Founder and Executive chairman Klaus Schwab addresses the delegates with the Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy displayed on a screen in the background during the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland on May 23. Reuters
Founder and Executive chairman Klaus Schwab addresses the delegates with the Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy displayed on a screen in the background during the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland on May 23. Reuters
Founder and Executive chairman Klaus Schwab addresses the delegates with the Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy displayed on a screen in the background during the opening ceremony of the World Ec
Julia anchors her CNN International show, First Move with Julia Chatterley, live from the floor of the NYSE at 6pm every weekday. A central figure in CNN's coverage of global business, she has interviewed some of the biggest names across all major sectors. Julia began her career in finance, working for Morgan Stanley in London.
May 27, 2022
This was always going to be a Davos with a difference, but there has been an unusually pensive atmosphere in the Swiss Alps this week at an equally unusual World Economic Forum.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's opening address was meant to galvanise the assembled powerbrokers into maximising the sanctions stranglehold on Russia. His message was reinforced by the Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who declared that "freedom was more important than free trade".
While such words resonate among a majority of delegates united in their abhorrence of war, they also pose an array of uncomfortable and complex choices that will only get tougher as global growth slows.
Mr Zelenskyy was effectively posing a question: what exactly is the world prepared to sacrifice to sustain his country’s defence?
For policymakers, a central tenet of that question is how to manage the rampant inflationary cost to economies still recovering from Covid-19. The war has brutally exposed the world’s dependency on fossil fuels – and in Europe’s case, an inability to swiftly conjure up enough alternative suppliers, let alone alternative sources.
Climate activists during a Fridays for Future climate strike on the last day of the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, on May 26. Reuters
To countries such as Germany, Italy and Austria, that remains an immediate and immovable obstacle to enacting full energy sanctions on Russia, with or without approval from Hungary. As Germany’s economy minister, Robert Habeck, told me, morally their choice is clear, but practicalities are another matter entirely.
One unintended side effect to this is that Russian state coffers are being swelled by rising oil prices, which in turn has supported the rouble, even allowing the Russian Central Bank to cut sky-high interests this week. It serves to underline the fact that the choices presented are both stark and far from simple.
International will is holding together for now, but what happens when price rises truly bite and economies slow?
Mr Stoltenberg may have laid out a choice between freedom and free trade, but what if that trade with Russia makes the difference between millions of people eating or starving?
World Food Programme chief David Beasley told me here that the world needs Russia’s fertiliser and its wheat, or more people will go hungry. Fertiliser giant Syngenta has come under fire for continuing to deal with Moscow. Yet the war in Ukraine, direct sanctions and related self-sanctioning have together exacerbated a crisis that currently sees 49 million people facing emergency levels of hunger, and 811 million going to bed each night hungry.
There are specific and urgent issues, such as Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian ports, which Mr Beasley called "a declaration of war on food security"; but the food crisis has been brewing for decades through conflict, climate change and unsustainable farming techniques.
Right now, Russia is preventing the literal seeds that might help allay this crisis from being sown in Ukraine. The idea of widespread famine is far from unrealistic. Not only that, as prices rise and the cost-of-living crunch intensifies, the prospect of serious hunger reaching unfamiliar parts of the world is being openly discussed. As history has demonstrated time and again, that is a recipe for serious social unrest, wherever it occurs. Hungry societies break down.
The added danger is that we exacerbate the climate and food security crisis by ramping up use of dirtier energy alternatives and raise food production in totally unsustainable ways.
That is not to say that there aren’t ideas being shared here to help us fight back. New farming technology, better fertilisers, and more effective and equitable food distribution were all discussed at two panels I chaired here. Another, on how we can build back biodiversity to become "nature positive", was also full of enthusiasm and ingenuity, alongside the acknowledgement that – right now – we are failing.
It takes a collective will and determination to act, and at this moment there are so many interconnected issues and obstacles that impactful actions are harder to engender and sustain.
As German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned on Thursday, “the world is at a turning point", and that it’s not just Ukraine that is at risk, but the “system of international co-operation that was forged after two world wars".
All this serves to underline what I believe was the real theme of Davos 2022: short term choices with long-term consequences. Leaders are being asked to make extraordinary moral, ethical and economic decisions to help Ukraine, but at a growing financial cost to their own people.
International will is holding together for now, while most global consumers continue their post-Covid-19 spending binge, but what happens when price rises truly bite and economies slow?
Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger’s comment that Ukraine may need to consider ceding territory to end the war sparked understandable outrage and anguish this week, but such conversations are undoubtedly taking place behind the scenes. No one doubts the resolve of Mr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people; but as the economic costs around the world mount and public anger at rising prices grows, the political will to help fight the war may wane.
The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 575bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh554,000
On sale: now
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
Qualifications: Diploma in engineering from TSI Technical Institute, bachelor’s degree in accounting from Dubai’s Al Ghurair University, master’s degree in human resources from Abu Dhabi University, currently third years PHD in strategy of human resources.
Favourite mountain range: The Himalayas
Favourite experience: Two months trekking in Alaska
Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
Travel distance: Limited
Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
Duration: Can linger for days
Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
Source: Can be carried from distant regions
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
How Apple's credit card works
The Apple Card looks different from a traditional credit card — there's no number on the front and the users' name is etched in metal. The card expands the company's digital Apple Pay services, marrying the physical card to a virtual one and integrating both with the iPhone. Its attributes include quick sign-up, elimination of most fees, strong security protections and cash back.
What does it cost?
Apple says there are no fees associated with the card. That means no late fee, no annual fee, no international fee and no over-the-limit fees. It also said it aims to have among the lowest interest rates in the industry. Users must have an iPhone to use the card, which comes at a cost. But they will earn cash back on their purchases — 3 per cent on Apple purchases, 2 per cent on those with the virtual card and 1 per cent with the physical card. Apple says it is the only card to provide those rewards in real time, so that cash earned can be used immediately.
What will the interest rate be?
The card doesn't come out until summer but Apple has said that as of March, the variable annual percentage rate on the card could be anywhere from 13.24 per cent to 24.24 per cent based on creditworthiness. That's in line with the rest of the market, according to analysts
What about security?
The physical card has no numbers so purchases are made with the embedded chip and the digital version lives in your Apple Wallet on your phone, where it's protected by fingerprints or facial recognition. That means that even if someone steals your phone, they won't be able to use the card to buy things.
Is it easy to use?
Apple says users will be able to sign up for the card in the Wallet app on their iPhone and begin using it almost immediately. It also tracks spending on the phone in a more user-friendly format, eliminating some of the gibberish that fills a traditional credit card statement. Plus it includes some budgeting tools, such as tracking spending and providing estimates of how much interest could be charged on a purchase to help people make an informed decision.
* Associated Press
The specs
Engine: Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors
Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Name: Thndr Started: 2019 Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr Sector: FinTech Headquarters: Egypt UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi Current number of staff: More than 150 Funds raised: $22 million
