Raghida Dergham is the founder and executive chairwoman of the Beirut Institute, and a columnist for The National
August 27, 2023
The forthcoming expansion of Brics, following the group’s invitation to six countries to join it on Thursday, is an important development. The biggest beneficiary of this move is likely to be China, one of the original founders of the group and the world’s second-largest economy. It has come at a time when another of its founders, Russia, is facing a number of challenges, mostly owing to the war in Ukraine.
While an ally of Moscow, Beijing’s ambitions and strategic programmes are broader and more geared towards unilateral moves – especially due to the Ukraine conflict, which has exposed fault lines among the Brics founding members that also include Brazil, India and South Africa.
At the just-concluded summit in Johannesburg, the Brics nations agreed to invite Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
It appears Brazil and India initially had reservations about the group’s expansion, although their reticence was not directed at the economically developed Saudi Arabia and the UAE, but the economically weaker Argentina, Ethiopia and Iran. The concern was that this imbalance could burden the bloc.
Moreover, India has different objectives from China within and outside the Brics framework. It is worried that expanding the membership could diminish the group’s weight, and New Delhi does not want to be a vessel for Beijing’s growing influence, power and leadership.
Russia, which is due to host the 2024 summit in Kazan, Tatarstan, intends to propose inviting Venezuela and other countries to the group. It is a move that could stir controversy.
Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the Friends of Brics Leaders dialogue in Johannesburg on Thursday. EPA
Brics is unlikely to become a cohesive force that could rival the G7, which comprises major industrialised entities, namely Canada, the EU, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US. Brics was born out of an aspiration to bring together the world’s emerging economies, but it has not transformed into an organisation with mechanisms or even a headquarters. It is a loose coalition that imposes no political commitments on its members. It is closer to being an economic and political club rather than a coherent organisation with binding obligations on its members.
The accession of Saudi Arabia and the UAE provides advantages to the group. Indeed, the two Gulf countries maintain strong relations with all the Brics founding members and command substantial investments and presence in global markets.
At the same time, neither country is positioning itself against the US or the G7 in the domain of geopolitical competition. Their objective is to contribute to sustainable development and foster diversified partnerships, rather than exacerbating cleavages within the global economy or entangling themselves in confrontational alignments.
The accession of Saudi Arabia and the UAE provides advantages to the Brics group
Beijing achieved great diplomatic and political success after pushing for the expansion of Brics. Yet it acknowledges that some of the prospective member states might not necessarily align with its interests against those of the US.
It also recognises that Brics represents a long-term endeavour, and that it currently cannot rival the G7 as a significant bloc. Moreover, Brics lacks the capacity to evolve into an alternative currency powerhouse to challenge the dominance of the US dollar, irrespective of China’s efforts to that end.
Nevertheless, the Brics members wield substantial economic and political power. India is a technological powerhouse, Brazil is an agricultural superpower, Russia is a top producer of energy and China is a manufacturing giant.
While Chinese President Xi Jinping shone brightly during his participation at the Johannesburg summit, missing was Russian Vladimir Putin at a time when Moscow’s influence on the international stage appears to be waning.
Russia was in the news during the week after a private jet crashed inside the country on Wednesday evening, killing everyone onboard. The plane was said be carrying members of the Wagner group, including its founders Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin. News of the plane crash, just two months after Prigozhin attempted a failed mutiny, has been met with an array of reactions both inside and outside Russia.
A cameraman films the wreckage of the private jet registered to Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin near the crash site in Russia's Tver region. Reuters
Mr Prigozhin was among the 10 passengers listed on the plane's itinerary, along with his right-hand man, Dmitry Utkin. AP
Eyewitness footage of the plane's crash site. Reuters
Russian authorities have said eight bodies have been recovered from the crash site so far. Reuters
Men hang a Wagner Group flag at an informal memorial next to the mercenary group's former office in St. Petersburg. AP
Police officers close off a road near the site of the crash in Tver region. Reuters
People pay tribute to Mr Prigozhin at the makeshift memorial in St Petersburg. AFP
Russian authorities attend the site of the plane crash. AFP
Prigozhin, who was known to be well-connected in Russia, was in charge of a mercenary group that became powerful in Ukraine and in several parts of Africa. His unhappiness over how the war in Ukraine was being prosecuted led to his open conflict with officials in the Russian Ministry of Defence and an eventual march along with his forces towards Moscow. He ceased his operation after holding indirect talks with Moscow and then pulling his group out of Ukraine.
Following his death, which Russian authorities later confirmed, the return of the Wagner forces to the Ukrainian battlefield has become more feasible. Moscow needs these irregular forces, and it has ordered their fighters to pledge their allegiance to the Russian state.
