Live updates: Follow the latest on Syria
The Israeli ground incursion into Syria appeared to have stopped on Tuesday at a constellation of villages on the edge of a militarised zone near the occupied Golan Heights, while Israeli airstrikes in Damascus also stopped.
Rebel sources say that Israeli forces made an incursion of the zone until they reached the town of Khan Arnabeh, 25 kilometres south-west of Damascus. A US brokered deal resulted in the zone in 1974, a year after President Hafez Al Assad launched a failed war to re-capture the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel in 1973.
In Damascus, there have been no reports of new Israeli raids since dawn. The capital has been under Israeli air strikes on compounds belonging to the de facto defunct Syrian army for the last 48 hours. How Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), might respond to the Israeli land grabs remains to be seen.
Leader of the militant group and Syria’s de facto leader Ahmad Al Shara, formerly known as Abu Mohammed Al Jawlani, "is focused on the political transition for now," said a former dissident in direct contact with him. "He will deal with Israel later."
Mr Al Shara , the head of an offshoot of Al Qaeda with channels to Turkey that deposed long-time dictator Bashar Al Assad on Sunday, is said to be considering cabinet positions for a transitional government after naming a new prime minister on Monday, sources have told The National.
He has moved to restore services in the country as he considers choosing ministers in a new cabinet of loyalists, with little connection to the traditional political opposition to the old regime, they said. He met Mohammad Al Jalali, the prime minister of the deposed government, on Monday to co-ordinate bringing back technocrats to work and get essential services up and running.
"He received a briefing on stocks of commodities and fuel," a source told The National. "The priority is also to bring the police on to the streets and the electricity technicians to operate the grid."
Mr Al Shara has "high administrative expertise" at his disposal but will "make use" of the cadres in the defunct Al Assad government, according to excerpts from the meeting. The source said that although Mr Al Shara has designated Mohammed Al Bashir, one of his loyalists, Prime Minister of the new government, it will take several days for the ministerial posts to become official.
The new cabinet is not expected to contain any significant number of members of the main political opposition organisation, formed in 2012 with Arab and western support but riddled with divisions since.
Mr Al Shara "is not returning our calls", said a member of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, a group based in Istanbul.
Mr Al Shara is pressing on with the consolidation of power as Israel mounts intensive raids that have destroyed much of the Syrian army's abandoned military hardware. Israeli troops grabbed a long-established buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights near Damascus, with some countries in the region now fearing yet more chaos.
Mr Al Assad's ousting by HTS after a 12-day blitz through Syria's urban heartland marked the end of the country's 13-year civil war, which started in late 2011, months after the dictator's loyalists used deadly force to crush a pro-democracy protest movement.
It is changing the dynamics of the Middle East after a decade of expansion by Russia and Iran, ideological enemies of Mr Al Shara's Sunni group, which is on the US terrorism list.
In the past several weeks, Mr Al Shara has started using his real name, instead of nom de guerre Abu Mohammed Al Jawlani.
The US State Department has said that based on HTS's actions in Syria, there could be "a change in our sanctions posture".
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
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.”
TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
Fixtures
Friday Leganes v Alaves, 10.15pm; Valencia v Las Palmas, 12.15am
Saturday Celta Vigo v Real Sociedad, 8.15pm; Girona v Atletico Madrid, 10.15pm; Sevilla v Espanyol, 12.15am
Sunday Athletic Bilbao v Getafe, 8.15am; Barcelona v Real Betis, 10.15pm; Deportivo v Real Madrid, 12.15am
Monday Levante v Villarreal, 10.15pm; Malaga v Eibar, midnight
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
