ISIL fighters withdrew from city of Al Sukhna in eastern Syria on Sunday in the face of an offensive by Syrian troops and allied militia, clearing the way for an advance on the last province to remain largely under the extremist group's control.
The recapture of Al Sukhna in Homs, Syria's largest province, was reported by both the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group and a media outlet associated with Hizbollah, which fights on behalf of the Syrian government.
Al Sukhna lies on the main road between the city of Tadmor and Deir Ezzor, the capital of the eastern province of the same name where government forces have been besieged by ISIL since 2015.
ISIL first gained ground in Homs in late 2014, when it pushed toward the province capital and threatened an important government airbase nearby.
Though ISIL controlled more rural than urban areas in Homs, much of which is desert, they took over gasfields in eastern Homs and in May 2015 overran Tadmor, a city of about 50,000 that sits near the ruins of the ancient city of Palmyra. The group then famously used Palmyra’s ancient amphitheatre as a backdrop to film executions of soldiers and others deemed loyal to the Syrian government.
Syrian government troops and allied militia recaptured Tadmor in March.
On the far western side of Homs province, the Lebanese military shelled ISIL positions on Saturday and Sunday in an area of ISIL control that straddles the Lebanese-Syrian border. Those positions, near the northern towns of Ras Baalbek and Qaa, represent the last territory ISIL holds in Lebanon.
Hizbollah, which drove Al Qaeda-affiliated fighters out of their strongholds in northern Lebanon last week, has said it will fight ISIL from the Syrian side of the border and that it is ready to intervene on behalf of the Lebanese military from the Lebanese side as well.
Though the city of Homs was the site of large demonstrations against the government of Syrian president Bashar Al Assad in 2011 and a site of armed rebellion in 2012, the Syrian government recaptured it fully in 2014 after a long siege. Now the only major part of Homs province outside of Syrian government control is a rebel-held pocket north of Homs city that includes the cities of Houleh, Rastan and Talbiseh.
A ceasefire between rebels and the Syrian government went into effect in the area on Thursday but was broken repeatedly by both sides on Saturday and Sunday.
The area under the ceasefire was meant to be the third Russian-brokered “safe-zone” in the country. In recent weeks, Russia has helped arrange truces between the Syrian government and rebels in eastern Damascus and in south-western Syria. But on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported heavy shelling by government forces in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta, saying it was the most serious violation of the ceasefire in that area since it began last month.
The London-based Al Sharq Al Awsatnewspaper reported Sunday that a meeting of Syrian opposition groups, supported by the United Nations, could be held in Saudi Arabia in October. Local deals like the ones brokered by Russia have largely sidelined the opposition activists outside Syria who once claimed to be the only legitimate representatives of the rebel groups battling Mr Al Assad.
The Russian-brokered ceasefires have also produced at least one defection from the array of US-backed rebel groups in Syria.
Shuhada Al Qaryatayn, a rebel group based at Al Tanf near the Syrian-Iraqi border, broke its ties with the US last month after being told that it could engage Syrian government forces following the implementation of a ceasefire in the area around Al Tanf. The US also participated in those negotiations.
The group's announcement led the US to demand the return of heavy weaponry it had provided. But it is not clear whether the group had actually done so.
The spokesman for US forces in Syria and Iraq, Col Ryan Dillon, said on Sunday that Shuhada Al Qaryatayn "have returned heavy weapons and other equipment provided by the Coalition and been allowed to maintain some small arms and light vehicles”.
However, the group has denied that it had any heavy weapons to hand over, and Col Dillon could not specify what kind of weapons the group had given up.
* Additional reporting by Reuters
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
Final round
25 under - Antoine Rozner (FRA)
23 - Francesco Laporta (ITA), Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA), Andy Sullivan (ENG), Matt Wallace (ENG)
21 - Grant Forrest (SCO)
20 - Ross Fisher (ENG)
19 - Steven Brown (ENG), Joakim Lagergren (SWE), Niklas Lemke (SWE), Marc Warren (SCO), Bernd Wiesberger (AUT)
ENGLAND TEAM
England (15-1)
George Furbank; Jonny May, Manu Tuilagi, Owen Farrell (capt), Elliot Daly; George Ford, Ben Youngs; Tom Curry, Sam Underhill, Courtney Lawes; Charlie Ewels, Maro Itoje; Kyle Sinckler, Jamie George, Joe Marler
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, George Kruis, Lewis Ludlam, Willi Heinz, Ollie Devoto, Jonathan Joseph
Top financial tips for graduates
Araminta Robertson, of the Financially Mint blog, shares her financial advice for university leavers:
1. Build digital or technical skills: After graduation, people can find it extremely hard to find jobs. From programming to digital marketing, your early twenties are for building skills. Future employers will want people with tech skills.
2. Side hustle: At 16, I lived in a village and started teaching online, as well as doing work as a virtual assistant and marketer. There are six skills you can use online: translation; teaching; programming; digital marketing; design and writing. If you master two, you’ll always be able to make money.
3. Networking: Knowing how to make connections is extremely useful. Use LinkedIn to find people who have the job you want, connect and ask to meet for coffee. Ask how they did it and if they know anyone who can help you. I secured quite a few clients this way.
4. Pay yourself first: The minute you receive any income, put about 15 per cent aside into a savings account you won’t touch, to go towards your emergency fund or to start investing. I do 20 per cent. It helped me start saving immediately.
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