In a quiet valley in Jerusalem lies a village frozen in time.
Its stone buildings have stood for centuries and have long since been overtaken by plants and weeds.
This is Lifta and it is one of the hundreds of Palestinian villages that were violently depopulated by Jewish militias, who would become part of Israel's army and police forces following the establishment of the state in 1948 in what is known by Palestinians as the Nakba, or catastrophe.
Situated less than 5km west of Sheikh Jarrah – the district in East Jerusalem that became the site of protests and violence from 2021 as 12 Palestinian families battled eviction – Lifta since moved into the media spotlight as advocacy groups sought to prevent planned Israeli developments that threaten to erase history.
What happened to Lifta?
The fight for Lifta began months before Israel was established in May 1948. The village's strategic location on the road to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem made it desirable for paramilitary Jewish forces, including the Lehi and Haganah.
When an irregular Arab militia moved in to defend the hamlet in December 1947, firefights broke out against Jewish patrols.
According to Israeli historian Benny Morris, a machine-gun and grenade attack in a cafe killed seven Palestinians and prompted some villagers to flee to safety.
In January 1948, Lehi forces blew up three houses and, the following month, Arab militias abandoned Lifta, leaving the remaining Palestinian families without any defence.
The Haganah moved into the village, shooting locals and forcing others on to lorries headed for East Jerusalem.
Before its capture, about 2,900 Palestinians lived in Lifta, in homes made by hand, said architect Antoine Raffoul, founder of 1948.org.uk, who works with the Committee to Save Lifta.
“Lifta is one of the most beautiful architectural urban developments I've seen anywhere,” he told The National.
“East Jerusalem was very depressing for a lot of [the expelled villagers]. So, the young left but never forgot.”
The 57 remaining houses were left to deteriorate until Israeli forces destroyed them in the 1950s to make them uninhabitable for Liftawis seeking to return.
Unlike the hundreds of other Palestinian villages that were emptied, bulldozed and built over after the war, Lifta has remained virtually untouched.
Over the years, several plans were developed to “renovate” the village.
In 2006, a plan was presented to build a Jewish museum, luxury hotel, shopping mall and Israeli housing. It was approved in 2009 by the Israel Antiquities Authority.
“In 2010, official tenders were issued for Lifta to be divided and [destroyed],” Mr Raffoul said.
The Coalition to Save Lifta filed an objection to the plans at the Municipal Court of Jerusalem a year later. The court threw out the plan and ordered a more detailed survey of the site.
As an architect promoting cultural sites, I would defend and protect Lifta even if it had been a Jewish village
Antoine Raffoul,
Coalition to Save Lifta
Meanwhile, the coalition contacted the New York-based World Monument Fund and Lifta was placed on the World Monument Watch list in 2018.
“The new survey [by the Israeli Land Authority] confirmed that Lifta merits preservation rather than redevelopment,” Mr Raffoul said.
However, in June 2021, the Israeli Land Authority announced it would welcome bids on tenders to develop Lifta on July 4.
The coalition found itself racing against time to stop a revised renovation plan from coming into effect and a petition was filed to the Israeli District Court in Jerusalem to halt the development plans.
If the plans, known as Project 6036, go ahead, the last remaining village in West Jerusalem and a symbol of hope for Palestinians seeking a right to return will be destroyed.
“As an architect promoting cultural sites, I would defend and protect Lifta even if it had been a Jewish village,” said Mr Raffoul.
In August 2022, according to The Times of Israel, the Jerusalem Municipality and Israel Lands Authority agreed to “rethink” plans to turn Lifta into a boutique hotel, providing relief to activists seeking to preserve the site – for now.
Yacoub Odeh, 81, and his family were among those who were expelled from their homes in Lifta. Today, he leads tours in what has been described as modern-day Pompeii.
“Lifta in my memory is like a picture with two faces. There is the beautiful life that I lived in Lifta before the Nakba,” he told The National.
“The other picture is one of a miserable life, under British colonial occupation and Zionist armed gangs, terrorists.”
Mr Odeh remembers being at home with his younger brother and mother when the attack began. He was placed in a lorry to East Jerusalem with four other families while his father stayed behind to fight.
“That’s when we became refugees,” he said.
Like many, he escaped with nothing but the clothes on his back, thinking he would soon return home.
“The next day we were knocking on doors, asking for food. We had nothing.”
