Where can a spurned leader go? This was a serious concern for Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina when outraged mobs forced her ejection from office. The military whisked her to safety in India.
In nearby countries, Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf in 2016, Afghan president Ashraf Ghani in 2022 and Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa shared this fate.
“Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown” has been true for ages. The 20th century’s notable exiles included Ottoman Sultan Mehmed VI, Greek King Constantine I, German Emperor Wilhelm II, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, and Shah Reza Pahlavi of Iran.
Their elected successors were no more secure. At least 60 presidents and prime ministers have been cast out of their homelands in the decades since. Exile to a safe foreign haven is a common, and privileged, retirement route for the leaders of troubled states.
This could be justified on humanitarian grounds; imperilled leaders are entitled to seek survival. As when Gen Musharraf sought care in Dubai for a serious medical condition that had no provision in Pakistan. Mr Ghani was ultimately just another of the millions of Afghans fleeing the Taliban.
But are those given shelter being helped to avoid accountability for alleged crimes? That was the claim made by his critics when Uganda's Idi Amin got sanctuary in Saudi Arabia in 1979. The justification, however, in such cases is that removing toxic actors allows resetting a nation caught up in intractable violence.
When to run is a tricky judgment for an unpopular leader fearing vengeance from aggrieved opponents. Nicolae Ceausescu, Romania’s president, left it too late. Caught fleeing a 1989 uprising, he was hastily convicted and executed. Was his show trial just? Never mind, say those applauding this as necessary to shift Romania’s trajectory towards democracy.
An exiled leader is not necessarily permanently undone
When Muammar Qaddafi fell, he was badly beaten and killed in 2011. Elsewhere, Iraq’s notorious president Saddam Hussein also did not flee the country, and was tried and hanged in 2006.
Did speedy executive justice – including capital punishment – achieve stability and peace? Not yet in Libya and Iraq, and Uganda still has governance challenges.
Mengistu Haile Mariam, the Ethiopian head of state who authored an extensive campaign of “red terror”, got refuge in Zimbabwe in 1991. Courts under Mr Mengistu’s successor sentenced him in his absence to death for genocide. If the intent was to act firmly to break Ethiopia’s cycles of violence, it failed, as the nation remains mired in insecurity.
What are countries thinking when granting asylum to a ruler fallen from grace?
There could be cultural and personal connections as when, in 2000, Japan sheltered Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, who was accused of corruption and human rights abuses. Colonial links and obligations also play a role. Many overturned have found comfort in the UK, France or Belgium. The Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos Sr got lifted by the US Air Force to Hawaii allegedly along with a billion dollars in currency, gold and jewels to ease the inconvenience of exile.
But it is creatively finessed realpolitik that dictates high-level asylum decisions. As a UK government official dealing with Sierra Leone in the 1990s, I was involved in encouraging the military head of state Valentine Strasser to stay away when he was ousted in yet another coup. A fellowship to study at the University of Warwick was duly engineered through the UN to allow a face-saving exit without granting him formal asylum, which civil society was strongly against.
When activists tried to prosecute despotic Haitian president “Baby Doc” Duvalier who decamped to France in 1986, the authorities claimed not to know where he was as the Schengen agreement had abolished internal EU border controls. But the neat corollary was that Mr Duvalier could not get political asylum either under the EU’s policies against impunity for egregious human rights violations.
An exiled leader is not necessarily permanently undone. It was in his Paris exile that Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini plotted the 1979 revolution returning triumphantly to Iran as its supreme leader.
Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo is a fascinating case. Losing a civil war, he was sent to the International Criminal Court in 2011 for crimes against humanity. Acquitted after eight years in custody, he recuperated in Belgium before returning home. He plans to contest next year’s presidential elections.
Burkinabe president Blaise Compaore was handed a life sentence in absentia for murdering his predecessor and spent eight years in asylum in Ivory Coast. But a military coup in 2022 allowed Compaore to return.
Of course, exiles can pose serious headaches for hosts. They require costly security against manifold enemies and at times risk furious demonstrations against their misdeeds that also bring embarrassing publicity for the host.
A political twist comes when diasporas of political and humanitarian refugees are themselves divided for and against a former leader. This would perhaps be a consideration for the UK, with its large Bangladeshi diaspora, if Sheikh Hasina were to apply for asylum there.
It’s trickier when exiled leaders plot against their successors out of revenge or in hope to regain power. This causes ongoing instability, and strains diplomatic relations between hosting and affected nations.
Hosts have their own calculations of interest, too. For those involved in regime change, as the US was in Latin America, it may be handy to have an exiled leader readily available to step back in. Cuban strongman Fulgencio Batista was overthrown in 1959, but he found a good home in Portugal in case the day should come when Fidel Castro's revolution could be reversed.
There was similar calculation around Afghan king Zahir Shah’s long exile in Rome. Could his royal status unite Afghanistan’s quarrelsome factions for peace? The Dalai Lama of Tibet is exiled in India from where he inspires his followers around the world. This suits western interests, much as it troubles China.
Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution drove president Viktor Yanukovych to exile in Russia in 2014. For the Kremlin, he could have utility to legitimise its desired outcome from the Ukraine war.
But using the “golden parachute” of exile has become harder as the world has moved from impunity into accountability. This was signalled by the 1998 arrest of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in London because of a Spanish warrant. Legal innovations, such as the rejection of the notion of sovereign immunity and universal jurisdiction for crimes against humanity, have meant that justice is going increasingly global.
That was helped by the creation of international tribunals and courts for former Yugoslavia (1993), Rwanda (1994), Sierra Leone (2002) and Cambodia (2004). The ICC in 2002 consolidated the sea change.
