Live updates: Follow the latest on Syria
Syrian President Bashar Al Assad's decades-long hold on power appeared to be loosening on Friday as rebels made rapid gains against a retreating national army and as supporter Russia signalled only limited support for Damascus.
Rebel fighters said they had reached the city limits of the city of Homs as part of their offensive against government forces. A day earlier, fighters captured the central city of Hama after the army withdrew, and rebels have seized Syria's second-largest city Aleppo.
A member of the rebel command told The National that fighters had paused at the northern outskirts of Homs, where the government forces and up to 200 Hezbollah fighters are dug in near the military academy and other security compounds.
If Mr Al Assad’s military loses Homs, it would be a blow to his 24-year grip on power. The city connects Damascus to Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus, where Mr Assad still enjoys broad support. It also is a hub for funnelling aid and materiel from Syria into Lebanon for Hezbollah.
Attacking rebel forces could try to make a pincer advance on Homs from the east and west, similar to a strategy that succeeded in capturing Hama two days ago, another opposition military source working with the rebels told The National.
"Once the rebels take Homs, which I presume they're going to do, then Damascus is going to be very vulnerable. It seems that the fight has really gone out of the Syrian army," said Joshua Landis, a Syria analyst and the head of the Centre for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma. "Nobody wants to die for this regime anymore."
Meanwhile, Moscow appeared to be turning its back on Damascus. A source close to the Kremlin told Bloomberg that Russia does not have a plan to save Mr Al Assad and does not see one emerging as long as the Syrian army continues to abandon its positions.
"For Assad and his supporters, losing Aleppo was catastrophic, and losing Hama made things significantly worse," Syria analyst Aron Lund from the Century Foundation said in a conversation published by the think tank. "But if the government were also to lose Homs, then that’s something else. In that case, I think we’re looking at something more resembling a death spiral."
The escalation in fighting in Syria has displaced about 370,000 people in just over a week, the UN said on Friday, and fears are growing in the West about what could happen if the Syrian state collapses.
Russian President Vladimir Putin helped turn the tide of Syria’s civil war in Mr Al Assad’s favour in 2015 and has struck some rebel positions during their rapid advance. But the Russian military is stretched by Moscow's war in Ukraine.
The Russian embassy in Syria urged its nationals to leave the country on commercial flights, Russia's Tass state news agency reported on Friday.
A former US official told The National that if Russia and Iran are unable or unwilling to increase military assistance for his government, Mr Al Assad’s days in power could be numbered.
Still, the former official said Mr Al Assad had diplomatic cards to play and said it’s possible his allies would view an attack on Damascus as a red line that would trigger a broader response.
The rebels are being led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, a former affiliate of Al Qaeda. The group's leader, Abu Mohammad Al Golani, told CNN in an interview on Thursday from Syria that Mr Al Assad’s government was on the path to falling.
“The seeds of the regime’s defeat have always been within it,” he said. “But the truth remains, this regime is dead.”
Mr Landis told The National that the rebels' momentum brings to mind the rapid advances of the Taliban in August 2021, when the Afghan army collapsed and Taliban fighters seized a cascading string of provincial capitals and then Kabul.
"There aren't going to be many people many people making a last stand at Damascus," he said, noting that it is an overwhelmingly Sunni city where Mr Al Assad and his family are affiliated with the Alawite sect. "It's a Sunni city, and they're not going to rise up and protect it."
Mr Al Assad's other main ally, Iran, also showed waning interest in supporting the President.
Iran already has a military presence in Homs and other parts of Syria. On Friday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he is prepared to offer "whatever is needed" to support Mr Al Assad, but has previously promised only to “consider” requests for troops.
The New York Times quoted regional and Iranian officials saying Iran had begun to relocate military commanders and personnel from Syria. The report said senior commanders of Iran's Quds Forces were included in those evacuated to Iraq and Lebanon.
Iran’s network of allied militias may help Mr Al Assad shore up his flailing army. But the most powerful of them, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, has been weakened by a major Israeli offensive and last week agreed to a ceasefire. That leaves Syria looking east to Iraq-based groups for support.
But the US has hundreds of troops in the area, and recently disclosed strikes suggest they may be engaging Iraqi militias sympathetic to Mr Al Assad, but the Pentagon has not said who it is fighting.
The US embassy in Syria said that American citizens should leave the country "while commercial options remain available" in the capital city.
And the Canadian government advised its citizens to leave Damascus while it is still safe to do so, saying "opposition forces are heading" to the Syrian capital.
Willy Lowry contributed to this report from Washington
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
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THE SPECS
Aston Martin Rapide AMR
Engine: 6.0-litre V12
Transmission: Touchtronic III eight-speed automatic
Power: 595bhp
Torque: 630Nm
Price: Dh999,563
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Mini John Cooper Works Clubman and Mini John Cooper Works Countryman
Engine: two-litre 4-cylinder turbo
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3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
Plastic tipping point
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Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
GAC GS8 Specs
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Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
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It Was Just an Accident
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Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
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The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.
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Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
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Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.
Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.
Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
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The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
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Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
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How to turn your property into a holiday home
- Ensure decoration and styling – and portal photography – quality is high to achieve maximum rates.
- Research equivalent Airbnb homes in your location to ensure competitiveness.
- Post on all relevant platforms to reach the widest audience; whether you let personally or via an agency know your potential guest profile – aiming for the wrong demographic may leave your property empty.
- Factor in costs when working out if holiday letting is beneficial. The annual DCTM fee runs from Dh370 for a one-bedroom flat to Dh1,200. Tourism tax is Dh10-15 per bedroom, per night.
- Check your management company has a physical office, a valid DTCM licence and is licencing your property and paying tourism taxes. For transparency, regularly view your booking calendar.
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