Historians argue that the Nakba began with the signing of the Balfour Declaration in 1917, in which the British promised Jews a homeland in Palestine.
Others say it began in earnest in November 1947, six months before Israel’s declaration of independence and the subsequent Arab-Israeli War.
By the end of the war, in 1949, more than 700,000 Palestinians – or about two thirds of the population at the time – had either fled or been forcibly removed from their homes.
An estimated 500 villages were depopulated and partially, if not completely, demolished.
As the battle for the preservation of Lifta rages on in courtrooms, The National profiles four other Palestinian towns, villages and neighbourhoods that were captured before and after Israel's creation and what they look like now.
Deir Yassin, Jerusalem. Renamed Giv'at Sha'ul B and Har Nof
The assault on Deir Yassin, a village that was home to hundreds of Palestinians and was situated about 5km west of Jerusalem, began on the morning of April 9, 1948.
Jewish militias, including the Haganah, Lehi and Irgun, which was headed by Menachem Begin, who would go on to become the sixth prime minister of Israel, entered the village and killed between 107 and 250 Palestinians, including women, children and elderly people – although the exact figure remains disputed.
The Palestinians fought back but Zionist militias used grenades and heavy arms to defeat them.
Woman and children were stripped, lined up, photographed and then slaughtered by automatic firing, and survivors have told of even more incredible bestialities
UN report
Yehoshua Zettler, the Jerusalem commander of Lehi, told Neta Shoshani, director of the documentary Born in Deir Yassin in 2009, that they went house to house “putting in explosives … within a few hours, half the village isn't there any more”.
The bodies were rounded up and burnt or buried as part of efforts to cover up the total deaths, according to former Israeli government minister Yair Tsaban.
“Women and children were stripped, lined up, photographed and then slaughtered by automatic firing, and survivors have told of even more incredible bestialities,” a report from the UK's delegation to the UN in April 1948 read.
The assault on Deir Yassin was condemned by The Jewish Agency for Israel, the Chief Rabbinate and the first Israeli prime minister, David Ben Gurion, who sent an apology to King Abdullah I of Jordan.
Within a year, the village was repopulated with orthodox Jewish immigrants from Poland, Romania and Slovakia. The Islamic cemetery was bulldozed and the name Deir Yassin was wiped off the map.
Today, few parts of the village remain visible, with Kfar Shaul Mental Health Centre built on top of ruins.
Manshiya, Jaffa. Now an extension of Tel Aviv
Manshiya was once a bustling, commercial seaside city in Palestine, filled with shops, cafes, factories, and houses.
Historically, it was one of Jaffa's largest Arab districts. In the late 1800s, Jewish neighbourhoods began to be established nearby, including Tel Aviv, which bordered Manshiya.
By 1944, Jaffa's population included more than 12,000 Palestinians and about 1,000 Jews.
According to Zochrot, a non-government organisation that documents the Nakba, the Jewish population began to see Manshiya as a threat to Tel Aviv after the 1936 Arab revolt against the British mandate.
In 1948, the town was attacked by the Irgun – a Jewish paramilitary organisation (also known as Etzel) that operated in Palestine before the creation of Israel – to cut it off from surrounding Palestinian villages.
About 600 Irgun fighters began their attack on Manshiya on April 25. The British, who were still in the process of withdrawing from Palestine, sent military reinforcements to warn against further attacks, but the assault resumed two days later and reached the coast.
With what few weapons they had, the people of Manshiya resisted the attack, fighting from the Ottoman-era Hassan Bek mosque, but the city fell the following day.
The British demanded Irgun forces surrender the city's police station and open the main street between Jaffa and Tel Aviv to allow their troops to pass through.
But the Irgun demolished the roadside buildings to block the passage and destroyed the police station, planting an Israeli flag on its ruins.
Some of Manshiya’s inhabitants were expelled to Jordan and others were sent by sea to Gaza and Egypt. Others were imprisoned.
The city was demolished in stages and, in May, Jewish immigrants were moved into emptied homes and Manshiya was transformed into an extension of Tel Aviv.
Only three original buildings remain: The Hassan Bek Mosque, a derelict house on HaMered street, and a partially preserved house that was renovated in the 1980s and turned into the Etzel Museum, in honour of Etzel’s operations officer and the 41 Israeli fighters who died.
