“Welcome to Chiswick Park. We do things differently here,” reads a sign greeting office staff heading to work in the West London suburb.
That message runs true at the office complex operating under an anti-terrorism operation where about 100 staff of Iran International worked until last weekend. The Persian language broadcaster took the decision to send some journalists to the US and order others to work from home as concerns for their safety grew.
Dozens of police and private security guards are on duty. Anyone wishing to enter the building where the newsroom was located must pass through airport style security gates.
Security staff check the number plates of every vehicle before waving drivers through. Another team of officials are stationed behind a two-and-half metre high fence.
During a walk around the park by The National, the simple act of taking a photo on a mobile phone prompted an officer sitting in a police van outside the empty newsroom to react. The Metropolitan Police said a man had been charged with “collecting information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism”.
Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev, a 30-year-old Austrian, was detained and charged by the Met's Counter-Terrorism Command in Chiswick Business Park on February 11.
The National's visit to the business park followed Iran International’s decision to abandon the base. The move came months after several members of the British team had received death threats from the Islamic Republic, prompting round-the-clock police protection.
What would normally have been a bustling newsroom broadcasting live coverage of events in Iran to thousands of viewers around the world was empty.
A source in the broadcaster told The National: “We’re on air, uninterrupted, broadcasting from our DC studios.” The insider said newsgathering from the UK team is “operating normally” while staff are working from home.
Iran International’s decision to move some of its journalists to the US prompted James Cleverly, the UK's Foreign Secretary, to summon Iran's most senior diplomat.
Vijay Rangarajan, the Foreign Office's director general for the Middle East, held a meeting with Iranian Chargé d’Affaires Mehdi Hosseini Matin on Monday to make clear the UK would not tolerate threats to life and media freedom.
The talks were held as the UK announced sanctions on a further eight individuals who the UK says are responsible for human rights violations in Iran.
“The UK will always stand up to countries who threaten our fundamental values of freedom of expression and the media,” Mr Cleverly said.
“I am appalled by the Iranian regime’s continuing threats to the lives of UK-based journalists and have today summoned its representative to make clear this will not be tolerated.
“As part of wider efforts to hold Iran to account, the UK has today also sanctioned a further eight individuals responsible for horrific human rights violations in Iran, including the killing of children. We will never allow the regime’s threats to go unchallenged.”
The latest names to appear on the UK's lengthy list of sanctioned individuals will be subjected to asset freezes and travel bans.
While the UK has sanctioned dozens of Iranian individuals and groups over the regime's treatment of protesters, Rishi Sunak's government has resisted calls from cross-party MPs to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organisation.
The channel's move also prompted a warning from Tom Tugendhat, Minister of State for Security.
“The Iranian regime’s threats to assassinate UK-based journalists and harm their families are beyond contempt,” he wrote on Twitter. “Their efforts to silence Iran International TV are a direct attack on our freedoms and an attempt to undermine our sovereignty. They will not succeed.”
As well as the fence outside the building, concrete blocks at the entrance to the park were also among the new introductions since The National last visited the area in November.
Back then, Aliasghar Ramezanpour, executive editor of the channel, said staff were “feeling that they are working in a kind of war zone.”
The Persian language TV channel offers uncensored news and programmes to viewers in Iran and abroad. While the majority of its content focuses on Iranian affairs, it also covers international news and sports.
The channel was co-founded in the UK in 2017 by Mr Ramezanpour, who had worked for BBC Persian.
He said journalists had been threatened over the channel's rolling coverage of the mass anti-government protests that have rocked Iran since the death of Mahsa Amini last September. The 22-year-old Kurdish woman died after allegedly being beaten following her arrest by Iran's morality police for not wearing her hijab properly.
The rallies that have since sprung up in towns and cities across the isolated nation pose one of the most serious challenges to Iran’s theocracy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
On Monday, parents appeared unfazed as they pushed children in strollers and walked dogs along tree-lined paths.
