Skin and bones, 10-year-old Ghazi Saleh lies on a hospital bed in the southwestern Yemeni city of Taez barely breathing. AFP
 Skin and bones, 10-year-old Ghazi Saleh lies on a hospital bed in the southwestern Yemeni city of Taez barely breathing. AFP

More than 80,000 children died of hunger in Yemen since 2015, charity says



Nearly 85,000 children under the age of five have died from acute malnutrition in Yemen since the start of the conflict, an international NGO said on Wednesday, after humanitarian officials warned that the war-torn nation was heading towards the worst famine in history.

The statement by UK-headquartered Save the Children came a day after Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed bin Saeed Al Jaber met the Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross for the GCC, Yahya Al Oleibi, to discuss co-operation over the humanitarian situation in Yemen, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

Eight million Yemenis are currently affected by severe food shortages, according to UN officials, who warned that up to 14 million – or half of Yemen's population – are at risk of famine.

Of that number, 1.8 million are children under five years old who are described as acutely malnourished. Another 400,000 are severely acutely malnourished, and yet another 1.1 million are malnourished pregnant or nursing women.

“I saw children dying before my very own eyes,” the head of the UN World Food Programme, who visited Yemen last week, said in a televised interview with CNN. David Beasley said he tried to tickle the children expecting them to smile, but it felt instead “like tickling ghosts”.

Aid organisations blame both Houthi rebels and the Saudi-led coalition for deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the country.

Aid groups, including Save the Children, say not enough food is entering the country through Yemen's main port of Hodeidah.

The rebel-held port, through which the country imported up to 90 per cent of its food before the war, has had a drop-off of commercial imports by more than 55,000 tonnes a month since the Saudi-led coalition imposed a blockade on the area a year ago, Save the Children said. This is only enough to meet the needs of 4.4 million people, including 2.2 million children, it said.

Meanwhile, Mr Beasley said Houthi rebels were endangering humanitarian operations elsewhere in the country.

The WFP chief accused the Iran-backed rebels of placing seven landmines inside grain bins in one of WFP’s grain silos in Hodeidah.

He said his team found the landmines only two days after he had left Yemen.

“They [Houthi rebels] have been entering our facilities, violating every humanitarian principle, putting our people, who are working there, putting their lives on the line,” he said. “This has got to stop.”

The deputy governor of Hodeidah province, Waleed Al Qudaimi told The National that the Houthi militia was planting landmines and threatening food warehouses in an attempt to put pressure on relief organisations to providing food for the rebel group's fighters.

He also claimed that rebels stole thousands of sacks of flour meant for families living in rebel-controlled parts of Hodeidah.

Earlier on Tuesday, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates pledged $500 million (Dh1.8 billion) to tackle food shortages in Yemen.

The new aid programme will provide food assistance to up to 12 million Yemenis.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia are working with organisations on the ground to ensure aid and food assistance reaches the most vulnerable populations, Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Co-operation, told a news conference.

“We are focusing on the most affected groups, especially malnourished children, pregnant women and the elderly,” she told reporters. “We will ensure that humanitarian conditions improve.”

Yemen is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, where 8.3 million people are dependent on food aid, according to the UN. The nearly three-year civil war has pushed the country to edge of famine with outbreaks of cholera and diphtheria.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 to push back the Houthi rebels and restore the government of President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi. The Houthi rebels, backed by the Iranian regime, have repeatedly launched ballistic missile towards Saudi.

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Read more:

Editorial: The moment for peace in Yemen must be seized

Arab Coalition throws its weight behind Yemen peace talks

Unicef says 'every 10 minutes' a child is dying in Yemen

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
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Sector: Water technology 
 
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
THE DETAILS

Kaala

Dir: Pa. Ranjith

Starring: Rajinikanth, Huma Qureshi, Easwari Rao, Nana Patekar  

Rating: 1.5/5 

ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA

Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi

Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser

Rating: 4.5/5

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The Settlers

Director: Louis Theroux

Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz

Rating: 5/5

The Cairo Statement

 1: Commit to countering all types of terrorism and extremism in all their manifestations

2: Denounce violence and the rhetoric of hatred

3: Adhere to the full compliance with the Riyadh accord of 2014 and the subsequent meeting and executive procedures approved in 2014 by the GCC  

4: Comply with all recommendations of the Summit between the US and Muslim countries held in May 2017 in Saudi Arabia.

5: Refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of countries and of supporting rogue entities.

6: Carry out the responsibility of all the countries with the international community to counter all manifestations of extremism and terrorism that threaten international peace and security

 

 

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
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Under 12 – Minerva Academy

Under 14 – Unam Pumas

Under 16 – Fursan Hispania

Under 18 – Madenat

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The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

 

House-hunting

Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove

  1. Edinburgh, Scotland 
  2. Westminster, London 
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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.”

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg

Rating: 4/5

if you go

The flights

Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.

The hotel

Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.

The tour

Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg

JAPAN SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Masaaki Higashiguchi, Shuichi Gonda, Daniel Schmidt
Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo, Tomoaki Makino, Maya Yoshida, Sho Sasaki, Hiroki Sakai, Sei Muroya, Genta Miura, Takehiro Tomiyasu
Midfielders: Toshihiro Aoyama, Genki Haraguchi, Gaku Shibasaki, Wataru Endo, Junya Ito, Shoya Nakajima, Takumi Minamino, Hidemasa Morita, Ritsu Doan
Forwards: Yuya Osako, Takuma Asano, Koya Kitagawa

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