Syria's army said on Friday that its troops had entered the Kurdish-held town of Manbij, where Turkey has been threatening an offensive.
The move was announced on state television soon after Syrian Kurdish fighters appealed for the government's help to avert an attack by Turkish-backed forces that have been positioning themselves around the town near the Turkey-Syria border.
The US-led military operation to defeat ISIS, Inherent Resolve, said the Syrian army had not entered the city itself.
"Despite incorrect information about changes to military forces in the city of Manbij, Syria, (Inherent Resolve) has seen no indication that these claims are true. We call on everyone to respect the integrity of Manbij and the safety of its citizens," it said on its Twitter account.
The Kurdish forces were left exposed by President Donald Trump's sudden decision last week to withdraw American troops from northern Syria. The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) were the main element of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces alliance fighting against ISIS.
"We invite the Syrian government forces to assert control over the areas our forces have withdrawn from, particularly Manbij, and to protect these areas against a Turkish invasion," the YPG statement said.
Ankara sees the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party that has waged an insurgency in Turkey for decades, and has threatened to drive the militia from the areas along its border with Syria.
But a senior Syrian Kurdish official said Syrian government troops had arrived at the front lines of the flash-point town of Manbij but had not taken over the town and that US troops based in Manbij had not withdrawn.
Ilham Ahmed told Associated Press an agreement was being worked out with the Russians and the Syrian government that in case of a full US withdrawal, government troops would take over.
"The aim is to ward off a Turkish offensive," Mr Ahmed said.
He said Kurdish militia remain inside the town.
According to Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, the government forces were deployed "along the contact lines between the Turks and the forces of the [SDF-run] Military Council starting from Euphrates River, north-west of Manbij all the way to Dadad and Arimeh”.
Manbij has been a particular point of friction between the US and Turkey. The Nato allies reached an agreement in June for the YPG to leave the town but Turkey says its implementation has been delayed.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned earlier this month that Turkish forces would enter the town if the US did not remove the Kurdish fighters. After the Syrian announcement on Friday, the Turkish defence ministry said the YPG "has no right or power to make a statement on behalf of the local people and invite any other elements” to the area.
US Central Command spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Earl Brown on Friday insisted the American forces would continue to work with theKurdish fighters.
"Our mission has not changed. We will continue to support our coalition partners, while also conducting a deliberate and controlled withdrawal of forces, while taking all measures possible to ensure our troops' safety and that of our partners on the ground," he told AFP.
A Syrian army spokesman said the national flag had been raised in Manbij, re-establishing government control of the town after six years as an armed uprising against Bashar Al Assad that began in 2011 peters out.
Russia, a staunch ally of Mr Al Assad, immediately welcomed the return of Kurdish territories to government control.
"This is a positive trend," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
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Read more:
Abandoned by the US, there are unpalatable choices in every direction for the Syrian Kurds
With or without the US, Syria will be a proxy for a much bigger geopolitical war
Return of UAE mission to Damascus suggests Gulf states want a say in Syria's future
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A delegation of Syrian Kurds had visited Moscow on Monday for talks on a possible plan to stop a Turkish offensive on Manbij, sources close to the SDF had told The National.
A Turkish delegation comprising Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Defence Minister Hulusi Akar was expected in Moscow on Saturday to discuss the pullout of US troops from Syria. The talks will allow the two sides to “bring complete clarity and synchronise actions” going forward, Mr Peskov said.
The Russian foreign ministry this week called for all territory with a US troop presence to be returned to Mr Al Assad's control.
Russia, Turkey, a supporter of opposition groups, and Iran, another Assad ally, are joint sponsors of a Syrian peace initiative known as the Astana Process, which was launched in the Kazakh capital in January 2017. Pro-Assad forces have meanwhile cornered most rebel groups in the country in the north-western province of Idlib through a series of surrender agreements. At the same time, ISIS has been driven out of all the territory it once held in Syria, apart from a small area on the Iraq, in separate offensives by the SDF and Russian-backed government forces.
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Marathon results
Men:
1. Titus Ekiru(KEN) 2:06:13
2. Alphonce Simbu(TAN) 2:07:50
3. Reuben Kipyego(KEN) 2:08:25
4. Abel Kirui(KEN) 2:08:46
5. Felix Kemutai(KEN) 2:10:48
Women:
1. Judith Korir(KEN) 2:22:30
2. Eunice Chumba(BHR) 2:26:01
3. Immaculate Chemutai(UGA) 2:28:30
4. Abebech Bekele(ETH) 2:29:43
5. Aleksandra Morozova(RUS) 2:33:01
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Race results:
1. Thani Al Qemzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi: 46.44 min
2. Peter Morin (FRA) CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team: 0.91sec
3. Sami Selio (FIN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team: 31.43sec
Emergency phone numbers in the UAE
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
