It's been a year since a blitz offensive against Bashar Al Assad's regime freed Syria from decades of oppressive rule. As the new government in Damascus continues to rebuild, it looks like the US is on the way to removing hard-hitting sanctions that could hinder reconstruction.
The House voted last night to repeal the so-called Caesar Act sanctions, signed into law in 2019, through a proviso in the National Defence Authorisation Act for Fiscal Year 2026. The sanctions target members of the Assad regime and associates accused of war crimes and human rights abuses.
The massive defence bill containing the repeal passed the House with a vote of 312 to 112. It will now go to the Senate, and then, if approved, to President Donald Trump's desk to be signed into law.
Separately, the defence bill also contains a stipulation that aid to the Lebanese military is contingent on progress in disarming Hezbollah.
It states that the Secretary of Defence and the head of US Central Command must provide to Congress a “rubric for assessing the progress of the Lebanese Armed Forces in disarming Hezbollah, and options for suspending assistance to the Lebanese armed forces if it is determined that such forces are unwilling to act to disarm Hezbollah”.
The US has been a staunch backer of the Lebanese military, with the Trump administration sending about $230 million to Beirut in October, but Washington has been pressuring Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah faster.
Meanwhile, people wishing to visit the US better get their social media ducks in order: the Trump administration plans to order visa-exempt foreign tourists to disclose their social media histories from the last five years before entering the country.
The proposal, laid out in a notice published on Tuesday in the Federal Register, would apply to visitors from 42 countries, including the UK, France, Australia and Japan, who only need the Electonic System for Travel Authorisation (Esta) visa waiver to enter the US.
Eye on the White House
US focus on Middle East evolving as security dynamics shift, White House says
Washington attacked Europe and warned it faces 'civilisational erasure' because of its immigration policies. Getty Images
Washington's engagement with the Middle East is quickly shifting from a security-centric focus to one of investment and economic opportunities, the White House said on Friday.
In the first national security review since Mr Trump returned to office in January, Washington attacked Europe and warned it faces “civilisational erasure” because of its immigration policies.
The legally mandated review underscores Mr Trump's “America First” doctrine and marks a jarring break from the more diplomatic tone used by former president Joe Biden's administration, which sought to strengthen traditional alliances.
The new strategy lays out Mr Trump's priorities and signals a shift from the Middle East towards the Western Hemisphere, where the US now wants to “restore American pre-eminence”, as evidenced by the continuing military build-up in the Caribbean, the targeting of alleged drug boats and the seizure yesterday of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.
The 29-page document says the Middle East is more stable, largely because Iran has been “greatly weakened” by Israeli actions since October 7, 2023, as well as the US bombing of its nuclear facilities.
Epstein files Secret grand jury transcripts from Jeffrey Epstein’s 2019 sex trafficking case can be made public, a judge ruled on Wednesday. A day earlier, another federal judge ordered the release of records from the late financier's girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell’s 2021 sex trafficking case. Last week, a judge in Florida approved the unsealing of transcripts from an abandoned Epstein federal grand jury investigation in the 2000s. It comes after Congress ordered the Trump administration to release the files.
Alina Habba Mr Trump’s former personal lawyer, whose short tenure as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor caused an unprecedented legal fight, resigned on Monday after a federal appeals court ruled she had been serving in the post unlawfully. She announced her departure in a post on X, saying she was stepping down “to protect the stability and integrity” of the office. She will remain at the Justice Department as senior adviser to Attorney General Pam Bondi, focusing on US Attorneys.
Spotlight Syrians in US mark year of liberation from Assad regime with culture, memories and hope
Muaz Aulabi, five, with his sister Reem Aulabi, eight, at the Echoes of Freedom event. Nilanjana Gupta / The National
Hundreds of Syrians from the US capital region gathered on Sunday to mark one year since the fall of Bashar Al Assad’s regime. For many, it was the first time in years they had come together simply to celebrate Syria, rather than hold protests over it.
Mozaic, the non-profit behind the Echoes of Freedom event in Fairfax, Virginia, transformed a local meeting hall into a tapestry of the country’s 14 provinces. Textile patterns hung alongside old photographs, maps and handwritten labels that described the histories of the towns many of those in attendance had fled long ago.
Near the stage, dabke dancers stomped in unison, a Mawaliya dancer performed the traditional rotational dance, and children, many born in the US, sang for peace in Syria. Videos highlighting the history of the war-torn country were played to a crowd of about 200 people.
On December 8, 2024, the Assad regime was overthrown by rebels led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham. Relations between the US and Syria have improved over the past year, and Mr Trump met Syrian leader Ahmad Al Shara at the White House in November. The US announced during the visit that it was renewing a waiver of Caesar Act sanctions imposed on Damascus.
Michigan grocery cashier, 88, overwhelmed by sudden $1.7m gift
Influencer Samuel Weidenhofer, left, with Ed Bambas, 88, and a cheque for $1.7 million. AP
Ed Bambas will soon ring up his last can of corn. The 88-year-old Michigan grocery worker was handed an oversized cheque for $1.7 million on Friday, the result of a remarkable fundraising campaign by a young Australian man with an extraordinary following on social media.
“No, no,” Mr Bambas said, wiping tears and sniffles in front of reporters. “Thank you. Oh, my God.”
Sam Weidenhofer, 22, is using his powerful platforms to spread kindness – and money – on a visit to the US. He met Mr Bambas at a Meijer store in Brighton in south-eastern Michigan about two weeks ago and recorded a TikTok video for his 7.7 million followers in which the General Motors retiree explained why he’s still working as he approaches 90, following the death of his wife, Joan, after a chronic illness in 2018.
“I don’t have enough income,” Mr Bambas said on the video.
Mr Weidenhofer in turn launched an online GoFundMe drive, urging people to help Bambas.
The response was dizzying: More than 15,000 people have pitched in with donations ranging from $10 to $10,000.
“It means a terrible burden,” Mr Bambas jokingly told reporters. “I have to find everybody and say, ‘thank you’.”
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Rating: 4.5/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area. Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife. Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple. The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”. He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale. Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
England Test squad
Joe Root (captain), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Dawid Malan, Jamie Porter, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes.
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.”
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What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood. Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues. Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity. Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