In the 1960s, a committee was formed to protect the mosque from demolition, after its minaret was destroyed.
“For state officials, the mosque was a landmark which symbolised an urban past they preferred to eliminate and a potential hazard for the urban future as they perceived it,” Israeli professor Nimrod Luz of the Kinneret Academic College wrote in 2008.
Through legal action and mediation, the mosque was returned to the Muslim community.
“The mosque would gradually become a site of resistance among the Arab community of Jaffa,” Mr Luz said.
Its new minaret stands tall today, albeit a distance away from the Muslim community that once surrounded it.
Al Lydd, Jaffa. Renamed Lod, Tel Aviv
Scuffles between Palestinians and Israelis in Al Lydd began soon after the establishment of the state of Israel but the city was not captured by Israeli forces until July.
By then, its population of 20,000 had doubled as refugees from neighbouring areas fled there for safety.
According to Benny Morris, Israeli forces began bombing Al Lydd on the evening of July 9, with a land raid beginning two days later, when a column of vehicles drove through the city, machine-gunning anything that moved.
Dozens of armed Palestinian civilians and members of the Arab Legion – the Transjordanian army – threw grenades at the convoy but they were overwhelmed and eventually surrendered.
By the evening, up to 400 Israeli soldiers entered the town and separated the women and children from the men in makeshift detention compounds in the city's Dahmash mosque and Church of St George.
On July 12, two Arab Legion vehicles entered the city and began firing at the Israeli battalion. A few Palestinians took up arms and engaged in what Morris describes as a 30-minute firefight.
The corpses of Arab men, women and even children were strewn about the streets in the wake of this ruthlessly brilliant charge
Kenneth Bilby,
New York Herald Tribune
What followed was labelled a massacre by some historians. Israeli forces were ordered to shoot any clear targets, while soldiers threw grenades into homes they suspected contained snipers.
One Palmach soldier, Yerachmiel Kahanovich, recounted single-handedly killing about 170 civilians sheltered in the mosque.
“I fired a [British-made anti-tank] PIAT projectile in there,” he said in a 2012 interview with Zochrot and the Common Archive project of Palestine.
“[I saw] an empty hall. Everyone on the walls,” he said.
The estimated death toll from the fight was around 400 Palestinians and 10 Israeli soldiers.
In The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Israeli historian Ilan Pappe quoted a story written from the ground for the New York Herald Tribune, which read: “The corpses of Arab men, women, and even children were strewn about the streets in the wake of this ruthlessly brilliant charge.”
The same day, the Israeli government issued an expulsion order, signed by Yitzhak Rabin, who was deputy commander of the operation and would go on to become the fifth prime minister of Israel.
All but 1,000 of Al Lydd's 50,000 inhabitants were pushed out of the city on July 13, and forced to walk more than a dozen kilometres to Barfiliya, south-east of Al Lydd.
Some died of heat exhaustion or thirst on the way and the rest settled in Ramallah or escaped to Jordan or Lebanon.
“People carried their children and their furniture. They could not walk for long distances. The Israelis shouted: ‘Out! Out!’ and people began to flee,” said Raifa Abu Manneh, who was 14 when she and her family were expelled from Al Lydd.
“The ones that remained were shot. Bodies were strewn across the streets.”
Zochrot's Umar Al Ghubari said those who were not killed were taken by Israeli forces for labour.
“They were forced to clean up the mosque in the aftermath of the massacre,” he said. “It was traumatising for them.”
The emptied homes were looted and the lands confiscated, divided and redistributed among Jews who immigrated to Israel from Europe, Asia and Africa between 1948 and 1951.
By 1950, there were 8,400 Jews and 1,000 Palestinians in the city, renamed Lod.
“Palestinians are not a minority, they were minoritised. It was not a natural process,” said Mr Al Ghubari.
Streets and localities in Al Lydd across the former Palestinian villages and cities were given Hebrew names.
“This is part of the process to Judaise Palestinian land and to further deepen the rift between Palestinians and their historic homes,” said Mr Al Ghubari.
The square where the Dahmash Mosque killings took place over 70 years ago is now known as Palmach Street.
Iqrit, Acre. Renamed Granot Hagalil, Goren.
High in the mountains, kilometres from the border with Lebanon, was the Palestinian village of Iqrit.
According to Pappe, its predominantly Maronite Christian community surrendered to an Israeli battalion without a fight on October 31, 1948, because they expected to be welcome in the new Jewish state.
