Inside the Debaga displacement camp soon after the start of the campaign to liberate Mosul, dishevelled families who had found refuge told a familiar story of hardship.
But those living at the camp in northern Iraq were not from the one million civilians caught up in the battle for Mosul raging to the west.
Instead, many of the families come from the east, fleeing the town of Hawija on a gruelling desert journey through ISIL lines.
Hawija, had fallen to ISIL after the disastrous collapse of the Iraqi military in 2014 and formed part of a broad corridor of ISIL gains jutting east towards the Iranian border.
By the time the battle for Mosul began in earnest last October, the Iraqis had clawed back enough of the country to isolate Hawija into a dusty pocket sitting awkwardly between Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces.
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Read more:
After liberation of Tal Afar, Iraq sets sights on Hawija district
Kirkuk may be ticking time bomb as it joins Kurdish referendum
Kurd rebels in Iraq mountains shrug off Turkey-Iran threats
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While a brutal urban conflict raged in Mosul, the Hawija pocket festered along with its 100,000 inhabitants.
Its ISIL occupiers were too weak to pose a serious attacking threat, while the Iraqi military was too busy finishing off the terror group in Mosul and allied Shiite militia groups were encroaching on the nearby town of Tel Afar. Cut off from the outside world, the humanitarian situation in Hawija was dire, testified by the steady trickle of civilians filtering through the frontlines.
In July, ISIL resistance in Mosul was finally smashed. Counterterrorism troops, the army and the Shiite militias followed this up with a swift operation to retake Tel Afar in August. Buoyed by these victories, Iraqi commanders are now setting their sights on the final ISIL pockets in the country, including Hawija.
On August 31, Iraqi aircraft dropped millions of leaflets over Hawija, warning residents that an operation to reclaim the town was imminent. After being part of ISIL's self-proclaimed caliphate for more than three years, Hawija is to return to the Iraqi fold.
There is little certainty over how difficult the fighting will be. The Iraqi high command severely underestimated ISIL's resilience in Mosul, while drastically overestimating the number of extremists left in Tel Afar. The terror group has never held out long against a concerted assault on small Iraqi towns like Tel Afar, which is similar in size to Hawija.
Both of these small, backwater towns have long been hotbeds of Sunni militancy.
During the bloody insurgency waged after the US invasion, Tel Afar and Hawija quickly became Al Qaeda strongholds. In Hawija, resistance to US occupation and the new Shiite-dominated government was so intense that American troops dubbed the town the "Anbar of the North”.
Most residents of Hawija are also Sunni Arabs, and Iraqi forces are about to return to a place where they provided a huge boost to ISIL, Al Qaeda's successor in Iraq.
In 2013, the then prime minister Nouri Al Maliki ordered security forces to open fire on peaceful Sunni protesters in Hawija, leading to a bloodbath. The incident convinced many Sunnis that Mr Al Maliki's sectarian policies could only be countered with violence, and ISIL could count on substantial support from the local population when it stormed across the Syrian border into Iraq a year later.
ISIL's brutal, fundamentalist rule has dampened enthusiasm for the group, and Iraq's military has done much to repair its own reputation.
Shiite militia groups, also known as the Hashed Al Shaabi, announced they will take part in the operation.
The militias have a track record of torturing and killing Sunni civilians, and their presence might alarm Hawija’s remaining population, prompt them to support ISIL defenders and risk inflaming sectarian tensions.
But the Shiite militias seem to have since curbed their worst impulses, with no evidence so far of human rights abuses emerging from their latest campaigns.
The Shiite militias could however ignite the simmering dispute over territory between the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and Baghdad. Both lay claim to a broad swathe of territory bordering the autonomous Kurdish region, and to the city of Kirkuk, an city with large oil reserves 45 kilometres to the east of Hawija.
The Shiite militias have been open about their opposition to Kurdish land grabs since 2014. Kirkuk, which the Kurds took over after the Iraqi military fled the onrushing ISIL militants, is the biggest bone of contention. The Yazidi heartland of Sinjar near the Syrian border is another.
