A senior Iraqi intelligence officer was shot dead in Baghdad on Sunday, in a grim reminder of the brazen assassinations that plagued the country in the past.
Lt Col Mahmoud Laith Hussein was walking outside his brother-in-law's house in the western neighbourhood of Mansour, just after sunset, when he was shot by a gunman carrying a pistol fitted with a silencer, a statement from the Iraqi National Intelligence Service said.
Security camera footage showed a man wearing a white cap run up to Hussein from behind and kick his leg to drop him to the ground. The gunman then shot the intelligence officer in the head, before fleeing.
Hussein worked at the Intelligence Service Counter-Espionage Department, the statement added.
Iraqi authorities have launched an investigation.
The brazen manner in which the assailant carried out the assassination in one of Baghdad’s busiest commercial and residential areas has raised questions.
"This is first time in years to have a senior intelligence officer killed this way," a member of the agency told The National.
"We used to see such attacks during 2003-2006 when many of Baghdad's areas were under the control of the militants, but at this time and in this way indicates that the intelligence services have entered a political game," he said.
The intelligence service has been heavily involved in recent months in hunting down ISIS extremists in Iraq, especially senior field leaders.
Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi, a former intelligence chief, ordered a shake-up of the service in January, after a double suicide bombing in Baghdad that killed dozens was claimed by the extremist group.
That move was seen as purging the service of Iran-linked officers.
Iraq's Iran-backed militias have accused some intelligence officers of co-operating with the US in the killing of Maj Gen Qassem Suleimani, commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, in January 2020.
Senior Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis was also killed in the drone strike outside Baghdad International Airport.
The militias accuse Mr Al Kadhimi of allowing foreign influence in the intelligence service.
"There is an open fight between the Iran-backed and US-backed camps, with the intelligence service at its heart," a member of the Iraqi Parliament's Security Committee told The National.
“Since taking office in May last year, Al Kadhimi has heavily relied on the Intelligence Service and Counter-Terrorism Services because he trusts them a lot and they are not infiltrated by Iran proxies,” said the MP, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the topic.
Mr Al Kadhimi has tried to rein in the influence of the Iran-backed militias but failed. In one incident, the Counter-Terrorism Service arrested 14 militiamen for planning a rocket attack on Baghdad's Green Zone, but they were released days later and the case against them dropped.
But he has taken small but important steps to restrict their money-making activities at airports, ports and through government payroll scams.
Mr Al Kadhimi "is purging Iran-backed militias from Iraq's intelligence services from top down, starting with leaders, and then to ports, airports and borders," said Michael Knights, a fellow at the Washington Institute think tank.
"A killing like this proves that the militias are afraid of the growing strength of the Iraqi security forces under Al Kadhimi," he told The National.
High-profile assassinations and bomb attacks, once common in Iraq, have been rare since Iraqi security forces and US troops launched military operations in early 2008.
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Rating: 2/5
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.
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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.
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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.
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Emirates Cricket Board Women’s T10
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Coach: Najeeb Amar
Squad: Kavisha Kumari (captain), Almaseera Jahangir, Annika Shivpuri, Archisha Mukherjee, Judit Cleetus, Ishani Senavirathne, Lavanya Keny, Mahika Gaur, Malavika Unnithan, Rishitha Rajith, Rithika Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Shashini Kaluarachchi, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Vaishnave Mahesh
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Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
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- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
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Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
