An Israeli minister has called for Syria's President Ahmad Al Shara to be "eliminated", after a ceasefire failed to put an end to three days of violence in southern Syria against the country's Druze minority.
Dozens of Druze were reportedly killed in new clashes with pro-government forces in Sweida. Israel, meanwhile, struck military vehicles belonging to the Syrian government in what the country says is a campaign to defend the Druze.
"Anyone who thinks Ahmad Al Shara is a legitimate leader is gravely mistaken. This is a terrorist, a barbaric murderer who should be eliminated now,” Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli said on social media. There was no immediate reaction from Damascus.
He accused European leaders of failing to condemn the "horrific massacre" of Syrian Alawites during sectarian violence earlier this year and said "we now see the acts of slaughter and humiliation against the Druze".
Sources in Jordan said Israeli drones flew over Sweida amid strikes against army and police convoys to the west, as well as inside Sweida city, the provincial capital. Israel renewed attacks on the region after deadly clashes between Druze groups and pro-government forces, who have besieged the city.
The Israeli intervention could undermine a military and diplomatic campaign by Mr Al Shara to consolidate his control over the country, buoyed by the establishment of ties with Washington. Mr Al Shara leads Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, a splinter group from Al Qaeda that ended Assad family rule in December.
Suhail Thebian, a prominent civil figure in Sweida, accused the new authorities of using more violence in the area than the former regime. In former president Bashar Al Assad last three years in office, the Druze mounted civil disobedience movements demanding his removal.
"Who gave Al Shara and his militants the legitimacy to do this? Was he even elected?" Mr Thebian said. He said Sweida would accept the presence of official security forces if they were drawn from the province, not from HTS and other militant groups that underpin the current government.
"We saw what they did on the coast," Mr Thebian said, referring to the killing of 1,300 Alawites on the coast during a government campaign against the area over two days in March.
Israel said the Syrian government has breached demilitarisation arrangements in the south of the country. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz have ordered troops “to immediately strike regime forces and weapons introduced into the Sweida area in the Druze Mountain in Syria for regime activity against the Druze”.
A senior source in Jordan said at least 50 Druze fighters and civilians were killed on Tuesday in Sweida city in clashes with thousands of pro-government troops. The source said thousands of civilians had fled to the Jordanian border, without entering the kingdom. The Syrian Interior Ministry said 18 security personnel were killed during a government advance on Sweida on Monday.
Syrian troops and auxiliaries entered Sweida city from the west and north on Tuesday after the Druze spiritual leadership, led by Hikmat Al Hijri, announced that the province “should be spared” further bloodshed, and that security forces should be let into the provincial capital to restore security and stability.
In a report on the violence, the UN cited accounts by Sweida residents of "killings, abductions, burning of properties and looting, as well as an increase in incitement and hate speech online and in person". The report, however, did not identify the perpetrators.
Syrian Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra said the government had agreed on a ceasefire with "notables" from the city and that the security forces would only respond if they came under fire. Mr Abu Qasra said only Interior Ministry forces would remain in Sweida after the army finished ”combing“ the city.
But Suwayda 24, a network of citizen journalists, said clashes were continuing in the area. Looting has occurred in neighbourhoods taken by government forces and many residents have fled, it said.
Mr Abu Qasra was a commander of HTS when it was an Al Qaeda splinter group in north-western Syria. HTS took power after leading the assault that overthrew former president Bashar Al Assad in December.
A resident of Sweida, who was contacted by phone and did not want to be identified, said foreign fighters were among the loyalist forces who entered Sweida on Tuesday, but that fighting was continuing into the evening.
"People have started resisting," he said. Even young people have taken up arms to defend their neighbourhoods, in addition to Druze militias, he added.
Security forces, he said, stormed a building next to his looking for Druze fighters amid shelling on the city, levelling insults at residents.
Despite Mr Al Hijri instructing Sweida residents to allow government forces into the city, he later appeared in a video saying the provincial capital continued to come under random shelling and that its people should “make a stand for dignity”.
Mr Al Hijri has described the HTS government as “extremists” who are not interested in building a civil and pluralistic state following Mr Al Assad's downfall.
A Druze political figure close to Mr Al Hijri said Syria's authorities had received a “green light” from Thomas Barrack, the US envoy to Syria, to enter Sweida.
“This is Barrack's doing. We are being attacked by than 100,000 regime forces,” he said.
Elsewhere, Mr Barrack has been pushing for an extension of government control over parts of east Syria which are under Kurdish-led forces.
Mr Abu Qasra was a commander of Hayat Tahrir Al Sham when it was an Al Qaeda splinter group in north-western Syria. HTS took power after leading the assault that overthrew former president Bashar Al Assad in December.