Liberian strongman Charles Taylor had originally got asylum in Nigeria, but that failed to protect against extradition, trial and a 50-year prison sentence in 2012 for what the judge called the “most heinous and brutal crimes in recorded human history”. Thus, the hiding places for leaders committing egregious abuses have shrunk.
But that brings another challenge. With exile no longer guaranteeing safety, where does an embattled strongman go, even if he is somehow cajoled to leave?
Has the genocide case at the International Court of Justice put Myanmar's generals into an existentialist bind that perpetuates the violence? Similar judicial proceedings involving both ICC and ICJ against the leaders of Israel and Gaza must influence war-and-peace dynamics there.
Strengthened international provisions for protecting citizens against egregious abuses through challenging the impunity of leaders is good. But it would be perverse if the remedy somehow prolonged underlying conflicts and associated suffering. Therefore, it is worth retaining asylum possibilities for disgraced leaders as a pragmatic option for crisis resolution. But how to do that without compromising the principles of justice remains a dilemma.
Read more about the coronavirus
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
The Kingfisher Secret
Anonymous, Penguin Books
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
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Tips for SMEs to cope
- Adapt your business model. Make changes that are future-proof to the new normal
- Make sure you have an online presence
- Open communication with suppliers, especially if they are international. Look for local suppliers to avoid delivery delays
- Open communication with customers to see how they are coping and be flexible about extending terms, etc
Courtesy: Craig Moore, founder and CEO of Beehive, which provides term finance and working capital finance to SMEs. Only SMEs that have been trading for two years are eligible for funding from Beehive.
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If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Know your Camel lingo
The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home
Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless
Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers
Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s
Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival
Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Producers: KRTI Productions, T-Series
Director: Sree Narayan Singh
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Divyenndu Sharma, Yami Gautam
Rating: 2/5
Where can I submit a sample?
Volunteers can now submit DNA samples at a number of centres across Abu Dhabi. The programme is open to all ages.
Collection centres in Abu Dhabi include:
- Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC)
- Biogenix Labs in Masdar City
- Al Towayya in Al Ain
- NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City
- Bareen International Hospital
- NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
- NMC Royal Medical Centre - Abu Dhabi
- NMC Royal Women’s Hospital.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company%20Profile
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How to donate
Text the following numbers:
2289 - Dh10
6025 - Dh 20
2252 - Dh 50
2208 - Dh 100
6020 - Dh 200
*numbers work for both Etisalat and du
THREE
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Nayla%20Al%20Khaja%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Jefferson%20Hall%2C%20Faten%20Ahmed%2C%20Noura%20Alabed%2C%20Saud%20Alzarooni%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Analysis
Maros Sefcovic is juggling multiple international trade agreement files, but his message was clear when he spoke to The National on Wednesday.
The EU-UAE bilateral trade deal will be finalised soon, he said. It is in everyone’s interests to do so. Both sides want to move quickly and are in alignment. He said the UAE is a very important partner for the EU. It’s full speed ahead - and with some lofty ambitions - on the road to a free trade agreement.
We also talked about US-EU tariffs. He answered that both sides need to talk more and more often, but he is prepared to defend Europe's position and said diplomacy should be a guiding principle through the current moment.
The years Ramadan fell in May
The years Ramadan fell in May
Champions parade (UAE timings)
7pm Gates open
8pm Deansgate stage showing starts
9pm Parade starts at Manchester Cathedral
9.45pm Parade ends at Peter Street
10pm City players on stage
11pm event ends
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
UK's plans to cut net migration
Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.
Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.
Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.
The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.
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The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.9-litre%20twin-turbo%20V6%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E8-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E536hp%20(including%20138hp%20e-motor)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E750Nm%20(including%20400Nm%20e-motor)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh1%2C380%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More on Quran memorisation:
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The five pillars of Islam
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Speed: 0-100km/h 3.9 seconds
Price: Dh230,000
On sale: now
More on animal trafficking
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
More on Quran memorisation:
The five pillars of Islam
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
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More on animal trafficking
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Fernandes pen 2') Tottenham Hotspur 6 (Ndombele 4', Son 7' & 37' Kane (30' & pen 79, Aurier 51')
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Countries offering golden visas
UK
Innovator Founder Visa is aimed at those who can demonstrate relevant experience in business and sufficient investment funds to set up and scale up a new business in the UK. It offers permanent residence after three years.
Germany
Investing or establishing a business in Germany offers you a residence permit, which eventually leads to citizenship. The investment must meet an economic need and you have to have lived in Germany for five years to become a citizen.
Italy
The scheme is designed for foreign investors committed to making a significant contribution to the economy. Requires a minimum investment of €250,000 which can rise to €2 million.
Switzerland
Residence Programme offers residence to applicants and their families through economic contributions. The applicant must agree to pay an annual lump sum in tax.
Canada
Start-Up Visa Programme allows foreign entrepreneurs the opportunity to create a business in Canada and apply for permanent residence.
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
South and West: From a Notebook
Joan Didion
Fourth Estate
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday
Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)
Valencia v Levante (midnight)
Saturday
Espanyol v Alaves (4pm)
Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)
Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)
Mallorca v Barcelona (midnight)
Sunday
Atletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid (4pm)
Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
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WITHIN%20SAND
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Moe%20Alatawi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Ra%E2%80%99ed%20Alshammari%2C%20Adwa%20Fahd%2C%20Muhand%20Alsaleh%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Eco%20Way%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20December%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ivan%20Kroshnyi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Electric%20vehicles%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Bootstrapped%20with%20undisclosed%20funding.%20Looking%20to%20raise%20funds%20from%20outside%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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Results
Stage seven
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 3:20:24
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 5s
General Classification
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 25:38:16
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 22s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 48s
More on animal trafficking
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo 4-cyl
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Power: 190bhp
Torque: 300Nm
Price: Dh169,900
On sale: now
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
