BEIRUT // Syria was hit by the third lethal car bombing of the weekend yesterday as UN teams readied for a government-led humanitarian mission and to work to launch a monitoring operation to end a year of bloodshed.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the latest blast targeted political security offices in the northern city of Aleppo, killing three civilians and wounding more than 25 others.
Syria's scattered opposition faced a harsh security crackdown yesterday aimed at preventing rallies marking one year since the first nationwide demonstrations of the country's uprising against President Bashar Al Assad.
Activists said security forces and pro-government thugs swiftly dispersed an anti-regime rally in the capital Damascus and arrested opposition leaders.
They said the deployment of government snipers and tanks, as well as clashes between rebels and regime forces, deterred major demonstrations in some other parts of the country.
The anniversary falls after government offensives against rebel enclaves in the central city of Homs, the northern town of Idlib and the uprising's birthplace in the city of Deraa.
On Saturday, twin car bombings killed 27 people and wounded 140 others in the heart of Syria's capital, mostly civilians, the interior ministry said, blaming "terrorists" for the attacks near police and air force headquarters.
State media, charging that such attacks are aimed at sabotaging efforts to find a political solution to Syria's crisis, said yesterday's bomb exploded near residential buildings and a post office.
It left dead and wounded, causing heavy damage to apartment buildings, state television reported, without giving a precise toll for the latest attack in Aleppo, the target of car bombings on February 10 that killed 28 people. The spotty turnout shows how armed confrontation has largely eclipsed the mass popular demonstrations that originally drove the uprising.
Many activists consider March 18, 2011, the start of the popular uprising seeking to oust authoritarian president Mr Al Assad. Thousands took to the streets in cities across Syria on that day, and security forces killed marchers in Deraa.
Since then, Mr Al Assad's security forces have violently sought to crush all signs of dissent, and protest and international condemnation have spread. Many in the opposition have taken up arms to defend themselves and attack government forces as the increasingly militarized conflict has become one of the bloodiest of the Arab Spring.
The United Nations says more than 8,000 people have been killed. The government says more than 2,000 of its forces have also been killed.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on an activist network in Syria, said the Syrian army and pro-government thugs fired guns and arrested leaders while breaking up a rally of hundreds of marchers in Damascus.
Throughout the uprising, Damascus has remained an Assad stronghold, with many in the country's business class and minority communities standing by the president. Tens of thousands rallied in support of him last week.
On Saturday, two suicide bombings in the city killed 27 people. The government blamed them on the opposition, which it says is made up of "terrorist" groups acting out a foreign conspiracy.
Some opposition leaders accused the regime of complicity in the attacks to tarnish the uprising. No group has claimed responsibility.
Activists elsewhere said security forces hampered plans to mark the day, opening fire on marchers in the provinces of Idlib in the north and Deir Al Zour in the east.
Tight security, including army checkpoints on main roads and snipers on government buildings, restricted plans in the southern city of Deraa, considered the birthplace of the uprising.
Nearby activist Adel Al Omari said at the uprising's start, people from the surrounding regions flooded in to participate in protests. Now many fear leaving their villages.
"They have a hard time because there are many more checkpoints in and around the city," he said. "They can't have a big protests, only small quick ones that are spread out. If they get too big or last too long, the army will come and crack down."
A number of armed rebel groups fighting under the banner of the loose-knit Free Syrian Army regularly clash with government forces in the area, and activists posted videos online yesterday of a highway bridge they said had been destroyed by opposition fighters near the village of Khirbet Ghazaleh. The attacks sought to block the army from bringing more tanks and other military reinforcements into the area.
The Syrian government has barred most media from operating in the country, and activist claims could not be independently verified.
International diplomacy has failed to stop the bloodshed.
The US and many Arab and European countries have called on Mr Al Assad to step down, while Russia and China have protected Syria from censure by the U.N. Security Council. They warn against foreign intervention and fear that an anti-regime resolution could open the door to an international military campaign, as happened against Muammar Qaddafi in Libya last year.
Joint UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan is sending a team to Damascus today for meetings with the regime.
In recent talks with Mr Al Assad in Syria, Mr Annan pushed for an immediate ceasefire to allow for dialogue among all parties on a political solution.
