The California court judgment over the future of the conservatorship governing Britney Spears’s personal and professional life exposed many things, including the apparent gilded cage that has confined the star performer’s movements for years, the power of the #FreeBritney movement to shed light on the nature of that arrangement and the animosity that courses through the familial disagreement that lies at the heart of the case.
The star’s plea to the court to have the conservatorship removed was both compelling and distressing. Speaking via videoconference, Spears said it was doing her more harm than good and that she deserved to “have a life”. She said she felt bullied and alone. She said she was traumatised, depressed and unable to sleep.
Spears also told the hearing that she was forced to perform on stage, denied access to support and had been prescribed medications that left her impaired. There was more besides. The devastating drip-drip of these assertions built an extremely uncomfortable picture.
Only the day before the hearing, Spears was reported to have described herself as a victim of conservatorship abuse during a call to emergency services, according to The New Yorker.
In the end, the request to cancel the conservatorship was denied because the star had not formally appealed for the arrangement to end. Usually a written notification is required to do so, alongside presentations to the court.
The judgment appeared to confirm that conservatorships, or powers of attorney as they are often called in other parts of the world, can be so protective in some cases that they are nearly impossible to unpick once locked into place.
Traditional agreements of this nature apply when a person is not capable of making decisions on their own. The threshold for their use is typically that the person concerned has lost mental capacity, such as in the case of someone who has been diagnosed with a degenerative disease of the brain or if someone is temporarily incapacitated after an accident. But this does not currently apply to Spears, who was said to be cogent and lucid during her appearance. These orders are also meant to be protective rather than extractive or exploitative, which is another point of contention at the centre of this battle.
The judgment also highlighted the significant gap between the growing global ambition to break the taboos of mental health and the reality of actually doing so, especially when legal arguments have to be made.
There is a significant gap between global ambition to break mental health taboos and the reality of actually doing so
While there is greater understanding than ever before that mental health is health, plain and simple – and that, just as you will need to seek surgery to fix a broken limb, so you will need help to treat stress or depression – there also remains a lopsided view of the healing power of traditional health care as opposed to the capabilities of therapy.
If rehabilitation after surgery is considered as a finite process with a beginning, middle and end – and one with a high probability of success – far too many people still view therapy as a ceaseless process with no sense of lasting remission. In short, society applies no detriment to the notion of corrective surgery, but is likely to penalise, consciously or subconsciously, those who seek or require help to recover from a personal issue.
In Spears’s case, the punishment for her crisis in the late 2000s appears to be the indefinite application of a conservatorship controlling her life, career and finances in the 2020s. That is a disproportionate price to pay.
She has won widespread support, with several famous names backing the singer, following her virtual court appearance. The scenario has since been clouded by her long-time manager Larry Rudolph announcing his intention to step down from his role, as he firmly believed the performer was on the cusp of retiring, effectively making his position redundant. Only time will tell if his pronouncement is a carefully orchestrated move in a longer legal battle or driven by facts on the ground.
Some experts believe that the procedural hurdle that stopped Spears’s court challenge will be overcome in time. Already, the Bessemer Trust, the body that acted as co-conservator alongside Spears’s father, Jamie, says it wants to respect Britney’s wishes and stop managing the estate. The logic goes that if a request is now made to terminate the conservatorship it will be heard favourably, particularly given Spears’s powerful address to the court.
All told, her case raises uncomfortable questions for every one of us.
The labels we apply to someone who may have experienced a personal issue need to become much more nuanced. The notion of how we talk about therapy and recovery and what it means only carries us so far forward and can have far larger consequences if misused, or when protective orders ostensibly grounded in safety and wellbeing become restraining and restrictive. Conservatorship agreements may also need more careful trigger-and-release clauses to ensure they always act in good faith for the person they are applied to, and so that they also hold those who have power to account.
And finally, while some will enjoy the theatre of this battle – Spears’s life has fuelled tabloid media sales for decades and that coverage has only recently shown any great compassion – all the answers probably lie in mediation, negotiation and reconciliation. A longer public legal battle helps no one.
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The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
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Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
Terminator: Dark Fate
Director: Tim Miller
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Mackenzie Davis
Rating: 3/5
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Francesco Totti's bio
Born September 27, 1976
Position Attacking midifelder
Clubs played for (1) - Roma
Total seasons 24
First season 1992/93
Last season 2016/17
Appearances 786
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Titles (5) - Serie A 1; Italian Cup 2; Italian Supercup 2
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
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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.”
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Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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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.”
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
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Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
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World Cricket League Division 2
In Windhoek, Namibia - Top two teams qualify for the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, which starts on March 4.
UAE fixtures
Thursday February 8, v Kenya; Friday February 9, v Canada; Sunday February 11, v Nepal; Monday February 12, v Oman; Wednesday February 14, v Namibia; Thursday February 15, final
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Points to remember
- Debate the issue, don't attack the person
- Build the relationship and dialogue by seeking to find common ground
- Express passion for the issue but be aware of when you're losing control or when there's anger. If there is, pause and take some time out.
- Listen actively without interrupting
- Avoid assumptions, seek understanding, ask questions
