NEW YORK // Britain's Queen Elizabeth II addressed the United Nations yesterday, more than half a century after she first gave a speech to the world body when the crisis of the time was Suez following an attack by Britain, France and Israel on Egypt in 1956.
In her speech yesterday, she reflected that during her lifetime the UN had moved from being a "high-minded aspiration to being a real force for common good" but that "in tomorrow's world, we must all work together as hard as ever if we are truly to be a United Nations".
She said she had witnessed great change since she was last at the UN in 1957, "much of it for the better, particularly in science and technology and in social attitudes", which had come about mostly because of the millions of ordinary people who wanted such change rather than through governments or committees. Challenges ahead included the struggle against terrorism and dealing with climate change, she said.
Speaking on behalf of the British government, a key ally in the US-led war in Afghanistan, she said the aims of the UN charter were enduring. "To promote international peace, security and justice, to relieve and remove the blight of hunger, poverty and disease, to protect the rights and liberties of every citizen," she said.
She met Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, Ali Treki, the president of the General Assembly and ambassadors of 15 Commonwealth countries of which she is also head of state. Since the queen, 84, first addressed the UN in 1957, the organisation has grown from 82 to 192 countries, many of which were then British colonies.
Although US-Anglo relations have sometimes experienced strain, from Suez to most recently over the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, opinion polls show the queen commands great respect in the United States even if huge crowds did not line the streets as on her previous two trips to New York.
Yesterday's visit of the queen and Prince Philip, her husband, was scheduled to last only five hours and include a tour of Ground Zero where the World Trade Centre stood before the attacks of September 11 and the opening of a garden in downtown Manhattan dedicated to the 67 British victims of those attacks.
Officials said record-breaking heat of more than 37.7 C was unlikely to deter the octogenarian queen, a keen horse-rider who appears robust and healthy. She has toured the United States in previous years including several visits to the Kentucky Derby horse race.
Her trip came just two days after the July 4 celebrations to mark 234 years since the US Declaration of Independence from the British monarchy. But the queen appears personally immune to republican zeal as she has appeared on Gallup's annual top 10 list of most admired women a total of 42 time since 1948. Her last trip to New York was in 1976 when she took part in ceremonies to mark the 200th anniversary of US independence.
Queen Elizabeth ascended to the British throne when she was 25 following the death of her father, King George VI. The antics of her four children and eight grand-children have provided much tabloid fodder but the most media hysteria was directed at Princess Diana, her daughter-in-law who was married to Prince Charles.
When Diana died in a Paris car crash in 1997 with Dodi Fayed, her boyfriend, the queen was criticised for appearing unmoved by the grief that overwhelmed many Britons and others around the world. But her standing seemed to recover quickly.
The queen spends a great deal of her time promoting the Commonwealth, a grouping of 54 nations all but two of which were former British colonies. In 2012, Britain and the Commonwealth will celebrate her diamond jubilee or 60 years of her reign. She is queen of 16 realms and nominal leader of two billion subjects or almost one-third of the world's population.
Before her arrival in New York yesterday, the queen made a nine-day trip to Canada, of which she is also head of state - a largely ceremonial and apolitical role. She was given a personalised BlackBerry during a visit to Research in Motion, which makes the device. In a speech, she also noted Canadian sacrifices in Afghanistan.
She was declared an honorary New Yorker by Abe Beame, who was mayor of the city during her last visit in 1976. Yesterday, Newsday, a New York newspaper, offered tips on how to behave on meeting the queen including the advice to speak only when spoken to and to address her as "your majesty".
On her first visit to New York in 1957, she was hailed as a beautiful and poised young woman. "A visit to New York for just a day is really a teaser," she said of her 15 hours in the city.
She rode in the limousine of Dwight Eisenhower, who was then president and who had recently ordered federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce the desegregation of a high school.
In her first speech to the UN 53 years ago, she delivered a speech of only eight paragraphs and called the world body a place "dedicated to peace, where representatives from all over the world meet to examine the problems of our time".
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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.”
Men from Barca's class of 99
Crystal Palace - Frank de Boer
Everton - Ronald Koeman
Manchester City - Pep Guardiola
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Brief scoreline:
Toss: South Africa, elected to bowl first
England (311-8): Stokes 89, Morgan 57, Roy 54, Root 51; Ngidi 3-66
South Africa (207): De Kock 68, Van der Dussen 50; Archer 3-27, Stokes 2-12
ICC T20 Rankings
1. India - 270 ranking points
2. England - 265 points
3. Pakistan - 261 points
4. South Africa - 253 points
5. Australia - 251 points
6. New Zealand - 250 points
7. West Indies - 240 points
8. Bangladesh - 233 points
9. Sri Lanka - 230 points
10. Afghanistan - 226 points
Results
United States beat UAE by three wickets
United States beat Scotland by 35 runs
UAE v Scotland – no result
United States beat UAE by 98 runs
Scotland beat United States by four wickets
Fixtures
Sunday, 10am, ICC Academy, Dubai - UAE v Scotland
Admission is free
Specs
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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)
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
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The Baghdad Clock
Shahad Al Rawi, Oneworld
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
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Violence%20
%3Cp%3EInstances%20of%20violence%20against%20Syrian%20refugees%20are%20not%20uncommon.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EJust%20last%20month%2C%20security%20camera%20footage%20of%20men%20violently%20attacking%20and%20stabbing%20an%20employee%20at%20a%20mini-market%20went%20viral.%20The%20store%E2%80%99s%20employees%20had%20engaged%20in%20a%20verbal%20altercation%20with%20the%20men%20who%20had%20come%20to%20enforce%20an%20order%20to%20shutter%20shops%2C%20following%20the%20announcement%20of%20a%20municipal%20curfew%20for%20Syrian%20refugees.%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%9CThey%20thought%20they%20were%20Syrian%2C%E2%80%9D%20said%20the%20mayor%20of%20the%20Nahr%20el%20Bared%20municipality%2C%20Charbel%20Bou%20Raad%2C%20of%20the%20attackers.%3Cbr%3EIt%20later%20emerged%20the%20beaten%20employees%20were%20Lebanese.%20But%20the%20video%20was%20an%20exemplary%20instance%20of%20violence%20at%20a%20time%20when%20anti-Syrian%20rhetoric%20is%20particularly%20heated%20as%20Lebanese%20politicians%20call%20for%20the%20return%20of%20Syrian%20refugees%20to%20Syria.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
