French President Emmanuel Macron and UN chief António Guterres have called on the Israeli military to withdraw from south Lebanon, during separate visits to the country.
The visits are a show of support for Lebanon after its parliament recently elected a new president and prime minister-designate, ending more than two years of political stalemate.
They come as the January 26 deadline to fully implement a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah approaches. One of the terms of the deal is that Israel must completely withdraw from south Lebanon and the Lebanese Army – alongside UN peacekeepers (Unifil) – moves into those positions.
Alongside its bombardment of Lebanon, Israel launched a ground invasion last year – with some soldiers still in Lebanese territory and continuing to demolish border villages.
“There have been results … but they must be accelerated and long-lasting,” Mr Macron said, alongside Lebanon's new president, Joseph Aoun. “There needs to be complete withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the Lebanese Army must hold total monopoly of any weapons.” Mr Aoun was until last Thursday the commander of the Lebanese Army.
Under the terms of the deal, which is based around UN Security Council Resolution 1701, Hezbollah must also withdraw to the north of the Litani River.
“The continued occupation by the [Israeli army] inside the Unifil area of operations and the conduct of military operations in Lebanese territory are violations of resolution 1701 and pose continued risk to your safety and security,” Mr Guterres told peacekeepers in the border town of Naqoura, where the headquarters of Unifil are.
Mr Guterres also revealed that since the November 27 ceasefire, UN peacekeepers had found more than 100 weapons caches that he said belonged “to Hezbollah or other armed groups” in south Lebanon. Mr Macron also announced that Paris would in the coming weeks host an international reconstruction conference for Lebanon
“This is a message of gratitude,” Mr Macron said at the airport as he made his first trip to Lebanon since visiting Beirut days after the August 2020 port blast there. The explosion killed more than 220 people, injured thousands and devastated large parts of the capital.
Mr Macron went to the eastern Beirut neighbourhood of Gemmayze that was severely damaged by the blast. He also met UN peacekeeping mission chief Aroldo Lazaro and the heads of an international committee with the responsibility of monitoring any breaking of a ceasefire. “Things are moving forward, the dynamic is positive” on the implementation of the ceasefire, he said.
The election of Mr Aoun and his designation of Nawaf Salam, the former president of the International Court of Justice, as Prime Minister, has brought hope of positive change in Lebanon – something Mr Macron alluded to.
“Since January 9, in the middle of winter, spring has sprung,” Mr Macron said. “You are this hope,” he said, referring to Mr Aoun and Mr Salem.
The French President's first meeting was at the airport with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. French officials have sought to describe Mr Macron's visit as a support for Lebanon's new leaders moving forward.
Mr Macron is also expected to meet Mr Guterres in the Lebanese capital ahead of the January 26 ceasefire deadline.
“A window has opened for a new era of institutional stability with a state fully able to protect its citizens and a system that would allow the tremendous potential of the Lebanese people to flourish,” Mr Guterres said. “We will do everything to help keep that window open wide.”
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
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THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
Price: From Dh59,700
On sale: now
City's slump
L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The Byblos iftar in numbers
29 or 30 days – the number of iftar services held during the holy month
50 staff members required to prepare an iftar
200 to 350 the number of people served iftar nightly
160 litres of the traditional Ramadan drink, jalab, is served in total
500 litres of soup is served during the holy month
200 kilograms of meat is used for various dishes
350 kilograms of onion is used in dishes
5 minutes – the average time that staff have to eat
EXPATS
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The biog
Hobbies: Writing and running
Favourite sport: beach volleyball
Favourite holiday destinations: Turkey and Puerto Rico
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Series info
Test series schedule 1st Test, Abu Dhabi: Sri Lanka won by 21 runs; 2nd Test, Dubai: Play starts at 2pm, Friday-Tuesday
ODI series schedule 1st ODI, Dubai: October 13; 2nd ODI, Abu Dhabi: October 16; 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi: October 18; 4th ODI, Sharjah: October 20; 5th ODI, Sharjah: October 23
T20 series schedule 1st T20, Abu Dhabi: October 26; 2nd T20, Abu Dhabi: October 27; 3rd T20, Lahore: October 29
Tickets Available at www.q-tickets.com
Stat Fourteen Fourteen of the past 15 Test matches in the UAE have been decided on the final day. Both of the previous two Tests at Dubai International Stadium have been settled in the last session. Pakistan won with less than an hour to go against West Indies last year. Against England in 2015, there were just three balls left.
Key battle - Azhar Ali v Rangana Herath Herath may not quite be as flash as Muttiah Muralitharan, his former spin-twin who ended his career by taking his 800th wicket with his final delivery in Tests. He still has a decent sense of an ending, though. He won the Abu Dhabi match for his side with 11 wickets, the last of which was his 400th in Tests. It was not the first time he has owned Pakistan, either. A quarter of all his Test victims have been Pakistani. If Pakistan are going to avoid a first ever series defeat in the UAE, Azhar, their senior batsman, needs to stand up and show the way to blunt Herath.
