ISIL’s self-declared state has come to an end, Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi said on Thursday after troops took control of the area around Mosul’s Al Nouri mosque, where the terror group’s leader proclaimed its "caliphate" three years ago.
"We are seeing the end of the fake Daesh state," Mr Al Abadi said on his Twitter account.
Iraqi forces advancing into the Old City, the last area of Mosul that has not been cleared of the insurgents, had reported reaching within metres of the mosque at daybreak on Thursday.
The advance by elite counterterrorism units known as the Iraqi Special Operations Forces is the latest incremental gain in a battle that began in October last year, when the operation to liberate Iraq’s second largest city was launched.
ISIL blew up the mosque and its famous leaning minaret on June 21 as troops drew close after launching an offensive into the Old City three days earlier. Although now little more than a pile of rubble next to the base of the minaret, Al Nouri is still a coveted prize laden with symbolism.
ISIL chief Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi strode through the mosque to declare the rebirth of the caliphate, defunct since the end of the Ottoman Empire, from its pulpit in July 2014. The insurgents had just taken Mosul, routing tens of thousands of security personnel and capturing vast amounts of weapons and materiel.
The extremists’ self-proclaimed state at that time stretched across vast swathes of Iraq and Syria, and continued to advance on Baghdad. Iraq’s disintegrating regular army was unable to stem the tide, but eventually elite units, Shiite militia groups and air strikes by the US-led coalition halted the insurgents’ advance.
With the steady support of the coalition, the Iraqi military was rebuilt, while Iran continued its support of the militias, and ISIL’s gains were gradually rolled back over the past three years.
While ISIL is in its death throes in Mosul, declarations of a final victory are premature. The insurgents still hold about half of the maze of narrow alleyways and sturdy stone buildings that make up the Old City. Several hundred of the group’s fighters are thought to still be manning a defence, and thousands of civilians are trapped there, unable to escape until Iraqi forces reach them.
ISIL shoots at families trying to cross the front lines, intent on keeping the civilians as human shields against attacks from the air and the ground. The tactic has not prevented an intensive bombardment of the Old City to destroy ISIL’s defensive positions and set off explosive booby traps. Pushing into the densely packed and heavily destroyed historic core from three sides, Iraqi troops frequently advance over rubble covering the corpses of militants and civilians alike.
ISIL has also managed to infiltrate liberated areas. Up to 50 militants launched a surprise attack in the Tanak and Yarmouk neighbourhoods in west Mosul on Monday, drawing several ISOF units away from the Old City before being killed. Sleeper cells also still pose a problem in east Mosul, which was fully liberated in January.
ISIL continues to have a presence in the deserts of Anbar province in western Iraq. It holds a pocket of land around the town of Hawija, and its jihadists are still holding out in the town of Tel Afar north of Mosul.
Throughout the three years of war, ISIL has been able to launch deadly terror attacks in towns and cities under government control, with Baghdad in particular suffering from repeated bombings.
In Syria, the battle to wrest control of Raqqa, ISIL’s self-declared capital, is far from over, and the group continues to hold sizeable territory around Deir Ezzor.
Vanquishing ISIL in Mosul will nevertheless be a significant victory for the Iraqis. It marks the end of the self-styled caliphate in Iraq, and proves that the insurgents no longer pose an existential threat to the military. The focus will soon shift to eliminating the last pockets of ISIL resistance elsewhere, and to containing the group as an insurgent and terrorist menace.
Company%20Profile
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Tips for taking the metro
- set out well ahead of time
- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines
- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on
- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers
SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday (All UAE kick-off times)
Lecce v SPAL (6pm)
Bologna v Genoa (9pm)
Atlanta v Roma (11.45pm)
Sunday
Udinese v Hellas Verona (3.30pm)
Juventus v Brescia (6pm)
Sampdoria v Fiorentina (6pm)
Sassuolo v Parma (6pm)
Cagliari v Napoli (9pm)
Lazio v Inter Milan (11.45pm)
Monday
AC Milan v Torino (11.45pm)
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
NYBL PROFILE
Company name: Nybl
Date started: November 2018
Founder: Noor Alnahhas, Michael LeTan, Hafsa Yazdni, Sufyaan Abdul Haseeb, Waleed Rifaat, Mohammed Shono
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Software Technology / Artificial Intelligence
Initial investment: $500,000
Funding round: Series B (raising $5m)
Partners/Incubators: Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 4, Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 6, AI Venture Labs Cohort 1, Microsoft Scale-up
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
SPIDER-MAN%3A%20ACROSS%20THE%20SPIDER-VERSE
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Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Kandahar%20
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TWISTERS
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
Starring: Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos
Rating: 2.5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
The five types of long-term residential visas
Obed Suhail of ServiceMarket, an online home services marketplace, outlines the five types of long-term residential visas:
Investors:
A 10-year residency visa can be obtained by investors who invest Dh10 million, out of which 60 per cent should not be in real estate. It can be a public investment through a deposit or in a business. Those who invest Dh5 million or more in property are eligible for a five-year residency visa. The invested amount should be completely owned by the investors, not loaned, and retained for at least three years.
Entrepreneurs:
A five-year multiple entry visa is available to entrepreneurs with a previous project worth Dh0.5m or those with the approval of an accredited business incubator in the UAE.
Specialists
Expats with specialised talents, including doctors, specialists, scientists, inventors, and creative individuals working in the field of culture and art are eligible for a 10-year visa, given that they have a valid employment contract in one of these fields in the country.
Outstanding students:
A five-year visa will be granted to outstanding students who have a grade of 95 per cent or higher in a secondary school, or those who graduate with a GPA of 3.75 from a university.
Retirees:
Expats who are at least 55 years old can obtain a five-year retirement visa if they invest Dh2m in property, have savings of Dh1m or more, or have a monthly income of at least Dh20,000.
Company%20Profile
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The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
