Life at Zaatari, a Syrian refugee camp, is documented through photographs taken by some of the young occupants, which have been compiled into a book published by Unicef. This is one of those images. Courtesy Unicef
Life at Zaatari, a Syrian refugee camp, is documented through photographs taken by some of the young occupants, which have been compiled into a book published by Unicef. This is one of those images. CShow more



Entering the Syrian refugee camp Zaatari in the north of Jordan, by now the second-largest refugee camp in the world, the eye-catching scenery mirrors most other such camps – children in dirty clothes playing on the dirt roads, tents and temporary structures, mothers carrying water home and blank-eyed old men sitting and smoking.

Forbidden to leave the camp, these displaced people, whose identity regardless of their previous status, occupation and class in Syria, is now reduced to “refugee”, are easy prey for the journalists, photographers, filmmakers, international donors and Jordanian government officials circling the camp during visiting hours, scouting for photo opportunities, news stories or testimonies for their appeals to request more money for their organisations or the government.

“You give me a lollipop so you can take my picture,” a young boy challenged a filmmaker. A photographer working for Save the Children in the camp said he witnessed angry people who chased him away and colleagues whose cameras were stolen or broken by camp residents.

“You come here to get our stories so you can make money from it,” a teenager said, refusing to have his picture taken by a photographer from the Jordan Times newspaper.

Walking around the camp with my own camera, I experienced children posing for me and then asking for money; they, too, know their value for the media professionals who have come to tell the world about their existence.

But in a big tent, in one of the 50 youth spaces in the camp, a group of five girls, between the ages of 15 and 20, discuss which photos from a pile on the table are “good”.

They have received training twice a week for three months in composition, storytelling, interview techniques and other elements of photojournalism by the French photographer Agnes Montanari. She runs three groups of 50 students, of whom 28 are girls.

In the camp, girls attend school from 8am to 11.30am and boys from 12.30pm to 4pm. But when school is over, the dull life of the dusty camp awaits. The photography programme is one of Save the Children’s after-school activities for the youth.

In the beginning, the students photographed their daily lives with disposable cameras. In the second phase of the training, everyone has received a digital point-and-shoot camera and an audio recorder. The advanced students are now creating portraits from the camp based on their photos and recordings.

It’s their time to document the life of the camp, the way they see it and to their own benefit.

“We came here to spend our time in a useful manner because photography is the only thing that backed up the revolution. We managed to communicate to the world what happened in Syria and that is very important to us,“ said 16-year-old Noor from Al Tadamon in Syria. Her 15-year-old sister Iman said that when she returns to Syria she wants to apply her skills there.

“My hope is to be a journalist, I would love that. I came to the school here for that,” she said. The same dream holds true for the rest of the girls in the course.

“My hobby was originally photo-graphy and I came here to build on that. When I return to Syria, I want to do the same as Agnes,” said 20-year-old Sanaa from Dara’a.

Their work is being published this month in Now and Then, a book edited by Montanari and financed by Unicef and Save the Children. The first part is illustrated by drawings of memories from Syria, the second on the photographs from the camp.

“Life doesn’t stop because you are here, it’s just another experience. So make sure it’s your life,” Montanari told the students.

One photo shows a girl pushing a wheelbarrow with a child. “They are our pushcarts in the camp” is the accompanying caption.

“They have access to things we don’t see; it’s extremely important that they tell their own stories. This way they become actors, not just victims,” Montanari said.

The next step is to create a photo agency in the camp that will offer photographs for the media and produce a newsletter for the “residents”.

artslife@thenational.ae

Nancy 9 (Hassa Beek)

Nancy Ajram

(In2Musica)

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INFO

Everton 0

Arsenal 0

Man of the Match: Djibril Sidibe (Everton)

The Disaster Artist

Director: James Franco

Starring: James Franco, Dave Franco, Seth Rogan

Four stars

Opening day UAE Premiership fixtures, Friday, September 22:

  • Dubai Sports City Eagles v Dubai Exiles
  • Dubai Hurricanes v Abu Dhabi Saracens
  • Jebel Ali Dragons v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Teenage%20Mutant%20Ninja%20Turtles%3A%20Shredder's%20Revenge
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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GOODBYE%20JULIA
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
Match info

