Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine
Britain on Monday ordered its ports to block any vessels that are Russian-flagged or believed to be registered, owned or controlled by anyone connected with Russia as it increased the pressure on Moscow.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said in a letter to all UK ports that further detailed sanctions against Russian shipping were being drawn up after the Ukraine crisis.
"The maritime sector is fundamental to international trade and we must play our part in restricting Russia's economic interests and holding the Russian government to account," he said in the letter published on Twitter.
Mr Shapps said Russian vessels were no longer allowed to enter UK ports and any vessel thought to be owned, controlled, flagged, chartered or operated by any person connected with Russia should be barred.
"We will seek to support UK ports in identifying Russian ships within scope of the above, and will communicate directly with relevant ports when we identify ships bound for UK ports who fall within scope of the above," he said.
Russia, which has described its actions in Ukraine as a "special operation", has already responded in kind to other sanctions such as a UK and EU decision to block Russian planes from using their airspace.
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A monitor displays a projectile striking the regional state administration building in Kharkiv, as the Russian invasion continues. Reuters -

People help a wounded woman in the aftermath of Russian shelling in Kharkiv. EPA -

Ukrainian emergency service personnel carry the body of a victim following shelling in Kharkiv. AP -

Students who fled the conflict rest in a refugee camp in Voluntari, Romania. AP -

Members of an Ukrainian civil defence unit pass new assault rifles to the opposite side of a blown-up bridge on Kiev’s northern front. AFP -

Civilians cross a river on Kiev's northern front. AFP -

A woman takes photos of a destroyed accommodation building near a checkpoint in Brovary, outside Kiev. AP -

The city hall of Kharkiv, damaged by Russian shelling. AFP -

Debris litters the square outside the damaged Kharkiv city hall. AFP -

A Ukrainian woman sleeps on the floor of the railway station in Zahonyi close to the Hungary/Ukraine border. AFP -

A medical worker attends to wounded man at a hospital in Brovary, outside Kiev. AP -

Refugees from Ukraine in a tent at the Medyka border crossing, Poland. AP -

Debris outside the regional administration building, which city officials said was hit by a missile, in Kharkiv. Reuters -

A student evacuated from Ukraine is embraced by her family after arriving at Tunis-Carthage International Airport in Tunisia. AFP -

Rescuers in a building damaged by a missile in central Kharkiv. Reuters -

An ambulance is visible through the damaged window of a vehicle hit by bullets in Kiev, Ukraine. Reuters -

Territorial defence members prepare to head out on patrol in Kiev. EPA -

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres delivers a speech on screen during the opening of the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. AP -

A policeman detains a young demonstrator during a protest against Russia's attack on Ukraine in St Petersburg, Russia. AP -

Local residents in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, prepare Molotov cocktails. Reuters -

Residents clean a bomb shelter under an out-of-service cinema in central Zhytomyr. Reuters -

Ukrainian volunteers tear cloth into strips to make camouflage nets in Lviv, western Ukraine. AP -

Part of the military convoy north-west of Invankiv, Ukraine. AP -

Mark Goncharuk, a young boy from Kiev, leaves his father behind as he travels with the rest of his family towards the border. Reuters -

People hold an anti-war protest outside the Russian Embassy in Mexico City, Mexico. Reuters -

A crater caused by shelling on the outskirts of Kiev. AFP -

People queue outside a grocery store in the Ukrainian capital. EPA -

Ukrainian soldiers stand at Maidan Nezalezhnosti, or Independence Square, in Kiev. EPA -

Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation, second left, and Davyd Arakhamia, faction leader of the Servant of the People party in the Ukrainian Parliament, third right, attend the peace talks in the Gomel region of Belarus. AP -

People who have fled the Russian invasion in Ukraine, clamour to board a bus bound for a refugee centre established in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters -

