One of the deadliest attacks in Damascus since the start of Syria's seven-year war killed at least 43 people on Wednesday, while fighting continued elsewhere in the country.
The mortar assault targeted a busy market on the eve of Mother's Day, witnesses told state-run TV. Eleven pro-regime fighters were reportedly among the dead.
President Bashar Al Assad's government blamed the attack on rebels in Eastern Ghouta, where Syrian troops and Russian war planes have been waging a month-long air and ground offensive, killing thousands of civilians, including children.
Videos of the aftermath posted online showed scenes of chaos, with people screaming and bodies and mannequins strewn across the ground.
Hospital director Mohammed Haitham al-Husseini told Al Ikhbariya TV that 35 were wounded, with six in intensive care. He said most of the casualties were women and children.
The attack comes just days after a lightning assault by ISIL to seize the Damascus neighbourhood of Qadam left 62 regime fighters dead.
ISIL fighters have maintained a presence in parts of Damascus, including in the Palestinian camp of Yarmuk and the neighbourhoods of Hajar Al Aswad and Tadamun.
The district is smaller than and not connected to Eastern Ghouta, where the Syrian army and allied forces have recaptured 70 per cent of the territory that was under insurgent control, causing thousands of residents to flee.
A Russian-brokered deal was reached on Wednesday to evacuate one of Ghouta's rebel groups, offering them a corridor to opposition-held northwestern Syria.
Fighters from the Ahrar Al Sham rebel group in control of the besieged town of Harasta had agreed to lay down their arms in return for safe passage to insurgent-controlled areas.
The rebels were also offered to be pardoned under local reconciliation terms, two opposition sources said.
There was however no indication when the deal would be implemented and one source familiar with the talks said obstacles may delay it.
The evacuation deals come after years of siege and bombardment - a major strategy by the Syrian army to force rebels to surrender.
"The deal has been finalised and it could come into effect soon after a ceasefire is announced as early as Wednesday," said one official familiar with the talks that have been going on for several days.
It would begin with an evacuation of injured civilians, he added, saying the remaining civilians in the town were "facing untold suffering".
A local official in the opposition-run Harasta council was quoted by opposition news outlets that a deal had been reached but did not say when it was expected to be implemented.
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Read more:
Russia blame for Syria air strike that killed 15 children
ISIL takes control of Damascus area after rebels pull out
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Last year, rebels launched a major offensive on army barracks on the edge of Harasta that led to retaliatory attacks. The battles were among the fiercest in Eastern Ghouta in recent years.
Mr Assad has vowed to end what he portrays as a terrorist threat in proximity to his seat of power.
On Tuesday, a rocket fell on a popular residential area across the rebel-held enclave killing at least 40 people, according to medics in government controlled areas.
The Syrian authorities accused rebels of firing the rockets in revenge attacks which rebels deny.
More than 100 civilians were killed in the last two days of air strikes in Eastern Ghouta with most of the raids on Douma city, the largest population centre with more than 150,000 people still living there.
Rebels and residents say napalm and incendiary weapons were dropped on several civilian areas to force rebels to surrender.
The predicament of hundreds of rebels trapped in Harasta, one of the main towns in Eastern Ghouta, worsened after the army succeeded earlier this month in splintering Ghouta into three besieged zones, cutting off Harasta from other areas.
Last Sunday, the Syrian army had given the rebels of Harasta an ultimatum to withdraw, state media said.
Residents and rescuers say the Russian air force stepped up its bombing of Harasta town as talks were going on to broker the deal.
The Harasta deal will pile pressure on the two main rebel groups — Failaq Al Rahman in the southern pocket and Jaish Al Islam in the northern enclave — to also reach understandings.
They have however publicly said they reject Russia's offer to leave the enclave.
The most likely option was however the transfer of Failaq Al Rahman and Jaish Al Islam fighters to opposition-held areas in northern and southern Syria respectively, a rebel official familiar with the situation on the ground said.
The defeat in Eastern Ghouta would mark the worst setback for the anti-Assad rebellion since the opposition was driven from eastern Aleppo in late 2016 after a similar campaign of siege, bombing, ground assaults and the promise of safe passage out.
MEDIEVIL%20(1998)
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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The specs
Price: From Dh180,000 (estimate)
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged and supercharged in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 320hp @ 5,700rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 2,200rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.7L / 100km
Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
SPECS
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Five expert hiking tips
- Always check the weather forecast before setting off
- Make sure you have plenty of water
- Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
- Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
- Take your litter home with you
The Kites
Romain Gary
Penguin Modern Classics
Reading List
Practitioners of mindful eating recommend the following books to get you started:
Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life by Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr Lilian Cheung
How to Eat by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Mindful Diet by Dr Ruth Wolever
Mindful Eating by Dr Jan Bays
How to Raise a Mindful Eaterby Maryann Jacobsen
The language of diplomacy in 1853
Treaty of Peace in Perpetuity Agreed Upon by the Chiefs of the Arabian Coast on Behalf of Themselves, Their Heirs and Successors Under the Mediation of the Resident of the Persian Gulf, 1853
(This treaty gave the region the name “Trucial States”.)
We, whose seals are hereunto affixed, Sheikh Sultan bin Suggar, Chief of Rassool-Kheimah, Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon, Chief of Aboo Dhebbee, Sheikh Saeed bin Buyte, Chief of Debay, Sheikh Hamid bin Rashed, Chief of Ejman, Sheikh Abdoola bin Rashed, Chief of Umm-ool-Keiweyn, having experienced for a series of years the benefits and advantages resulting from a maritime truce contracted amongst ourselves under the mediation of the Resident in the Persian Gulf and renewed from time to time up to the present period, and being fully impressed, therefore, with a sense of evil consequence formerly arising, from the prosecution of our feuds at sea, whereby our subjects and dependants were prevented from carrying on the pearl fishery in security, and were exposed to interruption and molestation when passing on their lawful occasions, accordingly, we, as aforesaid have determined, for ourselves, our heirs and successors, to conclude together a lasting and inviolable peace from this time forth in perpetuity.
Taken from Britain and Saudi Arabia, 1925-1939: the Imperial Oasis, by Clive Leatherdale
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Voy!%20Voy!%20Voy!
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Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now