The US and Britain on Tuesday imposed sanctions on two cousins of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and several others over their suspected role in the production or export of Captagon, the dangerous amphetamine that has spread across the Middle East.
The measures also target two Lebanese men and highlight how drug traffickers — some of whom maintain ties to Hezbollah — enable the export of Captagon, the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac) said in a statement.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said those sanctioned had enabled the Syrian regime to "continue carrying out abuses against the Syrian people".
"The United States will continue to co-ordinate with our allies and partners to target traffickers of illicit drugs and those who provide support to the Syrian regime’s vicious war," Mr Blinken said in a statement.
The new US designations affect six people and one company.
Britain has said the 11 people it had targeted were businessmen, militia leaders or relatives of the president.
Among them was Samer Kamal Al Assad, a cousin of Assad, who Ofac says oversees key Captagon production in Latakia, Syria.
Wassim Badi Al Assad, another cousin, is accused of supporting the Syrian military and the regional drug-trafficking network.
Also targeted was Khalid Qaddour, a Syrian businessman with close ties to regime commander Maher Al Assad, the President's brother.
The Treasury said Mr Qaddour was “responsible for managing revenue generated” from Maher Al Assad and the Fourth Division's illicit revenue-generating schemes, including the production and trafficking of Captagon.
The sanctions emphasise “Assad family dominance of illicit Captagon trafficking and its funding for the oppressive Syrian regime", Ofac's statement read.
“This is probably one of the strongest measures that the US and the UK jointly had taken against those involved with the Captagon trade,” Caroline Rose, a Captagon expert and director of the Strategic Blind Spots Portfolio at the Washington-based New Lines Institute, told The National.
Ms Rose said the emphasis on suspects in Lebanon was important.
“That shows me that they're looking to target anyone involved in multiple elements and multiple stages of the Captagon trade, from when it's first produced, when it's packaged, when it's sent out and when it's dispatched to destination markets,” she said.
Charles Lister, a senior fellow and director of the Syria and Countering Terrorism & Extremism programmes at Washington's Middle East Institute, said Tuesday's sanctions list was "genuinely comprehensive in terms of picking off all of the main players".
"Better late than never," he told The National.
"[The Biden] administration has been accused of being a bit too minimalistic when it comes to using their sanctioning authorities ... it's encouraging. It shows that even though this is an issue that is now several years old, that it is now finally receiving the attention that it deserves."
But Mr Lister's optimism was tempered with caution.
"If I put my pessimist hat on, I suppose I could also say this could prove to be a sort of box-ticking exercise," he said.
Washington noted that some of the new sanctions were in accordance with the Caesar Civilian Protections Act, but Ms Rose said the action could pre-empt a strategy the Biden administration is now mandated to develop under the recently passed Captagon Act.
The Captagon Act, spearheaded by French Hill, a Republican congressman, and passed under last year's Defence Authorisation Act, states that the administration co-ordinate an inter-agency strategy to disrupt Assad regime-related Captagon production and trafficking.
Ms Rose said the administration was set to begin a 180-day strategy review in June and that the timing of Tuesday's measures was significant.
“This is definitely timed to release a few months before, to show that the US is co-ordinating with its partners and is very serious about cracking down on the Captagon trade,” she said.
The designations block all US property and interests of those sanctioned, as well as any entities that are majority owned by those named.
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
Price, base / as tested Dh135,000
Engine 1.6L turbo
Gearbox Six speed automatic with manual and sports mode
Power 165hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 240Nm @ 1,400rpm 0-100kph: 9.2 seconds
Top speed 420 kph (governed)
Fuel economy, combined 35.2L / 100km (est)
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Poacher
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'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Company%C2%A0profile
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SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%202-litre%20direct%20injection%20turbo%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%207-speed%20automatic%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20261hp%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20400Nm%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20From%20Dh134%2C999%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
TEACHERS' PAY - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
Venom
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed
Rating: 1.5/5
Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others
Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
About Okadoc
Date started: Okadoc, 2018
Founder/CEO: Fodhil Benturquia
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Healthcare
Size: (employees/revenue) 40 staff; undisclosed revenues recording “double-digit” monthly growth
Funding stage: Series B fundraising round to conclude in February
Investors: Undisclosed
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE%20medallists%20at%20Asian%20Games%202023
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Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
MATCH INFO
Mumbai Indians 186-6 (20 ovs)
Kings XI Punjab 183-5 (20 ovs)
Mumbai Indians won by three runs