To some, Ayad Tarek's business could be seen as a personal form of revenge. A 27-year-old Yazidi, a religious minority persecuted by ISIL during its reign in northern Iraq, he moved to Mosul after the terror group was purged from the city, once their headquarters.
Though his small shop is inconspicuous, among trades such as as car mechanics and spare parts dealers, bottles of whisky are stacked behind Mr Tarek and beer cans are visible in tall fridges with glass doors. Selling alcohol is his plan to make enough money to establish another business in Germany, the country to which he once fled, but he is mindful that what he does would have been unthinkable under ISIL, and even frowned upon years earlier.
"Before 2014, liquor shops would be targeted. My nephew was killed in 2013 because he sold alcohol," he says.
Mr Tarek is not alone in seeing opportunity in activity that ISIL would have killed people for.
In a brightly-lit hall that stretches over the entire top floor of the Al Habda Hotel, Ali Qareshi bellows out numbers over a creaky public address system. His amplified voice echoes from the shiny new cladding that covers the walls and the ceiling as men scour sheets of paper on long rows of tables.
_________________
Families of ISIL terrorism victims in Iraq still need closure
Iraq holding 19,000 on ISIL and terrorism allegations
_________________
The guests snack on kebab and drink beer and raki as they listen intently to Mr Qareshi, a former traffic policeman who lost his job when ISIL stormed Mosul in 2014. The city's traffic directorate has yet to reopen, so Mr Qareshi took a job in what has become the city's beer hall.
ISIL's extremist interpretation of Islam banished gambling, drinking and even smoking.
"They used to behead anyone they caught selling cigarettes," recalls Mr Qareshi.
Iraqi security forces liberated Mosul in July 2017, after three years of ISIL rule. But the city's people had suffered ever since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, which saw Mosul become a hotbed for an anti-government insurgency headed by Al-Qaeda and other militants, who also pursued radical conservatism that perpetuated a climate of fear in the population.
A bingo hall selling alcohol would have been a prime target.
"The terrorists would have hung anyone opening such a place from a lamppost," says Mohammed Abu Ali, who was drinking raki with a group of friends. "We used to go to Baghdad or Erbil for this kind of place. Mosul was always a place for terrorism."
ISIL's surprise capture of Iraq's second largest city almost four years ago was not easily overturned.
Finally flushed out in a gruelling nine-month battle to liberate the city, most people with ties to ISIL have been killed or arrested. Their families have been expelled from the city, though sleeper cells remain a threat.
"We are not afraid of extremists in Mosul now," says Ahmed Abu Zahra, one of Mr Ali's friends, who noted numbers on his bingo sheet while sipping his drink.
The Al Hadba Hotel, named after the famous leaning minaret of Mosul's Al Nouri mosque that was blown up by ISIL, reopened in February.
Its main building had to be refurbished after being scorched by the retreating terror group, which used the premises as a base. Bungalows that are clustered around the hotel grounds remain blackened by smoke. Security is tight, but the owners felt sufficiently safe to convert the top floor into the beer hall.
It remains Mosul's only working hotel, says Ata Walid, the manager. It is situated on a strip of amusement parks and restaurants that line the Tigris river next to woodland on the river's east bank.
The strip was heavily damaged in the fighting. But here too, a gradual revival is evident. Newly refurbished restaurants gleam brightly at night next to burned out competitors. Rides are being repaired and Ferris wheels are spinning again. Families are returning to enjoy candyfloss and sweet tea at the waterfront. A zoo has reopened, though the lions, deer and monkeys remain crammed in filthy cages with Iraq's typical but tolerated disregard for animal welfare.
"People are really happy to come here now after being trapped in their houses and not having any entertainment," says Mr Walid.
For Mr Tarek, Mosul is only a stepping stone to his real dream: establishing a shisha bar in Germany, where he was granted asylum in 2014. ISIL killed thousands of his fellow Yazidis.
Mosul is not the only city where alcohol vendors have lived dangerous lives. His employee who was gunned down in his Baghdad shop died at the hands of a member of the Madhi army, a militia led by Shia cleric Muqtadr Al Sadr.
Shiite militias remain a powerful presence in the capital, whereas the Sunni extremists of Mosul appear to have been banished.
Improved security also prompted Harith Yassin to try his hand at something new.
The 31-year-old engineer has been unemployed since ISIL took over Mosul. Having tried and failed to find a job since last summer's liberation of the city, he and a partner opened up the "Book Forum Cafe" on a bustling street near a university. It quickly became a favourite haunt for artists, musicians and students taking a break from classes in the bombed out campus.
