Live updates: Follow the latest on Syria
The fall of Bashar Al Assad’s regime in Syria marked “a great day for history”, a representative of Lebanon’s largest political party said on Sunday after rebel forces entered Damascus and forced the Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to flee.
"Finally justice has been made, regardless of the details,” said Marc Saad, an official in the foreign relations department for the Lebanese Forces. “The fall of the Assad regime is justice made for many Lebanese people and many Syrians as well – mostly for the Lebanese who fell defending their country.”
Lebanese Forces is the largest party in Lebanon’s deeply divided parliament and has been a staunch critic of the Assad regime. Syria occupied Lebanon in the wake of the Lebanese civil war until it was pushed out by a wave of protests in 2005. Many party members are thought to be rotting in its jails.
"What's unfortunate is that there are still Lebanese people who are detained in the jails off the Assad regime," Mr Saad said. "We hope we can reveal their wheaabouts in the coming hours. It's justice being made after a very long period of time. Finally, we are reaching a date where history has rectified itself."
Elsewhere, the Lebanese government was largely mute on the fate of its neighbour. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he discussed the situation at the Syrian border in a call with army commander Joseph Aoun and security forces chiefs.
Mr Mikati insisted "in these calls on the priority of tightening control over the border and distancing Lebanon from the repercussions of the developments in Syria", his office said in a statement.
Authorities say Lebanon currently hosts about two million Syrians, while more than 800,000 are registered with the UN, the highest number of refugees per capita in the world. Many fled Syria after its civil war began following the repression of anti-government protests in 2011.
The Lebanese army said on Sunday it was reinforcing its presence on the border with neighbouring Syria, after the Assad government fell and rebels took the capital Damascus.
"In light of rapid developments and delicate circumstances that the region is going through... units tasked with monitoring and controlling the northern and eastern borders have been reinforced, in conjunction with tightening surveillance measures," the army said in a statement.
The Assad regime has long been a source of controversy within Lebanon. Hezbollah was a key component in popping up the Syrian regime during the long civil war in the country. How the situation in Syria affects Lebanon remains to be seen. The international committee tasked with overseeing the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took a helicopter tour of south Lebanon on Friday.
Under the US-brokered ceasefire deal, Israel has 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, while thousands of Lebanese army soldiers move into the area. Hezbollah fighters and infrastructure must move north of the Litani River.
Lebanese officials have accused Israel of breaching the ceasefire dozens of times since it came into effect last week.
The years Ramadan fell in May
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Overview
What: The Arab Women’s Sports Tournament is a biennial multisport event exclusively for Arab women athletes.
When: From Sunday, February 2, to Wednesday, February 12.
Where: At 13 different centres across Sharjah.
Disciplines: Athletics, archery, basketball, fencing, Karate, table tennis, shooting (rifle and pistol), show jumping and volleyball.
Participating countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Qatar and UAE.
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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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
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
TYPES%20OF%20ONLINE%20GIG%20WORK
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Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
Zayed Sustainability Prize
La Mer lowdown
La Mer beach is open from 10am until midnight, daily, and is located in Jumeirah 1, well after Kite Beach. Some restaurants, like Cupagahwa, are open from 8am for breakfast; most others start at noon. At the time of writing, we noticed that signs for Vicolo, an Italian eatery, and Kaftan, a Turkish restaurant, indicated that these two restaurants will be open soon, most likely this month. Parking is available, as well as a Dh100 all-day valet option or a Dh50 valet service if you’re just stopping by for a few hours.