The battalion's commander ordered the people to leave for their safety but promised they could return two weeks later, once military operations were over.
On November 6, the village's inhabitants were evicted from their homes. Some crossed into southern Lebanon, while others were taken to Rama, further south in Jenin, in lorries. Only 50 of the roughly 570 villagers were permitted to stay but were driven out six months later.
Families that were expelled from the village sought to return to their homes but, in September 1949, the Israeli government applied Emergency Regulations, which prevented the repatriation the commander previously promised.
In May 1951, the people of Iqrit brought their case to the Israeli Supreme Court, which ruled the eviction was illegal and ordered the army to allow the villagers to return to their homes.
To bypass the ruling, the army retroactively issued a formal expulsion order, such as those issued for the hundreds of other Palestinian villages that were depopulated from 1947 to 1948.
To prevent further repatriation attempts, the Israeli army demolished all the houses in Iqrit on Christmas Eve in 1951. Only the church and cemetery were spared.
According to Pappe, the army later claimed the village was destroyed in a military exercise.
The Israeli villages of Shomera, Even Machem and Gornot HaGalil were established on the ruins of Iqrit and neighbouring villages.
Despite the destruction of their homes, the families continued to fight for their right to return to Iqrit. In the 1970s, villagers conducted sit-ins in the old church over a series of six years.
In 1972, Golda Meir, the fourth Israeli prime minister, said Palestinians from Iqrit were refused repatriation rights to avoid setting a precedent.
In the early 2000s, a final supreme court ruling rejected the Palestinians' demand to reclaim their land.
The families continue to seek redress through Israeli courts, hoping to one day be allowed to return to their grandparents' homes.
What comes next for Palestinian refugees?
Palestinians have long maintained that the right to return to their original homes, from within Israel, the Palestinian territories and abroad, is fundamental and non-negotiable as part of a lasting peace agreement.
This would encompass the return of at least five million Palestinians – including those who fled or were forcibly expelled in 1948 and their descendants living abroad.
The overwhelming number of people who would potentially go back to the Occupied Palestinian Territories, under such a plan, would undeniably change the demographic of the land and of Israel itself.
“As long as Palestinian refugees don’t have a right to return, the Nakba is ongoing,” said Mr Al Ghubari.
“As long as Palestinians are still facing and living in injustice by and for the creation of Israel – another aspect of Nakba is still ongoing.”
While UN Resolution 194 of 1948 mandates the right of return for refugees and their descendants, 73 years after the creation of Israel, Palestinians continue to be denied the right of repatriation.
Sources:
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2006) Ilan Pappe
The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited (2004) Benny Morris
Operation Dani and the Palestinian Exodus from Lydda and Ramle in 1948 by Benny Morris. Middle East Journal Vol. 40, No 1 (Winter, 1986)
All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948 (2006) Walid Al Khalidi
Atlas of Palestine, 1917-1966 (2010) Salman Abu Sitta
Zochrot
*A version of this story was first published in July 2021
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
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Usain Bolt's World Championships record
2007 Osaka
200m Silver
4x100m relay Silver
2009 Berlin
100m Gold
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
2011 Daegu
100m Disqualified in final for false start
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
2013 Moscow
100m Gold
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
2015 Beijing
100m Gold
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
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Leaderboard
63 - Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA)
64 - Rory McIlroy (NIR)
66 - Jon Rahm (ESP)
67 - Tom Lewis (ENG), Tommy Fleetwood (ENG)
68 - Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP), Marcus Kinhult (SWE)
69 - Justin Rose (ENG), Thomas Detry (BEL), Francesco Molinari (ITA), Danny Willett (ENG), Li Haotong (CHN), Matthias Schwab (AUT)
Sheer grandeur
The Owo building is 14 storeys high, seven of which are below ground, with the 30,000 square feet of amenities located subterranean, including a 16-seat private cinema, seven lounges, a gym, games room, treatment suites and bicycle storage.
A clear distinction between the residences and the Raffles hotel with the amenities operated separately.
MATCH INFO
Syria v Australia
2018 World Cup qualifying: Asia fourth round play-off first leg
Venue: Hang Jebat Stadium (Malacca, Malayisa)
Kick-off: Thursday, 4.30pm (UAE)
Watch: beIN Sports HD
* Second leg in Australia scheduled for October 10
RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 2,200m
Winner: Arjan, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer).