Paintings hang from the walls and book shelves are heavy with university course material and Arabic literature, students wearing headscarves revise for exams and old men debate politics. Cigarette smoke hangs heavy in the air. A band comes in daily to rehearse a soulful blend of guitar and violin compositions.
"I was worried about opening up a venue like this. But then I saw liquor shops and casinos opening up, and I became less scared. Those places will be targeted first," said Mr Yassin, on a less optimistic note of trouble that might return.
The cafe's live music, artwork, and air of liberal intellectualism mark a stark contrast to life in ISIL's so-called caliphate. It would have been impossible to embark on this venture even before the city fell to the jihadists.
"The terrorists would have bombed this cafe or shot the owner," said Mr Yassin, who believes the ferocious battle to liberate Mosul left swathes of the city in ruins, and hundreds of thousands displaced, but also removed the suffocating grasp of terror.
"In 2013, you didn't trust anyone you met on the streets. Now I do, because I believe that 99 per cent of the people with ties to Daesh have disappeared."
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
The Specs
Engine 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp (542bhp in GTS model)
Torque: 730Nm
Price: Dh649,000 (Dh549,000 for GTS)
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20NOTHING%20PHONE%20(2a)
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Day 1 results:
Open Men (bonus points in brackets)
New Zealand 125 (1) beat UAE 111 (3)
India 111 (4) beat Singapore 75 (0)
South Africa 66 (2) beat Sri Lanka 57 (2)
Australia 126 (4) beat Malaysia -16 (0)
Open Women
New Zealand 64 (2) beat South Africa 57 (2)
England 69 (3) beat UAE 63 (1)
Australia 124 (4) beat UAE 23 (0)
New Zealand 74 (2) beat England 55 (2)
Company name: Farmin
Date started: March 2019
Founder: Dr Ali Al Hammadi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: AgriTech
Initial investment: None to date
Partners/Incubators: UAE Space Agency/Krypto Labs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ETHE%20SPECS%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EEngine%3A%203.5-litre%20V6%0D%3Cbr%3ETransmission%3A%209-speed%20automatc%0D%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20279hp%0D%3Cbr%3ETorque%3A%20350Nm%0D%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh250%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3EOn%20sale%3A%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
THE BIO
Age: 33
Favourite quote: “If you’re going through hell, keep going” Winston Churchill
Favourite breed of dog: All of them. I can’t possibly pick a favourite.
Favourite place in the UAE: The Stray Dogs Centre in Umm Al Quwain. It sounds predictable, but it honestly is my favourite place to spend time. Surrounded by hundreds of dogs that love you - what could possibly be better than that?
Favourite colour: All the colours that dogs come in
ALRAWABI%20SCHOOL%20FOR%20GIRLS
%3Cp%3ECreator%3A%20Tima%20Shomali%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%C2%A0Tara%20Abboud%2C%C2%A0Kira%20Yaghnam%2C%20Tara%20Atalla%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE%20SQUAD
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Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
Scoreline
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 17
Jebel Ali Dragons 20
Harlequins Tries: Kinivilliame, Stevenson; Cons: Stevenson 2; Pen: Stevenson
Dragons Tries: Naisau, Fourie; Cons: Love 2; Pens: Love 2
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
Bharat
Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Starring: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sunil Grover
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Greatest Royal Rumble results
John Cena pinned Triple H in a singles match
Cedric Alexander retained the WWE Cruiserweight title against Kalisto
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt win the Raw Tag Team titles against Cesaro and Sheamus
Jeff Hardy retained the United States title against Jinder Mahal
Bludgeon Brothers retain the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos
Seth Rollins retains the Intercontinental title against The Miz, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe
AJ Styles remains WWE World Heavyweight champion after he and Shinsuke Nakamura are both counted out
The Undertaker beats Rusev in a casket match
Brock Lesnar retains the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
Braun Strowman won the 50-man Royal Rumble by eliminating Big Cass last
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 400hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh234,000 - Dh329,000
On sale: now
Fixture and table
UAE finals day: Friday, April 13 at Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
- 3pm, UAE Conference: Dubai Tigers v Sharjah Wanderers
- 6.30pm, UAE Premiership: Dubai Exiles v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Premiership – final standings
- Dubai Exiles
- Abu Dhabi Harlequins
- Jebel Ali Dragons
- Dubai Hurricanes
- Dubai Sports City Eagles
- Abu Dhabi Saracens
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.”
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5