Abu Dhabi is the template for a safe nuclear power programme

Started by German engineers in 1975, bombed during the Iran-Iraq war, restarted by the Russians in 1995 in the face of US pressure to stop, and finally cobbled together from leftover components, Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant, which began operating in September, is a strange beast.

Sited astride an earthquake zone, and closer to all the GCC capital cities than to Tehran, Bushehr is not the way to launch nuclear power in the Middle East.

The UAE's civil nuclear power programme is entirely different. It has an independent regulator and an international advisory board that includes Hans Blix,renowned from his days hunting for Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.

The Emirates chose to forego domestic uranium enrichment and reprocessing to allay concerns of nuclear weapons proliferation. Lady Barbara Judge, the chairman of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, said, "If I was going to write a template on how to begin a new nuclear programme and to get the world behind you instead of against you, I would say Abu Dhabi is doing it exactly the right way. It's best practice multiplied by three."

The imperative of soaring domestic energy demand is driving other Middle East countries to think nuclear, although in the wake of Japan's Fukushima accident a year ago, Kuwait announced last month it was abandoning its atomic energy plans.

But permission was given on Thursday for site preparation to begin on the first two out of four reactors planned at Braka in Abu Dhabi's Al Gharbia region.

Saudi Arabia plans to spend more than US$100 billion (Dh367.31bn) on 16 nuclear reactors over the next two decades and use its oil for exports.

Jordan, its economy hamstrung by high energy bills and repeated attacks on its gas pipeline, is also moving ahead with nuclear plans.

There are good reasons why the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) countries can enjoy part of the global "nuclear renaissance", albeit a more halting and fragmented renaissance than seemed likely before Fukushima.

Capital is readily available, at least in the Gulf, land is abundant and planning procedures relatively speedy. Public support is strong, certainly far more than in the US or Europe, with 85 per cent of UAE residents surveyed believing nuclear power is important for the country.

The key is building the right regulatory systems. Even in an advanced industrial democracy such as Japan, the Japanese "nuclear village" featured far too cosy a relationship between the industry and those overseeing it.

Mena countries have a long road ahead in developing the nuclear expertise needed to run the plants. Water, required for cooling and in emergencies, may not be easily available, in particular in Jordan with its short coastline. More interconnections are needed to allow countries to share electricity in the event of unplanned shutdowns.

Nuclear power is preferable to burning oil for electricity when the price exceeds US$60 to $70 per barrel, well below current levels. There is the tantalising prospect of using nuclear power, with its copious quantities of waste heat, for desalination - successfully demonstrated in Japan, India and Kazakhstan.

A triptych of nuclear for steady year-round demand, solar power to meet midday air conditioning, and gas for the evenings can be the foundation for a Middle East future of abundant, affordable and low-carbon electricity.

But this can only be achieved if all the region's nuclear users make a leap forward on competence, safety and transparency.

Robin Mills is head of consulting at Manaar Energy, and author of The Myth of the Oil Crisis and Capturing Carbon

Farage on Muslim Brotherhood

Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.

SNAPSHOT

While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.

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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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Islamophobia definition

A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.

Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.

A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.

Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.

A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.

On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.

The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.

Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.

The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.