsing economy amid international sanctions imposed over the crackdown.

In a televised interview this month, Mr Al Assad denied his government had anything to do with drug smuggling.

He blamed the narcotics trade on neighbouring countries that "sowed chaos" in Syria, but did not name those states.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad on August 15 met representatives of an Arab League committee comprising Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon, which was formed to follow up on the normalisation of ties with Damascus.

In an official declaration after the meeting, the five countries said they “look forward to continued and intensified” anti-narcotics co-operation with Damascus.

Jordan wants greater co-operation from Syria before it agrees to support Mr Al Assad in his efforts to have western sanctions lifted and to obtain funding for reconstruction projects.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

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The 12 breakaway clubs

England

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur

Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus

Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid

Profile

Company: Justmop.com

Date started: December 2015

Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan

Sector: Technology and home services

Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai

Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month

Funding:  The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups. 

If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.

When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.

How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Cricket World Cup League 2

UAE squad

Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind

Fixtures

Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE

Essentials

The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Delhi from about Dh950 return including taxes.
The hotels
Double rooms at Tijara Fort-Palace cost from 6,670 rupees (Dh377), including breakfast.
Doubles at Fort Bishangarh cost from 29,030 rupees (Dh1,641), including breakfast. Doubles at Narendra Bhawan cost from 15,360 rupees (Dh869). Doubles at Chanoud Garh cost from 19,840 rupees (Dh1,122), full board. Doubles at Fort Begu cost from 10,000 rupees (Dh565), including breakfast.
The tours 
Amar Grover travelled with Wild Frontiers. A tailor-made, nine-day itinerary via New Delhi, with one night in Tijara and two nights in each of the remaining properties, including car/driver, costs from £1,445 (Dh6,968) per person.

Key recommendations
  • Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
  • Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
  • Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
  • More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
Company%20profile
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
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)
The%20pillars%20of%20the%20Dubai%20Metaverse%20Strategy
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About Tenderd

Started: May 2018

Founder: Arjun Mohan

Based: Dubai

Size: 23 employees 

Funding: Raised $5.8m in a seed fund round in December 2018. Backers include Y Combinator, Beco Capital, Venturesouq, Paul Graham, Peter Thiel, Paul Buchheit, Justin Mateen, Matt Mickiewicz, SOMA, Dynamo and Global Founders Capital

Updated: August 30, 2023, 6:49 AM`