Peshmerga and local Shiite Turkmen Hashed units have repeatedly clashed in Tuz Khurmatu, a town near Kirkuk and in the disputed territories. The clashes in Tuz Khurmatu were contained at the time, but many Iraqis fear that with their common enemy gone, the Peshmerga and the Hashed could eventually turn on each other, tumbling Iraq into renewed conflict.
The Peshmerga are poised to take part in the Hawija operation, bringing the Kurds and the Shiite militias into touching distance in yet another part of Iraq that both helped liberate from ISIL.
Knowing that defending Hawija is a lost cause, ISIL militants might choose to abandon the town and melt away into the nearby Hamrin Mountains to the south. The inhospitable mountain range lends itself to a hit-and-run insurgency that would be difficult to eradicate.
Unable to cross the desert border into Syria like many of Tel Afar's defenders are thought to have done, the only lifeline for the jihadists of Hawija might be running to the hills to prolong the ISIL presence in the area. Kurdish commanders have told local press they are convinced that ISIL fighters have already started relocating to the Hamrin Mountains.
Having failed to hold down the vast tracts of territory it once controlled in Syria and Iraq, the terror group has little choice but to seep into the hinterland, where it can hope to regain strength and wait to exploit furture crisis in Iraq.
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Astra%20Tech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMarch%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAbdallah%20Abu%20Sheikh%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20technology%20investment%20and%20development%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%20size%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24500m%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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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About Tenderd
Started: May 2018
Founder: Arjun Mohan
Based: Dubai
Size: 23 employees
Funding: Raised $5.8m in a seed fund round in December 2018. Backers include Y Combinator, Beco Capital, Venturesouq, Paul Graham, Peter Thiel, Paul Buchheit, Justin Mateen, Matt Mickiewicz, SOMA, Dynamo and Global Founders Capital
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Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Section 375
Cast: Akshaye Khanna, Richa Chadha, Meera Chopra & Rahul Bhat
Director: Ajay Bahl
Producers: Kumar Mangat Pathak, Abhishek Pathak & SCIPL
Rating: 3.5/5
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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.”
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV
Power: 360bhp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh282,870
On sale: now
Fixtures
Sunday, December 8, Sharjah Cricket Stadium – UAE v USA
Monday, December 9, Sharjah Cricket Stadium – USA v Scotland
Wednesday, December 11, Sharjah Cricket Stadium – UAE v Scotland
Thursday, December 12, ICC Academy, Dubai – UAE v USA
Saturday, December 14, ICC Academy, Dubai – USA v Scotland
Sunday, December 15, ICC Academy, Dubai – UAE v Scotland
Note: All matches start at 10am, admission is free
Medicus AI
Started: 2016
Founder(s): Dr Baher Al Hakim, Dr Nadine Nehme and Makram Saleh
Based: Vienna, Austria; started in Dubai
Sector: Health Tech
Staff: 119
Funding: €7.7 million (Dh31m)
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Profile
Name: Carzaty
Founders: Marwan Chaar and Hassan Jaffar
Launched: 2017
Employees: 22
Based: Dubai and Muscat
Sector: Automobile retail
Funding to date: $5.5 million
Pupils in Abu Dhabi are learning the importance of being active, eating well and leading a healthy lifestyle now and throughout adulthood, thanks to a newly launched programme 'Healthy Lifestyle'.
As part of the Healthy Lifestyle programme, specially trained coaches from City Football Schools, along with Healthpoint physicians have visited schools throughout Abu Dhabi to give fun and interactive lessons on working out regularly, making the right food choices, getting enough sleep and staying hydrated, just like their favourite footballers.
Organised by Manchester City FC and Healthpoint, Manchester City FC’s regional healthcare partner and part of Mubadala’s healthcare network, the ‘Healthy Lifestyle’ programme will visit 15 schools, meeting around 1,000 youngsters over the next five months.
Designed to give pupils all the information they need to improve their diet and fitness habits at home, at school and as they grow up, coaches from City Football Schools will work alongside teachers to lead the youngsters through a series of fun, creative and educational classes as well as activities, including playing football and other games.
Dr Mai Ahmed Al Jaber, head of public health at Healthpoint, said: “The programme has different aspects - diet, exercise, sleep and mental well-being. By having a focus on each of those and delivering information in a way that children can absorb easily it can help to address childhood obesity."
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
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
On sale: Available to order now
