Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe concerned for husband as hunger strikes drags on

The husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is growing weaker as he tries to pressure the Iranian government into releasing her.

Speaking on the 16th day of his hunger strike, Richard Ratcliffe spoke of his wife’s concerns for his health and his attempts to protect their daughter.

He said his wife was growing more concerned as his health suffers and the hunger strike leaves him with problems walking.

He told The National how he is also trying to protect their daughter, Gabriella, from seeing how the effects of the hunger strike are debilitating him.

“She’s at school and we are trying to maintain a normal life. The first week was half-term so she came down and made pumpkins and we painted some stones.

“Part of my job is to protect her, so we won’t bring her down too much as it goes on. Hopefully it won’t be too upsetting when she does.”

Asked what his wife thinks about the hunger strike, he said she will be concerned for his health.

Richard Ratcliffe on day 16 of his hunger strike outside the Foreign Office in London. EPA

“Be careful is what she said at the beginning. The trigger starting [this was] the Iranians were about to throw her back in prison. I think by us being here, that is less likely.

“She probably worries less about prison and more about me, and what the hunger strike does, particularly as the days go on. We are in uncharted territory.

“Hunger strikes never help anybody. The longer you do it the more the risk of permanent damage. She is worried.”

He admitted the hunger strike was getting harder now that it’s in its third week.

“Over the weekend, I started to feel the cold and the tiredness.

Richard Ratcliffe, husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian detained in Iran since 2016, sits in a tent outside the Foreign Office in London after beginning a hunger strike. AFP

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her husband and their daughter Gabriella. Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained in Tehran in April 2016 on trumped-up charges of espionage and has already served a full five-year jail term. AFP

Mr Ratcliffe holds a picture of his wife outside the Foreign Office in London. His hunger strike is aimed at putting pressure on the UK to secure her release. AFP

Mr Ratcliffe on hunger strike outside the Iranian embassy in 2019. The protest lasted for 15 days and was done in solidarity with his wife, who took the same action behind bars in Tehran. AFP

Mr Ratcliffe intends to sleep in a tent at night. PA

A portrait of Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe is displayed by Mr Ratcliffe outside the Foreign Office. Getty

I can’t walk about that much. I think that’s my body telling me ‘be careful.’ I can still walk unaided but it’s getting harder.

“The Iranian delegation has just arrived at Cop and are here all week. Part of my aspiration is to be here while they are in Britain, so that there is a clear message to them, that it’s not OK to go around taking hostages and then swan around as if everything is normal.”

He said he had been told that Iran’s foreign minister had tweeted of a meeting with British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss but that he had not heard anything more from officials.

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La Mer lowdown

La Mer beach is open from 10am until midnight, daily, and is located in Jumeirah 1, well after Kite Beach. Some restaurants, like Cupagahwa, are open from 8am for breakfast; most others start at noon. At the time of writing, we noticed that signs for Vicolo, an Italian eatery, and Kaftan, a Turkish restaurant, indicated that these two restaurants will be open soon, most likely this month. Parking is available, as well as a Dh100 all-day valet option or a Dh50 valet service if you’re just stopping by for a few hours.

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

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The specs: 2018 Infiniti QX80

Price: base / as tested: Dh335,000

Engine: 5.6-litre V8

Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic

Power: 400hp @ 5,800rpm

Torque: 560Nm @ 4,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 12.1L / 100km

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Justin Thomas: Challenge the notion that 'men are from Mars, women are from Venus'

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.	United States
2.	China
3.	UAE
4.	Japan
5	Norway
6.	Canada
7.	Singapore
8.	Australia
9.	Saudi Arabia
10.	South Korea

The bio

Studied up to grade 12 in Vatanappally, a village in India’s southern Thrissur district

Was a middle distance state athletics champion in school

Enjoys driving to Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah with family

His dream is to continue working as a social worker and help people

Has seven diaries in which he has jotted down notes about his work and money he earned

Keeps the diaries in his car to remember his journey in the Emirates

Asia Cup Qualifier

Venue: Kuala Lumpur

Result: Winners play at Asia Cup in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in September

Fixtures:

Wed Aug 29: Malaysia v Hong Kong, Nepal v Oman, UAE v Singapore

Thu Aug 30: UAE v Nepal, Hong Kong v Singapore, Malaysia v Oman

Sat Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong, Oman v Singapore, Malaysia v Nepal

Sun Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman, Malaysia v UAE, Nepal v Singapore

Tue Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore, UAE v Oman, Nepal v Hong Kong

Thu Sep 6: Final

Asia Cup

Venue: Dubai and Abu Dhabi

Schedule: Sep 15-28

Teams: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, plus the winner of the Qualifier

Gender equality in the workplace still 200 years away

It will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe, according to a December report from the World Economic Forum.

The WEF study said there had been some improvements in wage equality in 2018 compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade.

But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education.

At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.

The Geneva-based organisation's annual report tracked disparities between the sexes in 149 countries across four areas: education, health, economic opportunity and political empowerment.

After years of advances in education, health and political representation, women registered setbacks in all three areas this year, WEF said.

Only in the area of economic opportunity did the gender gap narrow somewhat, although there is not much to celebrate, with the global wage gap narrowing to nearly 51 per cent.

And the number of women in leadership roles has risen to 34 per cent globally, WEF said.

At the same time, the report showed there are now proportionately fewer women than men participating in the workforce, suggesting that automation is having a disproportionate impact on jobs traditionally performed by women.

And women are significantly under-represented in growing areas of employment that require science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, WEF said.

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Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8

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Tamkeen's offering

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RESULTS - ELITE MEN

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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.”