"Iran executed 12 drug traffickers in one day this week, and 170 others accused of political crimes last year, but it has been unable for four years to carry out any executions of women convicted of adultery," observed Abdul Rahman al Rashed in an opinion piece for the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al Awsat.
The last case in point is the stoning sentence on Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani three years ago, who was convicted in 2006 of an illicit relationship outside of wedlock. So what makes the Ashtiani case so defiant for the iron-fisted regime in Tehran?
Ms Ashtiani is not an important public figure, and her conviction is not political in origin. Yet it became so after it stirred international condemnation, which has threatened the government's relations with the world.
Because of the campaign led by human rights organisations, the Iranian regime has found itself besieged even by some countries with which it has traditionally close relations, such as Latin American states and China.
Even though the regime has tried to picture Ms Ashtiani as involved in the murder of her husband, it failed in its arguments. This demonstrates the extent to which Tehran is desperate to counter the rising anger of women's and human rights groups. It fears especially the present wide-scale campaign may prompt a concerted international war action against Iran.
Attacking Christians is a crude political act
"The barbaric murder of Christians in Iraq and Egypt has many causes including religious intolerance, misunderstandings of the true principles of Islam, and the political ambitions of some parties," wrote Saleh al Qallab in a commentary for the Jordanian newspaper Al Jareeda.
There is no doubt that this mounting violence is instigated by a false interpretation of Islam based on writings of some thinkers that condemn other members of the community of apostasy. But the ultimate goal remains political, as those responsible for these crimes believe that by targeting eastern Christians, it will be easier to strike at the political systems in Iraq and Egypt and gain access to power.
Apparently, these forces do not care whether Egypt, being the lever of the Arab world and a symbol of its cohesion, or Iraq turn into failed states. To reach their end, they are ready to kill innocent women and children, priests and clerics.
But who is the real beneficiary of this situation? Of course there are remote parties, who would like to see a divided Arab world. Some believe that Israel would like to show to the world that Arabs are keen to picture their countries as exclusively Islamic, which will ultimately serve its claim that Palestinians should, in return, acknowledge the Jewish nature of the state of Israel.
Peace in Sudan is now becoming less likely
In an opinion piece for the UAE newspaper Al Ittihad, Shamlan Youssef al Issa questioned whether the parties to the dispute in Sudan would accept the referendum's results so as to usher in peace and stability.
Most academic and intelligence reports expect, however, acts of violence to rise and last for a long time between the North and the South.
Had successive governments promoted democratic practices since independence in the last century, the split would not have been an option. Throughout Sudan's modern history, no serious efforts have been invested to develop the country economically and distribute the wealth evenly.
This has been accompanied also by an abuse of power, which prevented serious initiatives by the opposition forces from the North and South to achieve national unity.
Observers believe that the ideological differences between the North and the South makes the separation likely. The Sudan People's Liberation Movement calls for a new Sudan based on an African secular political system, while the leadership in the North focuses on Sharia and Arabism. This situation has not been conducive to creating an atmosphere of mutual trust, and that has thwarted all attempts to reach a long-lasting peace.
With pending issues over oil and borders, Sudan will likely face challenges this year.
Palestinians need to unite against dangers
"It is clear that an Israeli plan is being implemented to stir tensions with the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip by targeting unarmed civilians," noted the Qatari daily Al Raya in a lead article.
A new wave of war crimes should prompt the international community to condemn them by enforcing international human rights law to protect the civilians from the Israeli military machine.
"Certainly, Israel took advantage of a lack of international opposition to achieve its deadly plots after it succeeded in courting the US, which has become unable to stand neutral."
Amid this situation, Israel began to carry out a new scheme aimed this time at destabilising security in order to drag the Palestinians into direct military confrontation. This would allow it to occupy more land. This plan will only further obstruct the peace process and, at the same time, cause other pressing regional problems to last longer.
This newspaper considers the latest developments as serious and calls on the international community to be firm and promptly intervene, and for the Palestinians to be united to ward off the common threat.
* Digest compiled by Mostapha El Mouloudi
melmouloudi@thenational.ae
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In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
The Internet
Hive Mind
four stars
Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
ABU DHABI ORDER OF PLAY
Starting at 10am:
Daria Kasatkina v Qiang Wang
Veronika Kudermetova v Annet Kontaveit (10)
Maria Sakkari (9) v Anastasia Potapova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Ons Jabeur (15)
Donna Vekic (16) v Bernarda Pera
Ekaterina Alexandrova v Zarina Diyas
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
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.”
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.
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
MATCH INFO
Hoffenheim v Liverpool
Uefa Champions League play-off, first leg
Location: Rhein-Neckar-Arena, Sinsheim
Kick-off: Tuesday, 10.45pm (UAE)
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Porsche Macan T: The Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 265hp from 5,000-6,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm from 1,800-4,500rpm
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto
Speed: 0-100kph in 6.2sec
Top speed: 232kph
Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km
On sale: May or June
Price: From Dh259,900
Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
Penguin Press
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Ordinary Virtues: Moral Order in a Divided World by Michael Ignatieff
Harvard University Press
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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.