The decree, published on the Kremlin website, obliges anyone carrying out work on behalf of the military or supporting what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine to swear a formal oath of allegiance to Russia. In Prigozhin’s absence, the role of the military leadership is even stronger.
The Wagner phenomenon will, of course, not end with the demise of its leaders. Rather, it will evolve. The group is likely to remain active in Africa, Syria, Ukraine and Belarus, as its operational mechanisms there continue to grind.
Time will tell whether the complexities surrounding Russia, both within and beyond its borders, and its leadership’s absence at summits such as the one in Johannesburg continue to diminish Moscow’s influence on the global stage.
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars
Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.
Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.
After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.
Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.
It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.
Four reasons global stock markets are falling right now
There are many factors worrying investors right now and triggering a rush out of stock markets. Here are four of the biggest:
1. Rising US interest rates
The US Federal Reserve has increased interest rates three times this year in a bid to prevent its buoyant economy from overheating. They now stand at between 2 and 2.25 per cent and markets are pencilling in three more rises next year.
Kim Catechis, manager of the Legg Mason Martin Currie Global Emerging Markets Fund, says US inflation is rising and the Fed will continue to raise rates in 2019. “With inflationary pressures growing, an increasing number of corporates are guiding profitability expectations downwards for 2018 and 2019, citing the negative impact of rising costs.”
At the same time as rates are rising, central bankers in the US and Europe have been ending quantitative easing, bringing the era of cheap money to an end.
2. Stronger dollar
High US rates have driven up the value of the dollar and bond yields, and this is putting pressure on emerging market countries that took advantage of low interest rates to run up trillions in dollar-denominated debt. They have also suffered capital outflows as international investors have switched to the US, driving markets lower. Omar Negyal, portfolio manager of the JP Morgan Global Emerging Markets Income Trust, says this looks like a buying opportunity. “Despite short-term volatility we remain positive about long-term prospects and profitability for emerging markets.”
3. Global trade war
Ritu Vohora, investment director at fund manager M&G, says markets fear that US President Donald Trump’s spat with China will escalate into a full-blown global trade war, with both sides suffering. “The US economy is robust enough to absorb higher input costs now, but this may not be the case as tariffs escalate. However, with a host of factors hitting investor sentiment, this is becoming a stock picker’s market.”
4. Eurozone uncertainty
Europe faces two challenges right now in the shape of Brexit and the new populist government in eurozone member Italy.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, which has offices in Dubai, says the stand-off between between Rome and Brussels threatens to become much more serious. "As with Brexit, neither side appears willing to step back from the edge, threatening more trouble down the line.”
The European economy may also be slowing, Mr Beauchamp warns. “A four-year low in eurozone manufacturing confidence highlights the fact that producers see a bumpy road ahead, with US-EU trade talks remaining a major question-mark for exporters.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
An arms embargo
A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
Tourism industry knowledge.
Professional ethics.
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
Red flags
Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
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.
Band Aid
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. Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved. 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.
Racecard
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6.35pm: Palm West Beach - Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (T) 1,800m
7.10pm: The View at the Palm - Handicap (TB) Dh85,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
West Asia Premiership - Winners: Jebel Ali Dragons; Runners up: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Premiership Cup - Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins; Runners up: Dubai Exiles
West Asia Cup - Winners: Bahrain; Runners up: Dubai Exiles
West Asia Trophy - Winners: Dubai Hurricanes; Runners up: DSC Eagles
Final West Asia Premiership standings - 1. Jebel Ali Dragons; 2. Abu Dhabi Harlequins; 3. Bahrain; 4. Dubai Exiles; 5. Dubai Hurricanes; 6. DSC Eagles; 7. Abu Dhabi Saracens
Fixture (UAE Premiership final) - Friday, April 13, Al Ain – Dubai Exiles v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
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HOW DO SIM CARD SCAMS WORK?
Sim swap frauds are a form of identity theft.
They involve criminals conning mobile phone operators into issuing them with replacement Sim cards, often by claiming their phone has been lost or stolen
They use the victim's personal details - obtained through criminal methods - to convince such companies of their identity.
The criminal can then access any online service that requires security codes to be sent to a user's mobile phone, such as banking services.
Abu Dhabi race card
5pm Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige | Dh110,000 | 1,400m
5.30pm Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige | Dh110,000 | 1,400m
6pm Abu Dhabi Championship Listed | Dh180,000 | 1,600m
6.30pm Maiden | Dh80,000 | 1,600m
7pm Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap | Dh80,000 | 1,400m