While many staff at companies in the area have for months opted to work from home instead of their offices, Raju Ali is among those who has carried on with his routine despite the threat.
Mr Ali, who works in the building next to Iran International, said he would not be cowed into avoiding his office because he felt reassured by the presence of police.
“I come to work every day,” he told The National. “[The police] are taking very good care of it. We haven’t seen any suspicious behaviour or anything like that but, of course, it’s a delicate situation.
“I think it’s a very safe place to work and I would recommend it if anyone asked me if they should work from here because you can see the [police] response and everyone is co-operating. [The police] gave very good protection and in these circumstances they cannot do any better than that.”
He said despite the abnormal work circumstances, the mood among his colleagues is “absolutely fine”.
However, local businesses would disagree with his assessment.
Julian, who runs a coffee station at the edge of the business park, said his shop has been hit hard by the presence of police in the park over the past months and the decision taken by many officer workers to stay at home.
“We are 30 per cent down in customers,” he said. “I started to notice the change last year as soon as there were some police. The regulars are coming less and less.
“It was quiet in January because people were going on holidays but it is now February and is still quiet. I am hopeful that the people will be coming back. I think the business will survive.”
A kebab stall that was operating from a nearby pavement when The National visited late last year was nowhere to be seen.
Rob Kasenski, a cafe manager, said his lunchtime influx of office workers has suffered significantly because of the security threat.
“We used to get a lot of people from Chiswick Park at lunchtime. There has been a reduction of at least 80 per cent because people are very scared about it,” he said as he flipped vegetables on a griddle. “To be honest, we cannot do much about it.”
Eweline Forney, who works at a nearby cafe, said she had also noticed a dip in the number of diners.
“There are about 30 to 50 fewer customers coming each day,” she said. “Lunchtime was usually our busiest time but we are selling less now. We have had to cut our orders.”
Out on the street the presence of a journalist and cameraman was enough to arouse the suspicion of passers-by.
Marco Scarpelli of Kew, who had dropped his son at a nearby nursery, said the colossal police operation should leave people under no illusion about the threat Iran poses to those whom the regime perceives as enemies.
“I feel sorry for the journalists,” he said.
“Why is Iran poking their nose in journalism? Well, I can imagine why.
“It concerns me about the role of Iran in general in the world.”
The EU on Monday imposed sanctions on a further 32 Iranian individuals including government ministers, intelligence officials and politicians as part of the bloc’s latest punitive measures against the regime over its treatment of protesters.
Two organisations and dozens of officials were hit by asset freezes due to their involvement “in serious human rights violations in Iran,” Brussels said in a statement. The individuals have also been subjected to travel bans.
RESULT
Huddersfield Town 2 Manchester United 1
Huddersfield: Mooy (28'), Depoitre (33')
Manchester United: Rashford (78')
Man of the Match: Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield Town)
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
UAE v Zimbabwe A, 50 over series
Fixtures
Thursday, Nov 9 - 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
Saturday, Nov 11 – 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
Monday, Nov 13 – 2pm, Dubai International Stadium
Thursday, Nov 16 – 2pm, ICC Academy, Dubai
Saturday, Nov 18 – 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Other promotions
- Deliveroo will team up with Pineapple Express to offer customers near JLT a special treat: free banana caramel dessert with all orders on January 26
- Jones the Grocer will have their limited edition Australia Day menu available until the end of the month (January 31)
- Australian Vet in Abu Dhabi (with locations in Khalifa City A and Reem Island) will have a 15 per cent off all store items (excluding medications)
8 traditional Jamaican dishes to try at Kingston 21
- Trench Town Rock: Jamaican-style curry goat served in a pastry basket with a carrot and potato garnish
- Rock Steady Jerk Chicken: chicken marinated for 24 hours and slow-cooked on the grill
- Mento Oxtail: flavoured oxtail stewed for five hours with herbs
- Ackee and salt fish: the national dish of Jamaica makes for a hearty breakfast
- Jamaican porridge: another breakfast favourite, can be made with peanut, cornmeal, banana and plantain
- Jamaican beef patty: a pastry with ground beef filling
- Hellshire Pon di Beach: Fresh fish with pickles
- Out of Many: traditional sweet potato pudding
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
RESULTS
4pm: Al Bastakiya Listed US$250,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
Winner: Yulong Warrior, Richard Mullen (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer)
4.35pm: Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 $200,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Jordan Sport, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass
5.10pm: Nad Al Sheba Conditions $200,000 (Turf) 1,200m
Winner: Jungle Cat, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
5.45pm: Burj Nahaar Group 3 $200,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Kimbear, Patrick Dobbs, Doug Watson
6.20pm: Jebel Hatta Group 1 $300,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner: Blair House, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby
6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 Group 1 $400,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: North America, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
7.30pm: Dubai City of Gold Group 2 $250,000 (T) 2,410m
Winner: Hawkbill, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
Company profile
Date started: Founded in May 2017 and operational since April 2018
Founders: co-founder and chief executive, Doaa Aref; Dr Rasha Rady, co-founder and chief operating officer.
