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Four Iranian soldiers were killed in Saturday morning's Israeli air strikes on Iran that were in retaliation for the missiles it fired at Israel earlier this month.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry called the attacks “a blatant violation of international law” and said Iran “considers itself entitled and obligated to defend against external aggressive acts”.
Four Iranian military personnel, all from air defence units, were killed in the air strikes, the official Irna news agency reported on Saturday evening, doubling the toll announced earlier in the day.
Some hours after launching the air strikes, Israel said they had been concluded and warned Iran against responding.
Earlier, shortly after a number of blasts were heard in the Iranian capital, Tehran, Israel's military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari issued a video statement in which he said that “in response to months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran” the Israeli military was “conducting precise strikes on military targets in Iran”.
“The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7 – on seven fronts – including direct attacks from Iranian soil,” he said, adding in a later statement that the retaliatory military operations had ended.
The UAE strongly condemned the strike on Iran, expressing its deep concern over the continued escalation and the repercussions on security and stability in the region. Saudi Arabia also condemned the attack on Iran as a “violation of its sovereignty” and international law. Expressing its solidarity with Iran, the Syrian foreign ministry said it supported “Iran's legitimate right to defend itself and protect its territory and the lives of its citizens”.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Saturday that Iran should not respond to Israeli strikes, urging restraint on all sides.
This is the first time Israel's military has openly attacked Iran, following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s promise to hit back after Iran fired about 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1. The strike took place just a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken left the Middle East, where he urged Israel to temper its response to Iran.
Israel's military said it intercepted a drone crossing into Israel from Lebanon on Saturday, hours after Israel's strike on Iran.
Iranian state media reported explosions in Tehran after Israel announced striking Iran's capital. Iran’s military said the strikes targeted military bases in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces and caused “limited damage”. It did not elaborate.
“In the early hours of Saturday, several explosions were heard in Tehran,” Irna said. Mehr news agency said: “Reports suggest that some of the loud sounds were cause by the operation of air defence systems.”
The success of the attacks was not immediately clear, but news outlets NBC and CBS quoted an anonymous US official who said the Israeli strike had not targeted oilfields or nuclear sites. The US urged Iran to stop attacking Israel to break the cycle of violence.
“We urge Iran to cease its attacks on Israel so that this cycle of fighting can end without further escalation,” AFP cited US National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett as telling reporters.
Saudi Arabia condemned Israel's attack and urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint. It also called on the international community to take action towards de-escalation and ending conflicts in the region, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
According to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-linked Fars news agency, several military bases in the west and south-west of Tehran were among the targets. Hours after the first attack, Iranian media reported air defences had been reactivated over Tehran.
Semi-official news agency Tasnim cited an unnamed source who said that “Iran reserves the right and is ready to respond to any Israeli attack. There is no doubt that Israel will receive the appropriate response to any move [against Iran],” the source added.
Iran resumed airline flights as normal from 9am local time on Saturday, Tasnim reported, shortly after Israel said it concluded its strikes. Earlier, several flights were cancelled at Khomeini Airport in Tehran, according to the airport's website. Among the affected flights, at least four departures and two arrivals were halted.
Civilian aircraft-tracking website Flightradar24 showed that no commercial planes were approaching Tehran around the time of the attack and after. Hours later, Iran had announced the suspension of air traffic at all airports.
Saturday's air strikes follow weeks of speculation about how and when Israel would retaliate for Iran's October 1 missile attack, following an alleged leak of classified US intelligence documents describing Israel's preparations for an attack.
Earlier, Mr Savett said Washington understood that “Israel is conducting targeted strikes against military targets in Iran as an exercise of self-defence and in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel on October 1”.
“The US was informed beforehand and there is no US involvement,” a defence official told The National. A senior administration official also said that “the United States is not participating in this Israeli military operation”.
The White House said President Joe Biden had been briefed and would continue to receive updates. A White House official said that Vice President Kamala Harris has also been briefed on the incident and will “closely following developments”.
Attack on Syria
The Syrian army said Israel targeted missiles at military sites in the southern and central regions of the country in the early hours of the morning. The state-owned news agency Sana quoted a military official as saying that “air defence systems were activated in response to the aggression”, which came from “the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights and Lebanese airspace”.
He said the Israeli missile barrage began around 2am local time, describing it as “air aggression aimed at military locations”, and that “the full extent of the damage is still being assessed”.
Residents in areas under the control of the central authorities said on Telegram groups that explosions were heard near Damascus, as well as in the central governorate of Homs, the city of Mesyaf in the adjoining Hama governorate, and the southern governorate of Suwaida.
Israeli planes, they said, either struck targets in these areas, or the explosions were due to air defences trying to intercept Israeli planes, possibly on their way to Iran.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, reported that Syrian air defences had fired at Israeli fighter jets, which were reportedly heading towards Iran. To reach Tehran, Israeli planes would need to cross neighbouring airspaces. One route would be through Jordan and Iraq, while the other would be through Syria and Iraq.
Jordan has already stated it will not allow its airspace to be used for such operations.
– With reports from Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Jordan
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 611bhp
Torque: 620Nm
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Price: upon application
On sale: now
Pad Man
Dir: R Balki
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte
Three-and-a-half stars
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
RESULTS
Manchester United 2
Anthony Martial 30'
Scott McTominay 90 6'
Manchester City 0
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
Gifts exchanged
- King Charles - replica of President Eisenhower Sword
- Queen Camilla - Tiffany & Co vintage 18-carat gold, diamond and ruby flower brooch
- Donald Trump - hand-bound leather book with Declaration of Independence
- Melania Trump - personalised Anya Hindmarch handbag
Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
Results
4pm: Maiden (Dirt) Dh165,000 1,600m
Winner: Moshaher, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer).
4.35pm: Handicap (D) Dh165,000 2,200m
Winner: Heraldic, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
5.10pm: Maiden (Turf) Dh165,000 1,600m
Winner: Rua Augusta, Harry Bentley, Ahmad bin Harmash.
5.45pm: Handicap (D) Dh190,000 1,200m
Winner: Private’s Cove, Mickael Barzalona, Sandeep Jadhav.
6.20pm: Handicap (T) Dh190,000 1,600m
Winner: Azmaam, Jim Crowley, Musabah Al Muhairi.
6.55pm: Handicap (D) Dh190,000 1,400m
Winner: Bochart, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
7.30pm: Handicap (T) Dh190,000 2,000m
Winner: Rio Tigre, Mickael Barzalona, Sandeep Jadhav.
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.
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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.”
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last-16, second leg (first-leg scores in brackets):
PSG (2) v Manchester United (0)
Midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports
If you go
The flights
Return flights from Dubai to Santiago, via Sao Paolo cost from Dh5,295 with Emirates.
The trip
A five-day trip (not including two days of flight travel) was split between Santiago and in Puerto Varas, with more time spent in the later where excursions were organised by TurisTour.
When to go
The summer months, from December to February are best though there is beauty in each season
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