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner: Jap Nazaa, Royston Ffrench, Irfan Ellahi.
6pm: Al Ruwais Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 1,200m
Winner: RB Lam Tara, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinal.
6.30pm: Shadwell Gold Cup Prestige Dh125,000 1,600m
Winner: AF Sanad, Bernardo Pinheiro, Khalifa Al Neyadi.
7pm: Shadwell Farm Stallions Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
Winner: Jawal Al Reef, Patrick Cosgrave, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
7.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 1,600m
Winner: Dubai Canal, Harry Bentley, Satish Seemar.
T20 WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
Qualifier A, Muscat
(All matches to be streamed live on icc.tv)
Fixtures
Friday, February 18: 10am Oman v Nepal, Canada v Philippines; 2pm Ireland v UAE, Germany v Bahrain
Saturday, February 19: 10am Oman v Canada, Nepal v Philippines; 2pm UAE v Germany, Ireland v Bahrain
Monday, February 21: 10am Ireland v Germany, UAE v Bahrain; 2pm Nepal v Canada, Oman v Philippines
Tuesday, February 22: 2pm Semi-finals
Thursday, February 24: 2pm Final
UAE squad:Ahmed Raza(captain), Muhammad Waseem, Chirag Suri, Vriitya Aravind, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Raja Akifullah, Karthik Meiyappan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Zafar Farid, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Rahul Bhatia
The details
Heard It in a Past Life
Maggie Rogers
(Capital Records)
3/5
Marathon results
Men:
1. Titus Ekiru(KEN) 2:06:13
2. Alphonce Simbu(TAN) 2:07:50
3. Reuben Kipyego(KEN) 2:08:25
4. Abel Kirui(KEN) 2:08:46
5. Felix Kemutai(KEN) 2:10:48
Women:
1. Judith Korir(KEN) 2:22:30
2. Eunice Chumba(BHR) 2:26:01
3. Immaculate Chemutai(UGA) 2:28:30
4. Abebech Bekele(ETH) 2:29:43
5. Aleksandra Morozova(RUS) 2:33:01
The low down
Producers: Uniglobe Entertainment & Vision Films
Director: Namrata Singh Gujral
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Nargis Fakhri, Bo Derek, Candy Clark
Rating: 2/5
Related
RACE CARD
5pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (Turf) 2,200m
5.30pm: Khor Al Baghal – Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
6pm: Khor Faridah – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 (T) 1,400m
7pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 (T) 1,400m
7.30pm: Khor Laffam – Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m
MATCH INFO
Tottenham 4 (Alli 51', Kane 50', 77'. Aurier 73')
Olympiakos 2 (El-Arabi 06', Semedo')
Nancy 9 (Hassa Beek)
Nancy Ajram
(In2Musica)
THE%C2%A0SPECS
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Company profile
Company: Verity
Date started: May 2021
Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Size: four team members
Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000
Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors
Racecard
6.35pm: American Business Council – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.10pm: British Business Group – Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,200m
7.45pm: CCI France UAE – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,400m
8.20pm: Czech Business Council – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh105,000 (D) 1,400m
8.55pm: Netherlands Business Council – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,600m
9.30pm: Indian Business and Professional Council – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,200m
A cryptocurrency primer for beginners
Cryptocurrency Investing for Dummies – by Kiana Danial
There are several primers for investing in cryptocurrencies available online, including e-books written by people whose credentials fall apart on the second page of your preferred search engine.
Ms Danial is a finance coach and former currency analyst who writes for Nasdaq. Her broad-strokes primer (2019) breaks down investing in cryptocurrency into baby steps, while explaining the terms and technologies involved.
Although cryptocurrencies are a fast evolving world, this book offers a good insight into the game as well as providing some basic tips, strategies and warning signs.
Begin your cryptocurrency journey here.