Champions League quarter-final, first leg

Liverpool v Porto, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE)

Matches can be watched on BeIN Sports

Teams in the EHL

White Bears, Al Ain Theebs, Dubai Mighty Camels, Abu Dhabi Storms, Abu Dhabi Scorpions and Vipers

Company%20Profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
THE SPECS

Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine 

Power: 420kW

Torque: 780Nm

Transmission: 8-speed automatic

Price: From Dh1,350,000

On sale: Available for preorder now

Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale

Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni

Director: Amith Krishnan

Rating: 3.5/5

BLACK%20ADAM
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Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now

Electoral College Victory

Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate. 

 

Popular Vote Tally

The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.

Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode

Directors: Raj & DK

Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon

Rating: 4/5

SPECS

Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now

BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES

Saturday

Borussia Dortmund v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm kick-off UAE)

Bayer Leverkusen v Schalke (5.30pm)

Wolfsburg v Cologne (5.30pm)

Mainz v Arminia Bielefeld (5.30pm)

Augsburg v Hoffenheim (5.30pm)

RB Leipzig v Bayern Munich (8.30pm)

Borussia Monchengladbach v Freiburg (10.30pm)

Sunday

VfB Stuttgart v Werder Bremen  (5.30pm)

Union Berlin v Hertha Berlin (8pm)

Get Out

Director: Jordan Peele

Stars: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford

Four stars

Business Insights
  • As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses. 
  • SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income. 
  • Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
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Company Profile

Company name: Fine Diner

Started: March, 2020

Co-founders: Sami Elayan, Saed Elayan and Zaid Azzouka

Based: Dubai

Industry: Technology and food delivery

Initial investment: Dh75,000

Investor: Dtec Startupbootcamp

Future plan: Looking to raise $400,000

Total sales: Over 1,000 deliveries in three months

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Dolittle

Director: Stephen Gaghan

Stars: Robert Downey Jr, Michael Sheen

One-and-a-half out of five stars

England's all-time record goalscorers:
Wayne Rooney 53
Bobby Charlton 49
Gary Lineker 48
Jimmy Greaves 44
Michael Owen 40
Tom Finney 30
Nat Lofthouse 30
Alan Shearer 30
Viv Woodward 29
Frank Lampard 29

French Touch

Carla Bruni

(Verve)

Who are the Sacklers?

The Sackler family is a transatlantic dynasty that owns Purdue Pharma, which manufactures and markets OxyContin, one of the drugs at the centre of America's opioids crisis. The family is well known for their generous philanthropy towards the world's top cultural institutions, including Guggenheim Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate in Britain, Yale University and the Serpentine Gallery, to name a few. Two branches of the family control Purdue Pharma.

Isaac Sackler and Sophie Greenberg were Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York before the First World War. They had three sons. The first, Arthur, died before OxyContin was invented. The second, Mortimer, who died aged 93 in 2010, was a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. The third, Raymond, died aged 97 in 2017 and was also a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. 

It was Arthur, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketeer, who started the family business dynasty. He and his brothers bought a small company called Purdue Frederick; among their first products were laxatives and prescription earwax remover.

Arthur's branch of the family has not been involved in Purdue for many years and his daughter, Elizabeth, has spoken out against it, saying the company's role in America's drugs crisis is "morally abhorrent".

The lawsuits that were brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachussetts named eight Sacklers. This includes Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, who are all the children of either Mortimer or Raymond. Then there's Theresa Sackler, who is Mortimer senior's widow; Beverly, Raymond's widow; and David Sackler, Raymond's grandson.

Members of the Sackler family are rarely seen in public.

Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Rating: 2/5
 
If you go

The flights

Fly direct to London from the UAE with Etihad, Emirates, British Airways or Virgin Atlantic from about Dh2,500 return including taxes. 

The hotel

Rooms at the convenient and art-conscious Andaz London Liverpool Street cost from £167 (Dh800) per night including taxes.

The tour

The Shoreditch Street Art Tour costs from £15 (Dh73) per person for approximately three hours. 

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.”

Jewel of the Expo 2020

252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome

13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas

550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome

724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses

Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa

Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site

The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants

Al Wasl means connection in Arabic

World’s largest 360-degree projection surface