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Syria's rebel forces, who took control of the nation after deposing Bashar Al Assad, have kept the civil administration, but to achieve stability they will need to fill the political vacuum and curb fragmentation along sectarian and ethnic lines, foreign officials and members of the former opposition to the regime said.
“We woke up to a new Syria,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told reporters in Doha. “The opposition should now unite.”
Damascus fell on Sunday to a myriad rebel groups, ending the five-decade rule of Mr Al Assad and his late father Hafez Al Assad over majority-Sunni Syria. After the rebels took swathes of the country, Mr Al Assad’s core Alawite supporters moved to the coast and a group of mostly Kurdish militias expanded a land grab in the east.
The rebels are led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, an Al Qaeda offshoot with links to Turkey. Its leader, Ahmad Al Shara, formerly known as Abu Muhammad Al Julani, has instructed the rebels to keep the civil department of the government under the supervision of the last prime minister who served under Mr Al Assad. Mr Al Shara recently abandoned his nom de guerre, to project an image of moderation, although his organisation is listed as a terrorist group by the US and Europe.
Ayham Al Ghazzi, a member of the Syrian Council for International Relations, a group of Syrian diplomats who defected during Mr Al Assad’s rule, said that the Kurdish militia, which controls large parts of the east, should be invited to a national conference to prepare a new constitution followed by a general election and a government.
“This should take six-to-nine months,” Mr Al Ghazzi told The National. "We are hoping for pluralism and legislation that prevents the security forces from interfering in public life."
A former military officer who worked with the rebels said that although some in the opposition may try to out-manoeuvre Mr Shara politically, his military power makes him the kingmaker. A group calling itself the National Transitional Council, which is linked to Brig Gen Tlas, a friend of Mr Al Assad who defected in 2013, has already been formed, promising to preserve "the institutions of the state".
“No one will be able to operate in Damascus without a green light from Abu Muhammad Al Julani," the rebel-linked military officer said. "He has to act swiftly to prevent a post-Saddam Baghdad scenario."
Geir Pedersen, a UN envoy to Syria who was in Damascus in November, said he did not anticipate at that time that Assad would fall. "I think we were all surprised," he said. "It could be the beginning really for a new Syria. Let's hope that there is a willingness to work together to that."
There was some looting in Damascus on Sunday and flights were suspended at Damascus International Airport. Still, the scenes did not resemble the chaos that engulfed the Iraqi capital immediately after the 2003 downfall of Saddam Hussein.
French foreign affairs minister spokesman Christophe Lemoine said that fissures in the country are due to the regime having "constantly set Syrians against each other".
"The time for unity has come," he said. Paris called for a "peaceful political transition" and appealed to Syrians for "reconciliation, and to reject all forms of extremism".
Majed Al Ansari, spokesperson for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Doha "would love to see a transition to a viable state that ... reflects the ambitions of the Syrian people and that embodies [their] sacrifice".
"We don't know who is going to rule Syria tomorrow," Mr Al Ansari said. "There are a lot of militants on the ground. There is the possibility of Syria becoming a failed state."
In Jordan, King Abdullah said that "intensive and quick work must be done to impose stability and avoid any conflict that could lead to chaos".
The kingdom has been part of an Arab accommodation with Mr Al Assad, which started in the past three years but did not make much progress in realising the interests of the two sides.
It aimed at luring the regime to lessen its alliance with Iran, and curb a multi-billion dollar trade in the Captagon amphetamine. The drugs flowed from Syria to inner Arabia through Jordan, enriching both the ruling elite in Damascus and Iranian-backed militias.
Jordan has accused the Syrian military and the militias of sponsoring the trade. Assad denied involvement.
The specs
Price, base / as tested Dh135,000
Engine 1.6L turbo
Gearbox Six speed automatic with manual and sports mode
Power 165hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 240Nm @ 1,400rpm 0-100kph: 9.2 seconds
Top speed 420 kph (governed)
Fuel economy, combined 35.2L / 100km (est)
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Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Race card
1.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,200m.
2.15pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,200m.
2.45pm: Handicap Dh95,000 1,200m.
3.15pm: Handicap Dh120,000 1,400m.
3.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,400m.
4.15pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,800m.
4.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,950m.
The National selections:
1.45pm: Galaxy Road – So Hi Speed
2.15pm: Majestic Thunder – Daltrey
2.45pm: Call To War – Taamol
3.15pm: Eqtiraan - Bochart
3.45pm: Kidd Malibu – Initial
4.15pm: Arroway – Arch Gold
4.35pm: Compliance - Muqaatil
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
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Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
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
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INDIA SQUADS
India squad for third Test against Sri Lanka
Virat Kohli (capt), Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Vijay Shankar
India squad for ODI series against Sri Lanka
Rohit Sharma (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs: Fenyr SuperSport
Price, base: Dh5.1 million
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 800hp @ 7,100pm
Torque: 980Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 13.5L / 100km
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Dunbar
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