Syria responded to Mr Annan in a letter seen by The Associated Press on Friday that it is "keen to end violence" but insisted that rebels give up their weapons first. That response falls short of US and European demands that regime forces stop fighting first - and even Russia's insistence that both sides stop fighting simultaneously.
Most leaders in Syria's disorganised opposition reject talks with the regime, saying it has killed too many people for dialogue to be an option.
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
FINAL LEADERBOARD
1. Jordan Spieth (USA) 65 69 65 69 - 12-under-par
2. Matt Kuchar (USA) 65 71 66 69 - 9-under
3. Li Haotong (CHN) 69 73 69 63 - 6-under
T4. Rory McIlroy (NIR) 71 68 69 67 - 5-under
T4. Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP) 67 73 67 68 - 5-under
T6. Marc Leishman (AUS) 69 76 66 65 - 4-under
T6. Matthew Southgate (ENG) 72 72 67 65 - 4-under
T6. Brooks Koepka (USA) 65 72 68 71 - 4-under
T6. Branden Grace (RSA) 70 74 62 70 - 4-under
T6. Alexander Noren (SWE) 68 72 69 67 - 4-under
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The%20specs
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The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
Honeymoonish
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More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Key developments in maritime dispute
2000: Israel withdraws from Lebanon after nearly 30 years without an officially demarcated border. The UN establishes the Blue Line to act as the frontier.
2007: Lebanon and Cyprus define their respective exclusive economic zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration. Israel uses this to define its EEZ with Cyprus
2011: Lebanon disputes Israeli-proposed line and submits documents to UN showing different EEZ. Cyprus offers to mediate without much progress.
2018: Lebanon signs first offshore oil and gas licencing deal with consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.
2018-2019: US seeks to mediate between Israel and Lebanon to prevent clashes over oil and gas resources.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company%20profile
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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.
The biog
First Job: Abu Dhabi Department of Petroleum in 1974
Current role: Chairperson of Al Maskari Holding since 2008
Career high: Regularly cited on Forbes list of 100 most powerful Arab Businesswomen
Achievement: Helped establish Al Maskari Medical Centre in 1969 in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region
Future plan: Will now concentrate on her charitable work
The rules of the road keeping cyclists safe
Cyclists must wear a helmet, arm and knee pads
Have a white front-light and a back red-light on their bike
They must place a number plate with reflective light to the back of the bike to alert road-users
Avoid carrying weights that could cause the bike to lose balance
They must cycle on designated lanes and areas and ride safe on pavements to avoid bumping into pedestrians
FIGHT CARD
From 5.30pm in the following order:
Featherweight
Marcelo Pontes (BRA) v Azouz Anwar (EGY)
Catchweight 90kg
Moustafa Rashid Nada (KSA) v Imad Al Howayeck (LEB)
Welterweight
Mohammed Al Khatib (JOR) v Gimbat Ismailov (RUS)
Flyweight (women)
Lucie Bertaud (FRA) v Kelig Pinson (BEL)
Lightweight
Alexandru Chitoran (BEL) v Regelo Enumerables Jr (PHI)
Catchweight 100kg
Mohamed Ali (EGY) v Marc Vleiger (NED)
Featherweight
James Bishop (AUS) v Mark Valerio (PHI)
Welterweight
Gerson Carvalho (BRA) v Abdelghani Saber (EGY)
Middleweight
Bakhtiyar Abbasov (AZE) v Igor Litoshik (BLR)
Bantamweight:
Fabio Mello (BRA) v Mark Alcoba (PHI)
Welterweight
Ahmed Labban (LEB) v Magomedsultan Magemedsultanov (RUS)
Bantamweight
Trent Girdham (AUS) v Jayson Margallo (PHI)
Lightweight
Usman Nurmagomedov (RUS) v Roman Golovinov (UKR)
Middleweight
Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Steve Kennedy (AUS)
Lightweight
Dan Moret (USA) v Anton Kuivanen (FIN)
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
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Manchester United v Barcelona, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
How Voiss turns words to speech
The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen
The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser
This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen
A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB
The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free
Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards
Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser
Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages
At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness
More than 90 per cent live in developing countries
The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