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: Health-tech
Size: 22 employees
Funding: Seed funding
Investors: Flat6labs, 500 Falcons, three angel investors
Omar Yabroudi's factfile
Born: October 20, 1989, Sharjah
Education: Bachelor of Science and Football, Liverpool John Moores University
2010: Accrington Stanley FC, internship
2010-2012: Crystal Palace, performance analyst with U-18 academy
2012-2015: Barnet FC, first-team performance analyst/head of recruitment
2015-2017: Nottingham Forest, head of recruitment
2018-present: Crystal Palace, player recruitment manager
Chinese Grand Prix schedule (in UAE time)
Friday: First practice - 6am; Second practice - 10am
Saturday: Final practice - 7am; Qualifying - 10am
Sunday: Chinese Grand Prix - 10.10am
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Sub Regional Qualifier
Event info: The tournament in Kuwait this month is the first phase of the qualifying process for sides from Asia for the 2020 World T20 in Australia. The UAE must finish within the top three teams out of the six at the competition to advance to the Asia regional finals. Success at regional finals would mean progression to the World T20 Qualifier.
UAE’s fixtures: Fri Apr 20, UAE v Qatar; Sat Apr 21, UAE v Saudi Arabia; Mon Apr 23, UAE v Bahrain; Tue Apr 24, UAE v Maldives; Thu Apr 26, UAE v Kuwait
World T20 2020 Qualifying process:
- Sixteen teams will play at the World T20 in two years’ time.
- Australia have already qualified as hosts
- Nine places are available to the top nine ranked sides in the ICC’s T20i standings, not including Australia, on Dec 31, 2018.
- The final six teams will be decided by a 14-team World T20 Qualifier.
World T20 standings: 1 Pakistan; 2 Australia; 3 India; 4 New Zealand; 5 England; 6 South Africa; 7 West Indies; 8 Sri Lanka; 9 Afghanistan; 10 Bangladesh; 11 Scotland; 12 Zimbabwe; 13 UAE; 14 Netherlands; 15 Hong Kong; 16 Papua New Guinea; 17 Oman; 18 Ireland
RESULT
Manchester City 5 Swansea City 0
Man City: D Silva (12'), Sterling (16'), De Bruyne (54' ), B Silva (64' minutes), Jesus (88')
if you go
The flights
Emirates offer flights to Buenos Aires from Dubai, via Rio De Janeiro from around Dh6,300. emirates.com
Seeing the games
Tangol sell experiences across South America and generally have good access to tickets for most of the big teams in Buenos Aires: Boca Juniors, River Plate, and Independiente. Prices from Dh550 and include pick up and drop off from your hotel in the city. tangol.com
Staying there
Tangol will pick up tourists from any hotel in Buenos Aires, but after the intensity of the game, the Faena makes for tranquil, upmarket accommodation. Doubles from Dh1,110. faena.com
TOURNAMENT INFO
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Thursday results
UAE beat Kuwait by 86 runs
Qatar beat Bahrain by five wickets
Saudi Arabia beat Maldives by 35 runs
Friday fixtures
10am, third-place playoff – Saudi Arabia v Kuwait
3pm, final – UAE v Qatar
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg
Roma 4
Milner (15' OG), Dzeko (52'), Nainggolan (86', 90 4')
Liverpool 2
Mane (9'), Wijnaldum (25')
The biog
Name: Abeer Al Shahi
Emirate: Sharjah – Khor Fakkan
Education: Master’s degree in special education, preparing for a PhD in philosophy.
