Russia is to hold major naval exercises in the Mediterranean Sea over the next week, ahead of an anticipated offensive against the last remaining rebel-held Syrian province of Idlib.
Some 25 vessels and 30 planes will take part in the exercises, which will include anti-aircraft and anti-submarine drills, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said on Thursday.
The announcement came amid rising tensions between the US and Russia over the planned Idlib operation, which Moscow and its Syrian government ally hope will finish off military opposition to the rule of President Bashar Al Assad.
Damascus has promised to recapture the territory, with government forces all but surrounding the northern province over the last few weeks. Russia has also bolstered its naval forces off the coast of Syria in recent days.
An initial assault is expected to target the southern and western parts of the province, while negotiations between Turkey and Russia continue over the fate of Idlib city.
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Read more:
As regime plans Idlib offensive, US warns Assad and Russia against chemical attack
Yemen peace talks in Geneva will be start of a long process
US warns Russia and Syrian regime against chemical weapons use
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The planned operation has prompted a public war of words between the US and Russia, which has intensified in recent days as the operation seemed to move closer.
Russia’s Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov warned the US against "groundless and illegal aggression against Syria" on Thursday, and repeated claims from Russian officials that Syrian rebels were planning to stage a chemical attack.
“This provocation being prepared with the active participation of the British intelligence forces can serve as a pretext for the Western ‘troika’ (Washington-London-Paris) to launch another airstrike against Syrian military and civil infrastructure,” said a statement attributed to Mr Antonov on the Facebook page of the Russian embassy in the US.
In turn, the US has accused Russia of fabricating intelligence of a staged chemical attack by rebels as a way of covering for Damascus, which has used chemical weapons multiple times throughout the conflict.
Washington has promised a tough response to any verified chemical weapons attacks in Idlib, and US Defence Secretary James Mattis said this week that he had been in "active communication" with Moscow to deter the use of such weapons by Mr Assad's forces.
In an effort to find an alternative to a full-scale assault, talks between Russia, Iran and Turkey have taken place over the past week. Turkish officials have declared Idlib a “red line”, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has lobbied Russia to prevent an attack. But so far no agreement has been reached.
A major justification for the impending offensive is the presence of Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), a coalition led by Al Qaeda's former Syria affiliate, which controls around 60 per cent of the province. The UN estimates that the group has around 10,000 fighters active in Idlib.
The rest of the province is controlled by Turkish-backed rebels, and Turkey has 12 observation posts set up around the borders of the territory. Ankara has tried to use its influence to rein in HTS and urged it to dissolve. But the group’s leader, Abu Mohamed Al Jolani, previously described any talk of surrender as “treasonous”.
In the meantime, a build-up of Russian and Syrian forces around Idlib has raised fears that an attack is imminent, and prompted dire warnings for the safety of the more than 2.5 million civilians in the province.
The UN's Syria peace envoy, Staffan de Mistura, called for a humanitarian corridor to be established to allow civilians in Idlib to flee the fighting, and offered to travel there to ensure it is implemented.
"I am once again prepared… personally and physically to get involved myself, with the government cooperation this time… to ensure such a temporary corridor would be feasible and guaranteed for the people so that they can then return to their own places once this is over," he told reporters in Geneva on Thursday.
The UN has estimated that some 800,000 people could be displaced in the early stages of an attack, which would stretch already struggling humanitarian services beyond breaking point.
Idlib has become a safe haven for displaced people from across Syria — more than a million have escaped from other parts of the country. Tens of thousands are living in overcrowded camps, and the World Health Organisation has warned of rising rates of acute malnutrition in the province.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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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
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
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
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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