The multi-million-pound London property once owned by the Qaddafi family has not aged well since it was seized in the name of the Libyan people a decade ago.
Invaded by protesters, fought over in the courts and then neglected by its new owners, the house at 7 Winnington Close has rubbish sacks dumped in the front garden and weeds sprouting from between the paving slabs.
The only residents for years, neighbours say, are rats and mice.
The house in a north London district favoured by Middle Eastern investors is a symbol of the hunt for assets looted by Muammar Qaddafi, his family and associates.
The seizure of the £9m ($12.1m) property in 2012 was heralded as the start of an assault on the looted overseas assets estimated at between $40 billion and $200bn.
But like the once desirable eight-bedroom house with its swimming pool and cinema room, the Libyan asset recovery effort is slowly falling apart.
There is precious little to show after a decade of infighting, power struggles, destroyed evidence and false trails.
Most of the records that detailed the looting by the Qaddafi family have been destroyed or lost, according to US court filings.
Officials in Libya have few records showing where the money has gone.
Insiders who knew about the mechanics of the corruption fled, were killed or imprisoned, while the country’s new leaders are ill-equipped and ill-prepared to chase looted assets.
The money was used to “grease the wheels of financial centres and real estate speculators around the world”, wrote London-based Libyan lawyer Mohamed Shaban, who was involved in the effort to seize the property at Winnington Close.
A 2016 study by consultants for anti-corruption charity Transparency International suggested that some $60bn to $120bn had been looted by former regime officials but only $20 million of that was returned to Libya.
Half of that was the Winnington Close property owned by Saadi Qaddafi, a son of the former leader and former commander of Libya's special forces.
Another $130m had been frozen, leaving the vast bulk unaccounted for. There has been little improvement in the following six years.
“There have been some assets recovered in some countries but not to the extent that we wish would have happened,” said Kinda Hattar, Middle East regional adviser for Transparency International.
“We have changed the heads of state, but we haven’t changed the systems.”
An attempt to reinvigorate the effort in 2021 with the “largest asset recovery case in history” in the US foundered within days of its launch because of a power battle between two men vying to lead the hunt for Qaddafi money.
US judge Barbara Moses ordered a halt to proceedings in January because of the dispute, ending efforts to trace “tens of billions” of dollars suspected to have passed through the US banking system.
The infighting within the Libyan Asset Recovery and Management Office (Larmo) was a particular blow as the organisation, established with the help of the UN and EU, was considered the best hope for recovering anything.
Previous efforts failed in part because of disputes between competing government agencies. Fraudsters stepped into the void.
Countries holding the looted assets had become reluctant to confiscate and return Libyan assets because they did not know who to deal with and had been “approached by corrupt individuals claiming to act on behalf of the Libyan state”, said James Shaw, a senior official at the UN’s Interregional crime and justice research institute (Unicri) in a US court filing.
But Unicri said that Larmo, established in 2017 with the expertise lacking in other Libyan bodies, identified $54bn in looted assets overseas.
“Strong consideration should be given to empowering … Larmo to be the sole entity for tracing assets,” said Unicri, with senior officials said to be impressed by the organisation’s progress under its chief Anwar Arif.
He signed off on the project to investigate eight US banks and seek a court order forcing institutions to hand over records linked to the regime's financial transactions.
Larmo employed a US law firm Baker Hostetler, which led the 12-year pursuit of assets stemming from ponzi scheme run by financier Bernie Madoff.
The political mood in the US was also moving Larmo's way, with Joe Biden placing the issue of repatriating kleptocrat wealth at the centre of his presidential agenda at a Summit for Democracy in December.
“There seems to be a massive focus in the Biden regime on that,” said Helena Wood, a senior research fellow of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a London-based think-tank.
“He said corruption is a national security priority, every department needs to put their weight behind it and he’s going to throw a tonne of resources at it. It specifically referenced the investment of corruption proceeds into US real estate being a particular priority.”
But a week after Mr Arif backed the scheme, a rival head of the organisation wrote to the judge asking for the proceedings to be halted.
“Unfortunately, the legal firms who brought this case and were engaged by my predecessor at Larmo, have acted without appropriate legal authority,” wrote Mohamed Ramadan Mohamed, Larmo’s general manager.
He said the tactic was “contrary to our strategy of positive engagement with banks and other financial institutions” and called for the application to be dismissed.
The office of Libya’s attorney general Siddiq Al Sour on December 23 announced the arrest of a man understood to be Mr Arif for signing “contracts with companies active in the field of money tracking … in violation of the legislation governing contracting procedures”.
