The Syrian government has stepped up its offensive to recapture areas of the country's south over the weekend with an aerial offensive involving barrel bombs, missiles and outlawed munitions, forcing as many as 20,000 civilians to flee.
President Bashar Al Assad has vowed to press an offensive against rebel-held areas of southern Syria despite an internationally backed "de-escalation" deal was reached between the US, Russia and Jordan last year.
Government forces dropped napalm – which is banned internationally – and phosphorus, opposition officials claimed.
"For the first time, the regime has dropped 12 barrel bombs since the de-escalation agreement on villages northeastern Daraa. Four were dropped this morning [Saturday] on Busr al-Harir," said Col Saber Sifer, the political representative of a south Syrian FSA group called the Hamza division.
"We remain committed to the de-escalation agreement, but the regime has intensified artillery shells and missile strikes. It has also used napalm on the town of Masaifra against civilians in the countryside of Daraa." The use of napalm against civilians is banned under international law but has taken place on dozens of occasions during the seven-year Syrian civil war.
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Syrian regime drops barrel bombs in Daraa
Thousands of Syrian flee as regime steps up bombardment in the south
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Government forces also attacked Busr Al Harir and Musaifra with phosphorus, according to Bashar Zoubi, a political representative with a rebel umbrella group in southern Syria. The attack caused a number of injuries and forced more people to flee to safer areas in the south, he said.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday that 12,500 have fled their neighbourhoods in the past few days. But as fighting intensified, a civil defence operation room in Daraa estimated that 20,000 had left by Saturday morning. Rebels said the numbers were increasing and families are struggling to find shelter and complained of a shortage of tents, flour and milk.
"So far 20,000 people have fled their areas since the attacks started, mostly from the eastern parts of Daraa to areas near the Jordanian borders. And the numbers are increasing by the day," said Mr Zoubi, who is based in Turkey.
“The regime has intensified its offensive while, unfortunately, we have not seen any action by the guarantors. The US has issued warnings, but the Assad regime continued its offensive. We will not give up. We are still looking for an international intervention to end the fighting and to reach a political solution.”
Mr Al Assad's military offensive has caused anxiety in Jordan, one of the guarantors of the de-escalation agreement which has largely held for almost a year. The collapse of the ceasefire agreement signed in July 2017 risks regional instability, could undermine Jordan and may deepen the conflict between Israel and Iran.
Jordan is host to 1.3 million Syrians - 650,000 of whom are registered by the UNHCR. It fears an influx of refugees on its borders.
Some of the areas that citizens fled to are a few kilometres from the Jordanian border.
King Abdullah of Jordan arrived in Washington on Friday and is expected to discuss the situation with US officials.
Ayman Safadi, the Jordanian foreign minister, said in a tweet that Jordan was intensifying its contacts with its partners in the de-escalation deal to safeguard the ceasefire agreement.
"We are closely monitoring the developments and stress the need to respect the agreement. We are working to prevent the explosion of violence. Our borders and interests are protected," he said.
In a report issued on Thursday, the International Crisis Group warned that in the absence of a negotiated deal, the alternative is a full-scale Syrian military offensive in the south-west that would come at a terrible cost to civilians, to Jordan, to Israel as well as Syria and its Iranian and Russian allies.
However, it said there is still room for a negotiated alternative, but only if all sides recognise the opportunity and seize it.
“There’s still a window for a negotiated alternative, but not for long,” said Sam Heller, senior analyst at International Crisis Group. “The de-escalation deal can be preserved, and built on. But all sides will have to commit to negotiations, especially the Americans.”
A big offensive risks a wider escalation, as the US has warned Damascus it will respond to breaches of a de-escalation brokered by Washington and Russia last year to contain the war in the south-west.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday demanded an immediate end to military escalation in southwestern Syria, saying he was "concerned at the significant risks these offensives pose to regional security," a spokesman for the UN chief said.
Nikki Haley, US Ambassador to the United Nations, said on Friday that the Syrian military escalation "unambiguously violates" the de-escalation arrangement and that more than 11,000 people had been displaced.
"Russia will ultimately bear responsibility for any further escalations in Syria," Ms Haley said.
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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
The biog
Age: 32
Qualifications: Diploma in engineering from TSI Technical Institute, bachelor’s degree in accounting from Dubai’s Al Ghurair University, master’s degree in human resources from Abu Dhabi University, currently third years PHD in strategy of human resources.
Favourite mountain range: The Himalayas
Favourite experience: Two months trekking in Alaska
Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books
The biog
Name: Greg Heinricks
From: Alberta, western Canada
Record fish: 56kg sailfish
Member of: International Game Fish Association
Company: Arabian Divers and Sportfishing Charters
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League last 16, second leg
Liverpool (0) v Atletico Madrid (1)
Venue: Anfield
Kick-off: Thursday, March 12, midnight
Live: On beIN Sports HD
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
LIGUE 1 FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Friday
Nice v Angers (9pm)
Lille v Monaco (10.45pm)
Saturday
Montpellier v Paris Saint-Germain (7pm)
Bordeaux v Guingamp (10pm)
Caen v Amiens (10pm)
Lyon v Dijon (10pm)
Metz v Troyes (10pm)
Sunday
Saint-Etienne v Rennes (5pm)
Strasbourg v Nantes (7pm)
Marseille v Toulouse (11pm)
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
'Gold'
Director:Anthony Hayes
Stars:Zaf Efron, Anthony Hayes
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.”
Visit Abu Dhabi culinary team's top Emirati restaurants in Abu Dhabi
Yadoo’s House Restaurant & Cafe
For the karak and Yoodo's house platter with includes eggs, balaleet, khamir and chebab bread.
Golden Dallah
For the cappuccino, luqaimat and aseeda.
Al Mrzab Restaurant
For the shrimp murabian and Kuwaiti options including Kuwaiti machboos with kebab and spicy sauce.
Al Derwaza
For the fish hubul, regag bread, biryani and special seafood soup.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