Sweida is home to most of Syria's registered 800,000 Druze. But many have emigrated, particularly during the country's 13-year civil war, with an estimated 270,000 Druze remaining in the city. The Druze, who follow an offshoot of Islam, are also present in Jordan, Israel and Lebanon.
Druze sources said pro-Syrian government militias on Sunday launched attacks on Sweida from Sunni areas to its west as the province came under siege by government forces. A war monitor put the total death toll at 89 on Monday.
On Sunday, at least one Druze town was seized by militias from neighbouring Deraa, in the worst violence against the Druze community since clashes in April, sources said.
Sweida and parts of eastern Syria, where the mostly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces are in control, are the only areas where the government does not fully exert control.
The latest clashes in Sweida started last week after Fadlalah Duwara, a vegetable seller and member of the Druze community, was abducted while driving his lorry on the main road from Sweida to Damascus, which is under government control. His tribe responded by abducting a man in a Sunni neighbourhood of Sweida.
The area is inhabited by members of Bedouin tribes who moved to the city decades ago from a rugged region on the outskirts.
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)
Who is Allegra Stratton?
- Previously worked at The Guardian, BBC’s Newsnight programme and ITV News
- Took up a public relations role for Chancellor Rishi Sunak in April 2020
- In October 2020 she was hired to lead No 10’s planned daily televised press briefings
- The idea was later scrapped and she was appointed spokeswoman for Cop26
- Ms Stratton, 41, is married to James Forsyth, the political editor of The Spectator
- She has strong connections to the Conservative establishment
- Mr Sunak served as best man at her 2011 wedding to Mr Forsyth
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 5
Keita 1', Mane 23', 66', Salah 45' 1, 83'
Huddersfield 0
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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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BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 480hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 570Nm from 2,300-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 10.4L/100km
Price: from Dh547,600
On sale: now
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The years Ramadan fell in May
The five pillars of Islam
The rules of the road keeping cyclists safe
Cyclists must wear a helmet, arm and knee pads
Have a white front-light and a back red-light on their bike
They must place a number plate with reflective light to the back of the bike to alert road-users
Avoid carrying weights that could cause the bike to lose balance
They must cycle on designated lanes and areas and ride safe on pavements to avoid bumping into pedestrians
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
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Walls
Louis Tomlinson
3 out of 5 stars
(Syco Music/Arista Records)
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
MATCH INFO
Group B
Bayern Munich v Tottenham, midnight (Thursday)
More coverage from the Future Forum
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.”
Brief scores
Barcelona 2
Pique 36', Alena 87'
Villarreal 0
MATCH INFO
Liverpool 2 (Van Dijk 18', 24')
Brighton 1 (Dunk 79')
Red card: Alisson (Liverpool)
Changing visa rules
For decades the UAE has granted two and three year visas to foreign workers, tied to their current employer. Now that's changing.
Last year, the UAE cabinet also approved providing 10-year visas to foreigners with investments in the UAE of at least Dh10 million, if non-real estate assets account for at least 60 per cent of the total. Investors can bring their spouses and children into the country.
It also approved five-year residency to owners of UAE real estate worth at least 5 million dirhams.
The government also said that leading academics, medical doctors, scientists, engineers and star students would be eligible for similar long-term visas, without the need for financial investments in the country.
The first batch - 20 finalists for the Mohammed bin Rashid Medal for Scientific Distinction.- were awarded in January and more are expected to follow.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
UAE v Zimbabwe A, 50 over series
Fixtures
Thursday, Nov 9 - 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
Saturday, Nov 11 – 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
Monday, Nov 13 – 2pm, Dubai International Stadium
Thursday, Nov 16 – 2pm, ICC Academy, Dubai
Saturday, Nov 18 – 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Meydan race card
6.30pm: Maiden; Dh165,000; (Dirt) 1,200m
7.05pm: Handicap; Dh170,000; (D) 1,200m
7.40pm: Maiden; Dh165,000; (D) 1,900m
8.15pm: Handicap; Dh185,000; (D) 2,000m
8.50pm: Handicap; Dh185,000; (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap; Dh165,000; (D) 2,000m
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Who are the Soroptimists?
The first Soroptimists club was founded in Oakland, California in 1921. The name comes from the Latin word soror which means sister, combined with optima, meaning the best.
The organisation said its name is best interpreted as ‘the best for women’.
Since then the group has grown exponentially around the world and is officially affiliated with the United Nations. The organisation also counts Queen Mathilde of Belgium among its ranks.
