Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, on Monday arrived in Saudi Arabia, where discussions with Russian officials aimed at ending the war in Ukraine are set to take place.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov arrived in Riyadh later in the day. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the talks would focus primarily on “restoring the entire complex of US-Russian relations, as well as preparing possible talks on the Ukrainian settlement and organising a meeting of the two presidents".
Mr Rubio was in Tel Aviv before heading to Riyadh, where he is set to meet Saudi leaders before continuing on to the UAE. It is his first tour of the Middle East in his new role in President Donald Trump's administration.
Accompanying Mr Rubio on the trip are Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz. The talks, scheduled for Tuesday, follow a phone conversation between Mr Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, after which the US President directed senior officials to initiate negotiations on the war in Ukraine, which he repeatedly vowed to end during his presidential campaign.
Saudi Arabia has positioned itself increasingly as a mediator in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, leveraging its ties with both sides. Analysts suggest Mr Trump’s choice of Riyadh as the venue for the talks is a logical move.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also in the region. He told reporters in Kyiv in a video conference on Monday from the UAE that Ukraine “knew nothing about” the talks, which will have “no result” without its involvement.
“We cannot recognise anything or any agreements about us without us,” he said.
Mr Zelenskyy added that he plans to ask Saudi officials during meetings this week about the details of the US-Russia talks. He is set to arrive in Riyadh on Wednesday — a visit that was planned in advance and is unrelated to the US-Russia discussions.
At the weekend, Mr Zelenskyy told US media he informed Mr Trump that the Russian President is pretending he wants a deal only because he is “afraid of him”.
Future of Gaza
Mr Rubio met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia, where discussions are likely to focus on Mr Trump’s proposal for the resettlement of Gaza’s Palestinian population into other Arab nations, with the US then leading the reconstruction of Gaza.
The plan has faced fierce resistance across the region. Arab nations, including Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, have strongly opposed the proposal, forming a united front to block it. Even Washington’s closest allies in the region have recoiled at the idea.
Gaza has been devastated by the war that broke out when Iran-backed militants Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage, according to Israeli tallies. The offensive Israel launched in response killed more than 48,200 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, before an agreement reached last month brought about the current fragile ceasefire, which is still holding.
Prince Mohammed has repeatedly said Saudi Arabia would not establish relations with Israel – a long-standing US goal – without a clear agreement on a pathway to Palestinian statehood.
After meeting with Mr Rubio, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was working to make Mr Trump's plan to remove and resettle Gaza's population “a reality”.
Iran mediation
Reports emerged ahead of Mr Rubio’s visit that Saudi Arabia is open to mediating between the Trump administration and Iran to bring about a new agreement on Tehran's nuclear programme, according to CNN. This comes after a series of regional shifts, including the weakening of Iran's allied forces in the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia's willingness to act as an intermediary reflects its strategic interest in regional stability and preventing Iran from advancing its nuclear capabilities. The kingdom aims to use its relationship with Mr Trump to provide a diplomatic channel for Iran to engage with the US, CNN reported.
Israel and the US remain committed to countering Iran’s nuclear ambitions and regional influence, Mr Netanyahu said on Sunday after his meeting with Mr Rubio.
Saudi Arabia and Iran restored diplomatic ties in March 2023, in a deal brokered by China.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
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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
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Attacks on Egypt’s long rooted Copts
Egypt’s Copts belong to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, with Mark the Evangelist credited with founding their church around 300 AD. Orthodox Christians account for the overwhelming majority of Christians in Egypt, with the rest mainly made up of Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans.
The community accounts for some 10 per cent of Egypt’s 100 million people, with the largest concentrations of Christians found in Cairo, Alexandria and the provinces of Minya and Assiut south of Cairo.
Egypt’s Christians have had a somewhat turbulent history in the Muslim majority Arab nation, with the community occasionally suffering outright persecution but generally living in peace with their Muslim compatriots. But radical Muslims who have first emerged in the 1970s have whipped up anti-Christian sentiments, something that has, in turn, led to an upsurge in attacks against their places of worship, church-linked facilities as well as their businesses and homes.
More recently, ISIS has vowed to go after the Christians, claiming responsibility for a series of attacks against churches packed with worshippers starting December 2016.
The discrimination many Christians complain about and the shift towards religious conservatism by many Egyptian Muslims over the last 50 years have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to migrate, starting new lives in growing communities in places as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States.
Here is a look at major attacks against Egypt's Coptic Christians in recent years:
November 2: Masked gunmen riding pickup trucks opened fire on three buses carrying pilgrims to the remote desert monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor south of Cairo, killing 7 and wounding about 20. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
May 26, 2017: Masked militants riding in three all-terrain cars open fire on a bus carrying pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, killing 29 and wounding 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
April 2017: Twin attacks by suicide bombers hit churches in the coastal city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta. At least 43 people are killed and scores of worshippers injured in the Palm Sunday attack, which narrowly missed a ceremony presided over by Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt Orthodox Copts, in Alexandria's St. Mark's Cathedral. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
February 2017: Hundreds of Egyptian Christians flee their homes in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, fearing attacks by ISIS. The group's North Sinai affiliate had killed at least seven Coptic Christians in the restive peninsula in less than a month.
December 2016: A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo kills 30 people and wounds dozens during Sunday Mass in one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory. ISIS claimed responsibility.
July 2016: Pope Tawadros II says that since 2013 there were 37 sectarian attacks on Christians in Egypt, nearly one incident a month. A Muslim mob stabs to death a 27-year-old Coptic Christian man, Fam Khalaf, in the central city of Minya over a personal feud.
May 2016: A Muslim mob ransacks and torches seven Christian homes in Minya after rumours spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman. The elderly mother of the Christian man was stripped naked and dragged through a street by the mob.
New Year's Eve 2011: A bomb explodes in a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria as worshippers leave after a midnight mass, killing more than 20 people.
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
