Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
Israel’s far-right national security minister has called for capital punishment against Palestinian prisoners guilty of terrorism offences.
Itamar Ben-Gvir said in a post on social media platform X that massive overcrowding in Israeli jails since the Gaza War broke out could be solved with the “much simpler solution of enacting the death penalty against terrorists”.
He has previously called for the use of the electric chair against convicted terrorists.
Capital punishment is possible in Israel’s judicial system but has only been used twice in the nation’s history and never against a Palestinian.
Mr Ben-Gvir, whose ministerial portfolio includes policing and prisons, has long called for harsher sentences and prison conditions for Palestinians held on security charges.
At the beginning of his time in office he shortened the time inmates can spend showering and closed in-house bakeries run by prisoners, among other measures.
His renewed demand on Tuesday for the death penalty came after the government was rocked by the highly controversial release of the director of Gaza’s Al Shifa Hospital, where Israel and the US say some Israeli hostages were held after the October 7 attacks.
Mohammad Abu Salmiya was released along with 55 other Palestinian detainees, according to Palestinian media.
The move was slammed across Israeli politics as a risk to national security and an insult to hostages.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the decision was a “direct continuation of the recklessness and dysfunction of [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s] government”.
The father of murdered Israeli hostage Avi Marciano slammed the move, saying “seven months after we buried her, Israel decides to release the man indirectly responsible for her murder”.
“I’m sorry, my girl, that even now you are being abandoned,” he added.
Balad party leader Sami Abu Shahadeh, a Palestinian resident of Israel, criticised the furore.
“The absurd discourse around the release of the director of [Al] Shifa Hospital is sickening and defies all logic and moral values,” he wrote on X.
“The real crime lies not in his release but in his initial arrest,” he added.
“This adds to the countless crimes committed, including the destruction of hospitals, the killing of medical staff, the denial of medicine, the starvation of sick infants, and more.”
On the prison controversy, Israel’s Kan news channel also published leaked WhatsApp messages in which Mr Ben-Gvir called for the dismissal of the chief of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar.
The Shin Bet in turn accused the minister of significant responsibility in the matter, saying he did not respond to repeated calls by the agency to address a shortage of prison cells exacerbated by mass detentions in the Gaza war.
About 9,500 Palestinians have been detained since October 7 in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The total number of detainees from Gaza is less clear, but the Palestinians Prisoners Society estimates that about 5,000 have been detained since October 7.
Reports of terrible conditions in detention facilities and prisons are rife.
Israel’s High Court ordered in June that the state provide more details on conditions in the Sde Teiman detention centre, after human rights organisations petitioned for the facility to be closed due to alleged abuses.
TYPES%20OF%20ONLINE%20GIG%20WORK
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At a glance
Fixtures All matches start at 9.30am, at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free
Thursday UAE v Ireland; Saturday UAE v Ireland; Jan 21 UAE v Scotland; Jan 23 UAE v Scotland
UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan
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.”
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
On Instagram: @WithHopeUAE
Although social media can be harmful to our mental health, paradoxically, one of the antidotes comes with the many social-media accounts devoted to normalising mental-health struggles. With Hope UAE is one of them.
The group, which has about 3,600 followers, was started three years ago by five Emirati women to address the stigma surrounding the subject. Via Instagram, the group recently began featuring personal accounts by Emiratis. The posts are written under the hashtag #mymindmatters, along with a black-and-white photo of the subject holding the group’s signature red balloon.
“Depression is ugly,” says one of the users, Amani. “It paints everything around me and everything in me.”
Saaed, meanwhile, faces the daunting task of caring for four family members with psychological disorders. “I’ve had no support and no resources here to help me,” he says. “It has been, and still is, a one-man battle against the demons of fractured minds.”
In addition to With Hope UAE’s frank social-media presence, the group holds talks and workshops in Dubai. “Change takes time,” Reem Al Ali, vice chairman and a founding member of With Hope UAE, told The National earlier this year. “It won’t happen overnight, and it will take persistent and passionate people to bring about this change.”
RACECARD%20
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The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
RESULTS
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SPECS
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Structural%20weaknesses%20facing%20Israel%20economy
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Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Fly Etihad or Emirates from the UAE to Moscow from 2,763 return per person return including taxes.
Where to stay
Trips on the Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian cost from US$16,995 (Dh62,414) per person, based on two sharing.
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
