• Police in Torrance, California, use armored vehicles to surround a white cargo van, believed to be connected to the Monterey Park mass shooting. Reuters
    Police in Torrance, California, use armored vehicles to surround a white cargo van, believed to be connected to the Monterey Park mass shooting. Reuters
  • Police at the scene of the mass shooting. Ten people died and at least 10 others were wounded in the largely Asian city in southern California. AFP
    Police at the scene of the mass shooting. Ten people died and at least 10 others were wounded in the largely Asian city in southern California. AFP
  • Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna talks to the media after the shooting. Reuters
    Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna talks to the media after the shooting. Reuters
  • A person lays down flowers as members of the community hold a prayer vigil near the scene of the shooting. Reuters
    A person lays down flowers as members of the community hold a prayer vigil near the scene of the shooting. Reuters
  • The Star Dance Studio in Monterey Park, California where the shooting took place. AP
    The Star Dance Studio in Monterey Park, California where the shooting took place. AP
  • Residents walk across the Lunar New Year festival site after celebrations were canceled following the mass shooting. AP
    Residents walk across the Lunar New Year festival site after celebrations were canceled following the mass shooting. AP
  • Jolie Slater, right, and Beth Paz, from Lake Avenue Church, embrace each other at a gathering held to honor the victims. AP
    Jolie Slater, right, and Beth Paz, from Lake Avenue Church, embrace each other at a gathering held to honor the victims. AP
  • A young girl watches as police use armored vehicles to surround a white cargo van, believed to be connected to the Monterey Park mass shooting suspect. Reuters
    A young girl watches as police use armored vehicles to surround a white cargo van, believed to be connected to the Monterey Park mass shooting suspect. Reuters
  • Art Benitez and his son Ethan watch as police use armored vehicles to surround a white cargo van, believed by law enforcement to be connected to the Monterey Park mass shooting. Reuters
    Art Benitez and his son Ethan watch as police use armored vehicles to surround a white cargo van, believed by law enforcement to be connected to the Monterey Park mass shooting. Reuters
  • Flowers are placed near the scene of the deadly mass shooting in Monterey Park. Getty
    Flowers are placed near the scene of the deadly mass shooting in Monterey Park. Getty
  • Police stand guard near the scene of the deadly shooting. Getty
    Police stand guard near the scene of the deadly shooting. Getty
  • Police let investigators on to the scene of the mass shooting. AFP
    Police let investigators on to the scene of the mass shooting. AFP

Monterey Park shooting: Gunman dead after 11 killed near LA Lunar New Year festival


Holly Aguirre
  • English
  • Arabic

A gunman killed 10 people at a ballroom dance hall during a Lunar New Year celebration near Los Angeles before fleeing the scene and later killing himself when approached by police on Sunday.

An 11th victim died on Monday in hospital as a result of gunshot wounds, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna.

Sheriff Luna said the motive for the shooting was not known. He identified the suspected gunman as Huu Can Tran, 72, who wielded a pistol with a high-capacity magazine.

“We want to know, we want to know how something this awful can happen,” the sheriff said.

Sheriff Luna said Tran turned the handgun on himself on Sunday morning as police approached a white van he was driving in Torrance, about 34km from the site of the shooting at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park.

The shooting unfolded on Saturday night as tens of thousands of people had been attending Lunar New Year festivities in Monterey Park, which is 13km east of downtown Los Angeles.

“When officers arrived on scene, they observed numerous individuals, patrons … pouring out of the location, screaming,” said Capt Andrew Meyer of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. “The officers made entry to the location and located additional victims.”

Capt Meyer said investigators had yet to determine if the victims were targeted and that it was too early to say whether the shooting was a hate crime.

“We will look at every angle,” he said.

Seung Won Choi told the Los Angeles Times that three people ran into his seafood restaurant and told him to lock the door as there was a man armed with a machinegun in the vicinity.

US President Joe Biden is monitoring the situation and receiving updates. He sent his condolences on Twitter.

Monterey Park has a population of about 60,000 and is home to a large number of Asian Americans.

Juno Blees took to Twitter to post a photo of her injured father lying in a hospital bed after the shooting. She said her mother was missing.

The two-day annual festival is one of the largest in southern California.

Police responded in huge numbers and helicopters were sent to the scene.

Footage showed injured revellers on stretchers being taken into ambulances.

Many reportedly mistook the shots for fireworks before realising an attack was taking place.

“Our hearts go out to those who lost loved ones tonight in our neighbouring city, Monterey Park, where a mass shooting just occurred,” Los Angeles city controller Kenneth Mejia said in a tweet.

Anti-Asian sentiment and violence in the US grew during the coronavirus pandemic, which originated in Wuhan, China.

Mr Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, often called the illness the “China virus” or the “kung flu”. These remarks have been seen as stirring up anger against Asians among conservative Americans.

One in six Asian-American adults say they experienced a hate crime last year, up from one in eight in 2020, a survey by AAPI Data and Momentive showed.

Reuters contributed to this report

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Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

Expert input

If you had all the money in the world, what’s the one sneaker you would buy or create?

“There are a few shoes that have ‘grail’ status for me. But the one I have always wanted is the Nike x Patta x Parra Air Max 1 - Cherrywood. To get a pair in my size brand new is would cost me between Dh8,000 and Dh 10,000.” Jack Brett

“If I had all the money, I would approach Nike and ask them to do my own Air Force 1, that’s one of my dreams.” Yaseen Benchouche

“There’s nothing out there yet that I’d pay an insane amount for, but I’d love to create my own shoe with Tinker Hatfield and Jordan.” Joshua Cox

“I think I’d buy a defunct footwear brand; I’d like the challenge of reinterpreting a brand’s history and changing options.” Kris Balerite

 “I’d stir up a creative collaboration with designers Martin Margiela of the mixed patchwork sneakers, and Yohji Yamamoto.” Hussain Moloobhoy

“If I had all the money in the world, I’d live somewhere where I’d never have to wear shoes again.” Raj Malhotra

Aggro%20Dr1ft
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Harmony%20Korine%3Cbr%3EStars%3A%20Jordi%20Molla%2C%20Travis%20Scott%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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

War 2

Director: Ayan Mukerji

Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana

Rating: 2/5

T20 World Cup Qualifier

October 18 – November 2

Opening fixtures

Friday, October 18

ICC Academy: 10am, Scotland v Singapore, 2.10pm, Netherlands v Kenya

Zayed Cricket Stadium: 2.10pm, Hong Kong v Ireland, 7.30pm, Oman v UAE

UAE squad

Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Rameez Shahzad, Darius D’Silva, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zawar Farid, Ghulam Shabber, Junaid Siddique, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Waheed Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Zahoor Khan

Players out: Mohammed Naveed, Shaiman Anwar, Qadeer Ahmed

Players in: Junaid Siddique, Darius D’Silva, Waheed Ahmed

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Name: Peter Dicce

Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics

Favourite sport: soccer

Favourite team: Bayern Munich

Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer

Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates 

 

Company%20Profile
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Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
  • George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
  • Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
  • Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
  • Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills. 
Hunting park to luxury living
  • Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
  • The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
  • Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds

 

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana

Rating: 4.5/5

Ant-Man%20and%20the%20Wasp%3A%20Quantumania
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India squad

Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, K.L. Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur.

Profile

Name: Carzaty

Founders: Marwan Chaar and Hassan Jaffar

Launched: 2017

Employees: 22

Based: Dubai and Muscat

Sector: Automobile retail

Funding to date: $5.5 million

Updated: January 24, 2023, 4:32 PM