JERUSALEM //Iran yesterday denied "ridiculous" accusations by the "Zionist regime" that it orchestrated the suicide bus bombing in Bulgaria that killed five young Israeli tourists, declaring it condemns "all terrorist acts".
Unconfirmed media reports from Bulgaria last night said the bomber was a 33-year-old Algerian-Swedish national who spent two years in Guantanamo Bay, suggesting he was a member of Al Qaeda and not an Iranian hitman.
If Iran was involved in Wednesday's attack, which also killed the Bulgarian bus driver, it would mark a dangerous escalation in a dirty war between the two arch-enemies.
It would also be the first successful attempt by Iranian-backed agents to kill Israelis abroad after a string of failed bomb plots targeting Israeli diplomats in Georgia, Thailand and India in February. And it would suggest Iran has shifted its focus to softer targets.
Hitting "unwitting tourists" is much easier than targeting diplomats or officials, said Trita Parsi, a leading Iran analyst in Washington.
Regional tensions are already high over Iran's nuclear programme, which Israel repeatedly has threatened to strike if it is not reined in by western sanctions or the stalled diplomatic efforts by six world powers, led by the United States. Tehran insists its nuclear ambitions are peaceful in nature.
Yesterday, the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, accused Hizbollah - "Iran's leading terrorist proxy" - of carrying out the attack and threatened retaliation.
He provided no evidence to substantiate his allegations and no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Global powers must now do everything to prevent Iran from "developing the world's most dangerous weapons", a grim-faced Mr Netanyahu added in a brief statement.
Iran, in turn, accuses Israel of terrorism, blaming it for the assassinations of several of its nuclear scientists in recent years, and has promised to avenge their deaths.
Hizbollah, meanwhile, is still seeking payback for the assassination of its shadowy military chief, Imad Mughniyeh, in Damascus in 2008 for which it blames Mossad, Israel's spy agency.
But chiding Israel for "jumping to conclusions", Bulgaria's foreign minister, Nikolay Mladenov, said it was "wrong" to blame any country or organisation when an investigation had only just started.
The Bulgarian authorities released airport security footage of the suspected bomber - a long-haired Caucasian male in a blue T-shirt, plaid shorts and running shoes. He was carrying a backpack and a fake US driving licence issued in Michigan when he targeted the bus outside the Black Sea resort town of Burgas.
Several Israeli commentators also cautioned against rushing to blame Tehran.
"It's far too early to say conclusively who was behind this attack," said Meir Javedanfar, an Iran specialist at the Interdisciplinary Centre in Herzilya, Israel. "Iran is a credible suspect, but we can't rule out Al Qaeda either."
Others Israeli commentators suggested the attack came at a politically opportune moment for Mr Netanyahu, who may be more sensitive to the demands of his right-wing partners after the centrist Kadima party left his coalition on Tuesday.
Amir Oren, a columnist for Israel's Haaretz newspaper, warned that the Israeli premier could use the Bulgaria attack as a pretext to strike at Iran's nuclear facilities but cautioned that "one expects a little more proof" from a prime minister.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, Rahim Mehmanparast, said the Islamic republic was "the biggest victim of terrorism" and condemned "all terrorist acts in the world". Israel was launching "baseless accusations" against other countries to "forget its own terrorist" actions in Lebanon and Palestine and against Iranian nuclear scientists.
Giora Eiland, a retired Israeli army general who served as national security adviser from 2003 to 2006, played down the likelihood of the Bulgaria bombing spilling over into war.
He said: "Any response, whatever it may be will not be in the form of an air force operations, or strike - certainly not in Iran over this matter, nor in Lebanon."
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Company profile
Company: Rent Your Wardrobe
Date started: May 2021
Founder: Mamta Arora
Based: Dubai
Sector: Clothes rental subscription
Stage: Bootstrapped, self-funded
Generation Start-up: Awok company profile
Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
Panipat
Director Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced Ashutosh Gowariker, Rohit Shelatkar, Reliance Entertainment
Cast Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenat Aman
Rating 3 /5 stars
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.”
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft Toronto
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Windows
Release Date: April 10