Hanna Pavlovna Lukasz, from Mirhord, Ukraine, said her sons, aged 12 and 8, and her 66-year-old mother had been waiting on the Ukrainian side of the border crossing with Medyka, Poland, for four days. AP -

A volunteer from Kiev prepares a rear post with trenches in the city. AFP -

A child being treated for cancer rests in the bomb shelter of the oncology ward at a hospital in Kiev. Getty -

Police officers check occupants of a suspicious car in Kiev, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues. Reuters -

A woman from Ukraine uses a phone to listen to a speech by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a refugee shelter in Beregsurany, Hungary. Reuters -

Shelves empty of bread after a curfew was lifted as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Kiev. Reuters -

Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, left, and President Zelenskyy. AFP -

Snow-covered shoes donated for those fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland. Reuters -

People who have fled Ukraine wait for a bus to transport them away from the border crossing in Medyka. Reuters -

Norwegian soldiers of the Nato-enhanced forward presence battalion pose at a military plane as they arrive at an airport in Kaunas, Lithuania. AP -

A person fleeing Ukraine sits during snowfall at a temporary camp in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters -

Footage reportedly of Russian Buk missile system vehicles on a road before a drone strike near Malyn, Ukraine. Reuters -

An explosion after what are said to be Russian Buk missile system vehicles on a road are struck by a drone. Reuters -

The monument to Russian troops from the Second World War, after the figures’ hands were painted red, at the Red Army memorial in Sofia, Bulgaria. EPA -

The Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, is lit up with the colours of Ukraine’s national flag in a show of support. AP -

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the construction site of the National Space Agency on the premises of the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Centre, in Moscow. EPA -

A man looks out from a train, at the railway station in Lviv, Ukraine. The UN has estimated the conflict could produce as many as four million refugees. AP -

A Ukrainian boy waits for his mother after passing the border crossing point in Siret, northern Romania. EPA -

Russian policemen detain a demonstrator in St Petersburg, during a protest against the country's military actions in Ukraine. EPA -

Ukrainian soldiers at a check point in the city of Zhytomyr. Reuters -

Residents prepare petrol bombs to defend the city, in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. Reuters -

A pro-Russian fighter sits inside a tank in the separatist self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, in the Luhansk region, Ukraine. Reuters -

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, speaks to Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, second left, and Head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and First Deputy Defence Minister Valery Gerasimov, left, during their meeting in Moscow. AP -

Ukrainians and supporters gather during a demonstration in front of the Greek Parliament in Athens against the Russian military's operation in Ukraine. AFP -

Ukrainian Territorial Defence fighters test an automatic grenade launcher taken from a destroyed Russian infantry mobility vehicla after a battle in Kharkiv. AFP
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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.
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The first Soroptimists club was founded in Oakland, California in 1921. The name comes from the Latin word soror which means sister, combined with optima, meaning the best.
The organisation said its name is best interpreted as ‘the best for women’.
Since then the group has grown exponentially around the world and is officially affiliated with the United Nations. The organisation also counts Queen Mathilde of Belgium among its ranks.
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To be confirmed
AJ Styles will defend his WWE World Heavyweight title and Cedric Alexander his Cruiserweight Championship, but matches have yet to be announced
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
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Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
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- 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
OPTA'S PREDICTED TABLE
1. Liverpool 101 points
2. Manchester City 80
3. Leicester 67
4. Chelsea 63
5. Manchester United 61
6. Tottenham 58
7. Wolves 56
8. Arsenal 56
9. Sheffield United 55
10. Everton 50
11. Burnley 49
12. Crystal Palace 49
13. Newcastle 46
14. Southampton 44
15. West Ham 39
16. Brighton 37
17. Watford 36
18. Bournemouth 36
19. Aston Villa 32
20. Norwich City 29
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Winners: Dubai Hurricanes
Runners up: Bahrain
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Runners up: UAE Premiership
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Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes
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Winners: Abu Dhabi Saracens
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes II
UAE Division Two
Winners: Barrelhouse
Runners up: RAK Rugby


