Syrian Kurds wave independence-era flags during a demonstration in support of the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the north-eastern city of Qamishli, on December 19. AFP
Syrian Kurds wave independence-era flags during a demonstration in support of the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the north-eastern city of Qamishli, on December 19. AFP
Syrian Kurds wave independence-era flags during a demonstration in support of the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the north-eastern city of Qamishli, on December 19. AFP
Senior US politicians are worried that a Turkish invasion of Syria's north-east region is imminent and are indicating they are prepared to impose sanctions on Washington's Nato ally.
Republican Senator John Kennedy warned that he is concerned Turkey would invade Syria as the country works to rebuild after opposition forces removed Bashar Al Assad's regime after 13 years of war. Mr Kennedy delivered a speech on the Senate floor this week declaring to Ankara: “Leave the Kurds alone … don't do it.”
Washington has maintained a relatively limited troop presence in Syria, and on Thursday announced the Pentagon had doubled its presence from about 900 to 2,000 soldiers, in partnership with the Syrian Democratic Forces for their anti-ISIS mission. Turkey has accused the Kurdish-led forces of being terrorists.
“If you invade Syria and touch a hair on the head of the Kurds, I'm going to ask this United States Congress to do something,” Mr Kennedy continued. “And our sanctions are not going to help the economy of Turkey. I don't want to do that.”
Leading senators from both parties – Democrat Chris Van Hollen and Republican Lindsey Graham – this week threatened sanctions against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan if Ankara-backed forces do not achieve a ceasefire deal with the Kurds in north-east Syria.
The senators accused Turkey of refusing “to extend the ceasefire, including an offer for a demilitarised zone along the border, particularly the city of Kobani”.
“While Turkey has some legitimate security concerns that can be addressed, these developments are undermining regional security and the United States cannot sit idly by,” Mr Van Hollen and Mr Graham wrote in a statement.
“In the wake of the Assad regime’s fall, Turkish-backed forces have ramped up attacks against our Syrian-Kurdish partners, once again threatening the vital mission of preventing the resurgence of ISIS.”
US sanctions could have real implications for Ankara, said Yerevan Saeed, director of the Global Kurdish Initiative for Peace at the American University in Washington.
“The Turkish economy is not doing well. Inflation is very, very high. The lira has been declining. So the hope by the senators, by people in Washington DC, the policymakers, is that these sanctions are going to deter President Erdogan from invading Rojava,” he told The National.
“Whether that's going to stop Turkey or not is really unknown.”
Mr Saeed said the “Kurds are very, very concerned, not just from the leadership level, but also the people and the public” about Turkey moving into Syria. But some doubt whether Turkish military action is an imminent threat.
Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the Washington-based Syrian Emergency Task Force, recently returned from Damascus where he was searching for American detainee Austin Tice.
“People may be blowing things out of proportion by calling on sanctions to a Nato ally when we haven't seen any major military operations by Turkey in north-east Syria," he said.
This week, Turkey appointed an interim charge d'affaires to run its embassy in Damascus, after Ankara's intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin visited the Syrian capital.
Mr Moustafa said such shows of engagement are going to be critical in building stability in Syria, including in the north-east.
“I think it all goes back to the new Damascus government. Are they going to be able to cut some sort of deal with the SDF, YPG [Kurdish People's Defence Units], PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party] elements, and ensure the security and stability of north-east Syria, alongside the rest of the country and making sure that there are no crimes against the Kurds or any other part of the Syrian mosaic,” he told The National.
Mr Saeed said, however, that Turkish troops are not on the border “to have a picnic”.
But he also stressed: “Turkey has a very historic opportunity to reconcile with the Kurds in Syria, in the same way … President Erdogan was able to change the Turkish policy towards the Kurds in Iraq. It will be a really win-win situation for everyone. There will be lots of opportunity for the Turkish companies to come and invest in Rojava, instead of making these military threats, which will be destabilising.”
The incoming government in Washington could further complicate the US stance towards Syria and Turkey.
President-elect Donald Trump, who assumes power next month and has indicated a more hands-off approach to Syria, called the removal of Mr Al Assad an “unfriendly takeover” orchestrated by Turkey.
“I think Turkey is very smart … Turkey did an unfriendly takeover, without a lot of lives being lost. I can say that Assad was a butcher, what he did to children,” the Republican added.
Mr Trump has cast doubt on Washington's small presence in Syria, and tried to withdraw completely during his first presidency.
Mr Saeed told The National that such a move would be unwise: “The value of the US and the western countries are getting is really high and huge, because the US troops are there for intelligence and also provide the support for the Kurdish fighters … If the US would withdraw, of course, that would that will pave the way for ISIS to return."
Others have called for a rethink of Washington's anti-ISIS mission after the fall of the Assad regime, including former US ambassador to Damascus, Robert Ford.
“YPG-led forces have failed to achieve the enduring defeat of ISIS. After six years, time for an American rethink of strategy,” Mr Ford wrote in a post on X in response to the senators' sanctions threat.
Reuters quoted Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler as saying that “in the new period, the PKK/YPG terrorist organisation in Syria will be eliminated sooner or later”.
Contrary to Washington's assessment, Mr Guler said Turkey saw no sign of a resurgence of ISIS in Syria.
For Mr Moustafa, international engagement with the new government is ultimately going to be critical for Syria and for US regional interests there.
“Syria isn't going to become a democracy overnight. But Syria is now the closest Arab country to a democracy than any other Arab country. That's a fact, and the promises of the government and their actions have really been reassuring,” he said.
“The new government in Damascus deserves the international community's support to help them on their way to becoming a democratic republic, not to continue to hear concern and calling all the Syrians terrorists when they have liberated their country from the terrorists themselves.”
On Thursday, the top Democrats on the Senate and House foreign affairs committees introduced a resolution that “underscores the importance of protecting religious and ethnic minorities, including Syrian Kurds, Yazidis and Chaldeans” in Syria, and called on the State Department to increase humanitarian aid.
The resolution notes that “Syrian opposition forces have repeatedly signalled their intent to respect the rights and dignity of religious and ethnic minorities in Syria, but there have been incidents of members of such minorities fleeing their homes, while there is documented violence and expulsions against Kurdish communities by elements of the Syrian National Army”.
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus
In numbers
1,000 tonnes of waste collected daily:
800 tonnes converted into alternative fuel
150 tonnes to landfill
50 tonnes sold as scrap metal
800 tonnes of RDF replaces 500 tonnes of coal
Two conveyor lines treat more than 350,000 tonnes of waste per year
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
Who is playing New England Patriots v Los Angeles Rams
Where Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, United States
When Sunday (start time is 3.30am on Monday UAE time)
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Five expert hiking tips
Always check the weather forecast before setting off
Make sure you have plenty of water
Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
Take your litter home with you
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.
It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."
Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.
“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.
“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."
We weren’t supposed to survive but we did.
We weren’t supposed to remember but we did.
We weren’t supposed to write but we did.
We weren’t supposed to fight but we did.
We weren’t supposed to organise but we did.
We weren’t supposed to rap but we did.
We weren’t supposed to find allies but we did.
We weren’t supposed to grow communities but we did.
We weren’t supposed to return but WE ARE.
Amira Sakalla
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
