Extremists use Minecraft and Roblox to recreate Christchurch attack

Far-right extremists have used children’s gaming platforms to recreate the Christchurch atrocity in New Zealand in which 51 people were killed.

A map of one of the mosques targeted in Christchurch was placed on Minecraft, terrorism researchers revealed.

The map, which had been online for two months, received hundreds of views and a link had been posted on a white supremacist image board on the dark web.

In another instance, a video which included the same music that was used in the live-streamed mosque attack was created in the online Roblox game and shared.

The Christchurch attack saw white supremacist Brenton Tarrant kill 51 people at two mosques in March 2019.

He opened fire on worshippers inside the Al Noor mosque, broadcasting the attack on Facebook Live via a head camera he was wearing.

Tarrant then drove to the Linwood Islamic Centre where he shot people outside and then shot at the windows.

The Counter Extremism Project, which monitors extremist activity online, said: "CEP researchers identified a video posted on Streamable consisting of a recreation of the Christchurch terrorist attack video in the online video game Roblox, as well as a map of one of the mosques targeted in the attack in the game Minecraft, which was then shared on an image board that promotes violent white supremacism."

Extremists have placed content on Roblox. Bloomberg

"The video included a weapon made to resemble the attacker’s rifle and included music originally used in the attack video. The link was posted on 4chan and had 23 views when it was located.

"CEP also located a map and video recreation in the game Minecraft depicting one of the mosques targeted in the terrorist attack. The map had been online for two months when it was located and had received over 330 views."

4chan is an image-based bulletin board where anyone can post comments and share images anonymously.

CEP said the map had been uploaded to a Minecraft community fan site.

It previously found footage of a recreation of the terrorist attack in a video game which was posted to Instagram, and the government of New Zealand banned a video game specifically made to digitally recreate the attack.

Last week, British man Michael Nugent was jailed for terrorism offences after sharing explosives manuals and extremist videos, including one of the New Zealand mosque massacres, in far-right chat groups.

He also shared film of the attack on the first anniversary of the atrocity in March last year, and posted Tarrant's manifesto on far-right sites.

Pharaoh's curse

British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.

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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.”

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Sand storm

Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
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Source: Open desert areas with strong winds

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