US fighter jets on Friday carried out precision strikes against two sites in eastern Syria used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and groups it backs, the Pentagon said.
The strikes came hours after two new attacks on US forces in Syria and Iraq.
President Joe Biden this week warned Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that the US would respond to additional attacks. Pentagon press secretary Brig Gen Pat Ryder said on Thursday that any response would come “at a time and place of our choosing”.
A US defence official told The National that the strikes, using precision munitions, were deemed to have been successful. They came hours after two previously unreported attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria, a second defence official said.
Mr Biden ordered the US strikes, which the Pentagon said took out weapons and munitions storage centres connected to the IRGC.
“These precision self-defence strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against US personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on October 17,” US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.
“These Iranian-backed attacks against US forces are unacceptable and must stop.”
Brig Gen Ryder said an F-16 and an F-15 had conducted the “self-defence” strikes that destroyed weapons and ammunition storage facilities.
At least 21 US personnel have experienced “minor injuries” in rocket and drone attacks in Iraq and Syria since October 17, the Pentagon said.
Within hours of the Pentagon briefing, US troops were attacked again, once in Syria and once in Iraq, the second defence official told The National. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
“There have been more attacks unfortunately,” the official said.
The the precision strikes took place at about 4.30am on Friday in Syria (5.30am UAE time) near Abu Kamal, a Syrian town on the border with Iraq.
“The purpose of those two sites that we targeted was to have a significant impact on future IRGC and Iran-backed militia group operations,” White House National Security spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
“It went right at storage facilities and ammo depots that we know will be used to support the work of these militia groups and particularly in Syria.”
Joe Biden warns Iran: 'Be careful' - video
The senior US military official said there had been Iranian-aligned militia and IRGC personnel on the base and no civilians.
Mr Austin emphasised that the US is not seeking to expand conflict or engage in further hostilities.
But “if attacks by Iran's proxies against US forces continue, we will not hesitate to take further necessary measures to protect our people”.
The US is trying to contain the Israel-Gaza war to stop it from escalating into a regional conflict.
The strikes were “separate and distinct from the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, and do not constitute a shift in the US approach to the Israel-Hamas conflict”, Brig Gen Ryder said.
As regional tension soars, US and coalition troops have been attacked at least 14 times in Iraq and six times in Syria, Brig Gen Ryder said.
“Most of these attacks were disrupted by defensive measures and failed to reach their targets,” he noted.
The 21 US forces members who suffered injuries have all returned to duty, the Pentagon said. A contractor died of a heart attack while seeking shelter.
Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, said the Biden administration had played down Iran's role in the October 7 Hamas attack in an attempt to preserve the possibility of a new nuclear deal with Tehran.
“Iran will always escalate until they perceive that doing so will lead to a direct military confrontation with the United States – something they avoid at all cost,” Mr Goldberg told The National.
“To deter Iran, you can't turn the other cheek – that only invites escalation and miscalculation in Tehran.”
He described the US strikes as “the least escalatory response on the menu of options” available to Mr Biden.
Warships and troops sent to region
The US has sent more warships and fighter jets to the region over the past three weeks.
On Thursday, the Pentagon said about 900 more American troops had arrived in the Middle East or were heading there to bolster air defences for US personnel.
Israel said on Friday that military raids into Gaza were in preparation for “the next stage of the operation” as fears grew that a ground invasion of the Palestinian enclave could spark a wider Middle East conflict.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has bombarded the densely populated Gaza Strip since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israeli communities.
The militant group killed about 1,400 people including children and took more than 200 hostages, some of them infants and older adults.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry said on Thursday that more than 7,000 Palestinians had been killed in the retaliatory air strikes, including about 3,000 children.
A missile launched during fighting between Hamas and Israel struck an Egyptian resort town about 220km from the Gaza Strip early on Friday, Al Qahera News reported.
The missile hit a medical centre in Taba, wounding at least six people, according to the report.
MATCH INFO
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Verona 1 (Verre 19' pen)
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Founded: September, 2020
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Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
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The Bloomberg Billionaire Index in full
1 Jeff Bezos $140 billion
2 Bill Gates $98.3 billion
3 Bernard Arnault $83.1 billion
4 Warren Buffett $83 billion
5 Amancio Ortega $67.9 billion
6 Mark Zuckerberg $67.3 billion
7 Larry Page $56.8 billion
8 Larry Ellison $56.1 billion
9 Sergey Brin $55.2 billion
10 Carlos Slim $55.2 billion
What is an ETF?
An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.
There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.
The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash.
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ATP RANKINGS (NOVEMBER 4)
1. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 9,585 pts ( 1)
2. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 8,945 (-1)
3. Roger Federer (SUI) 6,190
4. Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 5,705
5. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 5,025
6. Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 4,000 ( 1)
7. Alexander Zverev (GER) 2,945 (-1)
8. Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 2,670 ( 1)
9. Roberto Bautista (ESP) 2,540 ( 1)
10. Gaël Monfils (FRA) 2,530 ( 3)
11. David Goffin (BEL) 2,335 ( 3)
12. Fabio Fognini (ITA) 2,290
13. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 2,180 (-2)
14. Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 2,125 ( 1)
15. Denis Shapovalov (CAN) 2,050 ( 13)
16. Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 2,000
17. Karen Khachanov (RUS) 1,840 (-9)
18. Alex De Minaur (AUS) 1,775
19. John Isner (USA) 1,770 (-2)
20. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 1,747 ( 7)
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.”
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Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Sunday:
GP3 race: 12:10pm
Formula 2 race: 1:35pm
Formula 1 race: 5:10pm
Performance: Guns N' Roses
Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
PROFILE
Name: Enhance Fitness
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 200
Amount raised: $3m
Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors
Brighton 1
Gross (50' pen)
Tottenham 1
Kane (48)
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
