A self-identifying Danish undercover agent who claimed to have spied on Al-Qaeda has been awarded $27,000 in damages for post-traumatic stress disorder.
In a breakthrough decision by Danish state agency Labour Market Insurance, Morten Storm was awarded compensation after authorities had deemed him to have experienced “exceptionally dangerous events”. Mr Storm could be entitled to further compensation at a later date.
According to Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, Denmark’s security and intelligence authorities have denied that Mr Storm ever worked for them. Mr Storm hasn’t been able to provide pay slips to prove that he was ever an undercover agent, but has submitted voice recordings and proof of money transfers that included the name of several Danish intelligence operatives.
Compensation for the self-identified spy is the first recognition by an official authority for his spying missions.
Former chief of operations for Denmark’s intelligence service said he was aghast by the government’s decision to award Mr Storm compensation. Speaking to the New York Times, Hans Jorgen Bonnichsen said intelligence services stay silent “until hell freezes over” to protect their current employees from exposure. Mr Storm’s lawyer accused Danish intelligence agency PET of deliberately staying silent.
Mr Storm published claims about going undercover and rejecting extremism in his 2014 memoir ‘Agent Storm: My Life Inside Al Qaeda and the CIA’.
The 43-year-old reportedly joined militant groups and then moved to Britain and Yemen in his early 20s in 1997 to learn Arabic. While in Yemen, he struck a friendship with senior members of Al Qaeda.
The Dane claims that he lost faith with extremist groups in the Arabian Peninsula in 2006 and subsequently became an informer for Danish authorities.
Mr Storm went public with his side of the story in 2012, and says he feels bitterly resentful that that intelligence agencies never helped him restart a new life.
He now lives in rural Denmark and struggles to cope with PTSD.
“At night, I scream and kick,” he told the New York Times. “Just talking about it now makes me uneasy.”
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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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.”
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Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
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Water waste
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
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In
- Raed Mozafar Abu Al Saoud, Minister of Water and Irrigation
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- Hala Noaman “Basiso Lattouf”, Minister of Social Development
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