Favourite activities: Bungee jumping
Favourite quote: “My people and I will not settle for anything less than first place” – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.
The specs: 2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross
Price, base / as tested: Dh101,140 / Dh113,800
Engine: Turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder
Power: 148hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 250Nm @ 2,000rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed CVT
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Last 10 NBA champions
2017: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-1
2016: Cleveland bt Golden State 4-3
2015: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-2
2014: San Antonio bt Miami 4-1
2013: Miami bt San Antonio 4-3
2012: Miami bt Oklahoma City 4-1
2011: Dallas bt Miami 4-2
2010: Los Angeles Lakers bt Boston 4-3
2009: Los Angeles Lakers bt Orlando 4-1
2008: Boston bt Los Angeles Lakers 4-2
The Library: A Catalogue of Wonders
Stuart Kells, Counterpoint Press
Dark Souls: Remastered
Developer: From Software (remaster by QLOC)
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Price: Dh199
Warlight,
Michael Ondaatje, Knopf
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Thursday (All UAE kick-off times)
Sevilla v Real Betis (midnight)
Friday
Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)
Valencia v Levante (midnight)
Saturday
Espanyol v Alaves (4pm)
Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)
Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)
Mallorca v Barcelona (midnight)
Sunday
Atletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid (4pm)
Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)
Personalities on the Plate: The Lives and Minds of Animals We Eat
Barbara J King, University of Chicago Press
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Day 5, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance
Moment of the day When Dilruwan Perera dismissed Yasir Shah to end Pakistan’s limp resistance, the Sri Lankans charged around the field with the fevered delirium of a side not used to winning. Trouble was, they had not. The delivery was deemed a no ball. Sri Lanka had a nervy wait, but it was merely a stay of execution for the beleaguered hosts.
Stat of the day – 5 Pakistan have lost all 10 wickets on the fifth day of a Test five times since the start of 2016. It is an alarming departure for a side who had apparently erased regular collapses from their resume. “The only thing I can say, it’s not a mitigating excuse at all, but that’s a young batting line up, obviously trying to find their way,” said Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s coach.
The verdict Test matches in the UAE are known for speeding up on the last two days, but this was extreme. The first two innings of this Test took 11 sessions to complete. The remaining two were done in less than four. The nature of Pakistan’s capitulation at the end showed just how difficult the transition is going to be in the post Misbah-ul-Haq era.
BRAZIL%20SQUAD
%3Cp%3EGoalkeepers%3A%20Alisson%2C%20Ederson%2C%20Weverton%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EDefenders%3A%20Dani%20Alves%2C%20Marquinhos%2C%20Thiago%20Silva%2C%20Eder%20Militao%20%2C%20Danilo%2C%20Alex%20Sandro%2C%20Alex%20Telles%2C%20Bremer.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EMidfielders%3A%20Casemiro%2C%20Fred%2C%20Fabinho%2C%20Bruno%20Guimaraes%2C%20Lucas%20Paqueta%2C%20Everton%20Ribeiro.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EForwards%3A%20Neymar%2C%20Vinicius%20Junior%2C%20Richarlison%2C%20Raphinha%2C%20Antony%2C%20Gabriel%20Jesus%2C%20Gabriel%20Martinelli%2C%20Pedro%2C%20Rodrygo%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
