Yesterday, 300 million people across the globe celebrated the 3,000-year-old festival of Nowruz which celebrates the beginning of spring. The event is celebrated in different formats in countries as diverse as Albania, India, Iraq, Tanzania and Kazakhstan. But for all those who participate in it – many are from non-Persian identifying communities – the celebration focuses on emerging from the darkness of winter into a new season of light.
For Iran, in which Nowruz is the most important non-Islamic holiday, recent calls for a brighter future have gone unanswered. After decades of isolation, the nation now ranks among the countries worst-affected by Covid-19, having had to date almost 1.8 million confirmed cases of the virus. The true number is probably far higher.
The pandemic struck at a time when the country's economy was already struggling. Longstanding corruption, economic mismanagement and a severe US-led sanctions regime has resulted in rates of inflation as high as 40 per cent in 2019. In the same year the country's economy contracted by almost seven per cent.
A Haft-sin is a table laid with symbolic items every Nowruz. EPA
On Friday, Saudi Arabia suffered the latest in a string of drone attacks targeting its oil facilities
This is just one prong of a longstanding foreign policy of intimidation, which also includes, to name just a few, hostage-taking and the use of the country's wide network of destabilising proxies in the Middle East. In recent years, the world has seen the extent of the damage these groups can inflict. On Friday, Saudi Arabia suffered the latest in a string of drone attacks targeting its oil facilities. While no party has yet claimed responsibility for the strike, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebel group have consistently launched similar drone operations, the most devastating of which targeted Saudi oil refineries in 2019, momentarily suspending over half the Kingdom's output, making it an attack on the entire global energy system.Iran's impoverishment was never inevitable. It is strategically located, with a young and highly educated population. It holds a vast range of natural resources, including the second-largest natural gas reserves globally, an array of largely untapped precious materials and excellent conditions for sustainable wind and solar energy, which could comfortably provide enough power to meet the country's electricity needs. And yet, Tehran pours money into an illicit nuclear programme that it claims is solely for the purpose of generating atomic energy. It is, instead, covering up its activities and refuses to verify its programme in the manner that other countries around the world do. With a declared regime target of destroying Israel by 2040, the vast majority of the international community is calling urgently for the programme to be halted.
Elections in June mean that 2021 will be a year of new beginnings in Iran. But with the country's hardline factions desperately pushing for the election of the most reactionary candidate they can find, Covid-19 raging on and an economy in sharp decline, change this year could well be for the worse.
Alisson (Liverpool), Daniel Fuzato (Roma), Ederson (Man City); Alex Sandro (Juventus), Danilo (Juventus), Eder Militao (Real Madrid), Emerson (Real Betis), Felipe (Atletico Madrid), Marquinhos (PSG), Renan Lodi (Atletico Madrid), Thiago Silva (PSG); Arthur (Barcelona), Casemiro (Real Madrid), Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa), Fabinho (Liverpool), Lucas Paqueta (AC Milan), Philippe Coutinho (Bayern Munich); David Neres (Ajax), Gabriel Jesus (Man City), Richarlison (Everton), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Willian (Chelsea).
COMPANY PROFILE
Name:Airev
Started: September 2023
Founder:Muhammad Khalid
Based:Abu Dhabi
Sector:Generative AI
Initial investment:Undisclosed
Investment stage:Series A
Investors:Core42
Current number of staff:47
TEACHERS' PAY - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
The specs
Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 217hp at 5,750rpm
Torque: 300Nm at 1,900rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh130,000
On sale: now
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,000mm, Winners: Mumayaza, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m, Winners: Sharkh, Pat Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
6pm: The President’s Cup Prep - Conditions (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 2,200m, Winner: Somoud, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh90,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Harrab, Ryan Curatolo, Jean de Roualle
7pm: Abu Dhabi Equestrian Gold Cup - Prestige (PA) Dh125,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Hameem, Adrie de Vries, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7.30pm: Al Ruwais – Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 (T) 1,200m, Winner: AF Alwajel, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
8pm: Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m, Winner: Nibras Passion, Bernardo Pinheiro, Ismail Mohammed
ACC 2019: The winners in full
Best Actress Maha Alemi, Sofia
Best Actor Mohamed Dhrif, Weldi
Best Screenplay Meryem Benm’Barek, Sofia
Best DocumentaryOf Fathers and Sons by Talal Derki
Best FilmYomeddine by Abu Bakr Shawky
Best Director Nadine Labaki, Capernaum
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
