Families of victims of the Beirut explosion have attacked Lebanon’s caretaker economy minister for asking the lead investigator to rule out acts of terrorism and war in a bid to speed up the settlement of insurance claims.
A committee representing the families accused Raoul Nehme of anticipating the investigation’s outcome and acquitting Israel and terrorist organisations in a blatant disregard of their quest for justice.
"What this minister did ... is not only a blatant and unacceptable interference with the outcomes of the investigation, but a treacherous stab at our national and humanitarian cause that will not be tolerated," it said in a statement carried by Lebanon's National News Agency.
The request to the investigating judge was made through a memo from the Insurance Control Commission, Lebanon’s insurance sector regulatory authority, which reports to the economy minister. It was signed by Mr Nehme.
The request represents a clear attempt to interfere in the affairs of judicial authorities, said Nizar Saghieh, a lawyer and founder of The Legal Agenda, a Beirut-based research and advocacy organisation.
The minister could face criminal prosecution leading to up to four and a half years in prison, Mr Saghieh told The National.
Mr Nehme said the memo intended only to highlight the importance of issuing an official report once investigations conclude.
“The memo is not intended as an interference in the work of the judiciary and the [Insurance Control] Commission expresses its willingness to withdraw and rephrase the memo since it was misinterpreted,” a statement released by the minister’s office said.
The memo pointed out that international reinsurers were holding payments pending the official outcome of investigations and that most arrangements between local insurance bodies and international reinsurers excluded acts of war and terrorism.
“The payment of dues by international reinsurers would result in an inflow of over 1.2 billion US dollars from overseas,” it said, noting that the value of compensations exceeded the capital of local insurance entities.
According to the latest ICC report released in February, insurance have received about 16,000 claims for estimated losses close to $1.1bn. Only $60 million has been settled so far.
The investigation into the August 4 blast, which killed more than 200 people and caused billions of dollars worth of damage in the capital, has been marred by controversy.
Officials have bickered over who was responsible for allowing the stockpile of ammonium nitrate that caused the blast to be stored at the port for more than six years.
Eight months later, it remains unclear who owned the chemicals or why they were held at the port for so long. Politicians have yet to agree on a new government to take over from the caretaker government of Hassan Diab, which resigned soon after the expolosion.
In February, a number of Lebanese lawmakers petitioned the United Nations to set up an international fact-finding commission to look into the explosion.
The petition followed the appointment of a new lead investigator case after the supreme court ruled to remove his predecessor Judge Fadi Sawan from the case at the request of two of four officials he had indicted in the case.
Mr Sawan had charged Mr Diab and three former ministers with criminal negligence over the blast. All four argued that the judge had no authority to indict them under the constitution, which grants immunity from prosecution to lawmakers and ministers for decisions related to their work.
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Our House, Louise Candlish,
Simon & Schuster
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Company%20Profile
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If you go...
Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.
Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50
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Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Specs
Price, base: Dhs850,000
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 591bhp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 11.3L / 100km
The years Ramadan fell in May
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.
* Agence France Presse
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
ABU%20DHABI'S%20KEY%20TOURISM%20GOALS%3A%20BY%20THE%20NUMBERS
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Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
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