Newly recruited Houthi fighters in Sanaa, the rebel-held capital of Yemen. Government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition are fighting to cut off a rebel supply route from Sanaa to the south-western province of Taez. Hani Mohammed / AP Photo
Newly recruited Houthi fighters in Sanaa, the rebel-held capital of Yemen. Government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition are fighting to cut off a rebel supply route from Sanaa to the south-westerShow more

Yemeni military looks to cut off main Houthi supply route



Yemen's military is trying to disrupt the Houthi rebels main supply route in Taez after gaining a vital strategic advantage with the capture of the Khalid bin Al Waleed military base in the province.

Soldiers backed by the Arab Coalition are fighting for control of a central road that runs down from Sanaa, Yemen's rebel-held capital, to Taez in the south-east, an area that has been fiercely contested since the civil war broke out in early 2015.

The military briefly held the central vantage point that gives it control of the Al Khazan intersection, which connects the rebel-held north to areas in the south and east of Yemen, before being pushed out.

This point is considered “the gate to Taez” from the north, said Colonel Abdulbaset Al Baher, a military official in Taez.

"Army forces could not maintain control for long because big reinforcements for the Houthi militia came from Al Hawban area in Taez city and deployed on hills overlooking Al Barh area," Col Al Baher told The National.

The military retreated to recently captured areas but will make a renewed push for the intersection with coalition air support.

Arab coalition jets launched at least four air strikes on Houthi posts in Al Barh and on a cement factory west of Taez on Saturday. The strikes killed a number rebel leaders and destroyed mortars and artillery belonging to the Iran-backed rebels.

Meanwhile, elite Yemeni forces backed by the UAE pressed an offensive in Hadramawt province to stamp out Al Qaeda's Yemen branch.

The campaign, known as Operation Black Mountain, aims to eliminate pocket of Al Qaeda fighters in Wadi Hager north of Mukalla, the main city in the eastern province.

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Read more:

UAE-backed Yemen forces seize one of Al Qaeda’s largest strongholds in Shabwa

Houthi rebels' No 2 killed in coalition air strike

The spark in the Houthi coup — Saleh Al Sammad

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On Saturday, soldiers in neighbouring Shabwa province captured one of Al Qaeda's biggest strongholds in Yemen.

The operation Rafadh Al Ras included two coalition strikes that killed several militants and the capture of many more in "fierce confrontations", said Col Mohammed Salem Al Buhar, commander of the elite forces in Shabwa.

Yemeni security forces also killed a senior ISIS commander during a gun battle in Aden on Saturday. The death of Saleh Nasser Fadhl Al Bakshi is a significant blow to the extremist group in the country.

The civil war that has engulfed Yemen after the Iran-backed Houthi rebels overran the capital created a security vacuum that Al Qaeda and ISIS exploited to increase their presence.

One of the deadliest extremist attacks in the civil war came in March 2015 when ISIS targeted two Shiite mosques in Sanaa, killing 142 people.

The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple. 
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

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 five new places of worship

Church of South Indian Parish

St Andrew's Church Mussaffah branch

St Andrew's Church Al Ain branch

St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais

Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais

 

Specs

Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request

How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
  • The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
  • The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
  • The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
  • The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
  • The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg

Brolliology: A History of the Umbrella in Life and Literature
By Marion Rankine
Melville House

How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

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Honeymoonish
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NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

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.”

The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

Skewed figures

In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458. 

Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics

 

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

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