Available at Magrudy’s , Dh104
SCHEDULE
Thursday, December 6
08.00-15.00 Technical scrutineering
15.00-17.00 Extra free practice
Friday, December 7
09.10-09.30 F4 free practice
09.40-10.00 F4 time trials
10.15-11.15 F1 free practice
14.00 F4 race 1
15.30 BRM F1 qualifying
Saturday, December 8
09.10-09.30 F4 free practice
09.40-10.00 F4 time trials
10.15-11.15 F1 free practice
14.00 F4 race 2
15.30 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi
UAE rugby in numbers
5 - Year sponsorship deal between Hesco and Jebel Ali Dragons
700 - Dubai Hurricanes had more than 700 playing members last season between their mini and youth, men's and women's teams
Dh600,000 - Dubai Exiles' budget for pitch and court hire next season, for their rugby, netball and cricket teams
Dh1.8m - Dubai Hurricanes' overall budget for next season
Dh2.8m - Dubai Exiles’ overall budget for next season
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Richard Jewell
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Paul Walter Hauser, Sam Rockwell, Brandon Stanley
Two-and-a-half out of five stars
The specs: 2018 Kia Picanto
Price: From Dh39,500
Engine: 1.2L inline four-cylinder
Transmission: Four-speed auto
Power: 86hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 122Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.0L / 100km
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
AGUERO'S PREMIER LEAGUE RECORD
Apps: 186
Goals: 127
Assists: 31
Wins: 117
Losses: 33
2017%20RESULTS%3A%20FRENCH%20VOTERS%20IN%20UK
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFirst%20round%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EEmmanuel%20Macron%3A%2051.1%25%3Cbr%3EFrancois%20Fillon%3A%2024.2%25%3Cbr%3EJean-Luc%20Melenchon%3A%2011.8%25%3Cbr%3EBenoit%20Hamon%3A%207.0%25%3Cbr%3EMarine%20Le%20Pen%3A%202.9%25%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESecond%20round%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EEmmanuel%20Macron%3A%2095.1%25%3Cbr%3EMarine%20Le%20Pen%3A%204.9%25%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
'THE WORST THING YOU CAN EAT'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
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.”
The biog
Name: Maitha Qambar
Age: 24
Emirate: Abu Dhabi
Education: Master’s Degree
Favourite hobby: Reading
She says: “Everyone has a purpose in life and everyone learns from their experiences”
Profile of Whizkey
Date founded: 04 November 2017
Founders: Abdulaziz AlBlooshi and Harsh Hirani
Based: Dubai, UAE
Number of employees: 10
Sector: AI, software
Cashflow: Dh2.5 Million
Funding stage: Series A
MATCH INFO
English Premiership semi-finals
Saracens 57
Wasps 33
Exeter Chiefs 36
Newcastle Falcons 5
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3ECompany%20name%3A%20Znap%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarted%3A%202017%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EFounder%3A%20Uday%20Rathod%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EIndustry%3A%20FinTech%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EFunding%20size%3A%20%241m%2B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EInvestors%3A%20Family%2C%20friends%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Brief scoreline:
Manchester United 1
Mata 11'
Chelsea 1
Alonso 43'
ACL Elite (West) - fixtures
Monday, Sept 30
Al Sadd v Esteghlal (8pm)
Persepolis v Pakhtakor (8pm)
Al Wasl v Al Ahli (8pm)
Al Nassr v Al Rayyan (10pm)
Tuesday, Oct 1
Al Hilal v Al Shorta (10pm)
Al Gharafa v Al Ain (10pm)
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
Fixtures
50-over match
UAE v Lancashire, starts at 10am
Champion County match
MCC v Surrey, four-day match, starting on Sunday, March 24, play starts at 10am
Both matches are at ICC Academy, Dubai Sports City. Admission is free.
Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More by Adrian Harte
Jawbone Press
UK%20-%20UAE%20Trade
%3Cp%3ETotal%20trade%20in%20goods%20and%20services%20(exports%20plus%20imports)%20between%20the%20UK%20and%20the%20UAE%20in%202022%20was%20%C2%A321.6%20billion%20(Dh98%20billion).%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EThis%20is%20an%20increase%20of%2063.0%20per%20cent%20or%20%C2%A38.3%20billion%20in%20current%20prices%20from%20the%20four%20quarters%20to%20the%20end%20of%202021.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EThe%20UAE%20was%20the%20UK%E2%80%99s%2019th%20largest%20trading%20partner%20in%20the%20four%20quarters%20to%20the%20end%20of%20Q4%202022%20accounting%20for%201.3%20per%20cent%20of%20total%20UK%20trade.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
More from our neighbourhood series:
BLACKBERRY
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Matt%20Johnson%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStars%3A%20Jay%20Baruchel%2C%20Glenn%20Howerton%2C%20Matt%20Johnson%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