It added that after questioning, he was held in custody for “committing the crime of harming the public interest and abuse of office in order to achieve the benefit of others”.
Both Mr Arif and Mr Mohamed did not respond to requests for comment.
The saga has cast doubt on Larmo’s ability to claw back assets, analysts say.
“I'm very pessimistic. I don't think that they're going actually to recover anything or that something is going to end up benefiting the people in Libya,” said Dr Georgios Pavlidis, an associate professor of international and European economic law at Neapolis University in Cyprus.
“In the case of Libya, there are ordinary problems of assets recovery, plus all the problems due to the civil war and it’s unclear who is actually in power in Libya.”
Larmo’s remit is restricted to looted assets and not the billions of dollars held by state institutions, such as sovereign wealth fund the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), that are frozen in banks around the world.
More than $50bn of LIA funds are frozen abroad under UN-imposed sanctions and cannot be returned given Libya's lack of leadership and the endemic corruption there.
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
The situation is complicated by the nature of the Qaddafi regime, which used state agencies as personal banking facilities – making it difficult for agencies to untangle what assets are looted and which ones are genuine state investments.
“Libya remains a kleptocracy in which the regime has a direct stake in anything worth buying, selling or owning,” said a leaked US diplomatic cable from 2009.
The LIA itself has attempted to sue the purported right-hand man of presidential hopeful Saif Al Islam Qaddafi over alleged backhand payments during deals between the fund and western banks before the regime’s downfall.
Failures to repatriate cash have been charted in annual reports by the UN Panel of Experts on Libya, appointed by the UN Security Council, which also highlight the schemes used to avoid detection.
The schemes use front men, front companies and hidden bank accounts. The regime is said to have secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves and the panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa.
The operation to hide large sums of cash and gold was said to have been organised by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
The panel’s report showed pictures of cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Requests for information from Ghana and France went unanswered, the report said.
The organisation, the International Committee for the Protection of Human Rights (CIPDH), told investigation site Bellingcat last year that the photo of the crates of cash was fake.
The organisation, whose senior members include officials from Kazakhstan, Russia, Montenegro and Lebanon, did not respond to inquiries from The National.
The UN panel told of how hidden Qaddafi assets in South Africa were to be used for a multi-million dollar arms sale by the country’s defence industry and military officials in Libya, according to two people involved in the deal.
The reports also tie family members to secret deals. Saadi Qaddafi had access to funds of at least $2m while living in Niger, including large amounts of cash.
Another son, Hannibal, who is held in Lebanon, received large payments from a group of at least four companies linked to the oil and gas sector for years before the revolution.
Chasing and recovering corrupt cash is time-consuming and difficult. A stolen assets database set up under a World Bank programme lists 13 cases against the late dictator in 10 countries and the European Union.
They all started in 2011 and most of them are listed as ongoing.
Despite the seizure of the Qaddafi house, little has been returned to Libya from the UK.
Twenty-five members of the Qaddafi family, associates and former ministers under his leadership remain under UK sanctions.
Jonathan Benton, a former senior detective who led UK’s global asset tracing response following the Arab uprisings, said it was unclear at the time who they could talk to in Libya that were the true representatives of the government.
There were rumours of gold being spirited out the country and warehouses full of loot but most of the £11.5bn of assets that were frozen by the UK were held in bank accounts and linked to the LIA.
“Our focus was on Egypt as Libya wasn’t talking to us and Egypt did have a coherent, properly functioning, internationally-recognised government,” said Mr Benton, the founder of Intelligent Sanctuary, a London-based specialist global asset tracing organisation.
“We tried very hard [with Libya] but we didn’t get very far.”
Critics said that the UK had set the bar too high for fledgling democracies like Libya to be successful in the English courts.
“The ironic if depressing result is that it is easier for a kleptocrat to funnel suspicious funds through the City of London than it is for the state of Libya to freeze those assets and repatriate them to their legitimate owners: the Libyan people,” Mr Shaban, the lawyer, wrote in an article for Democracy for the Arab World Now.
The UN Panel of Experts in 2017 reported that it made inquiries with the UK about an ongoing investigation into the assets of unspecified people close to the former regime but “no response has so far been received”.
Under plans developed under former prime minister David Cameron, the UK sought to make it easier to seize suspected cash with a raft of measures introduced in 2017.
They included unexplained wealth orders to freeze cash, shifting the burden on to the owners to say that the money had been secured legitimately.
But the tactic has been used only four times, none of them involving Libya where £15bn of Qaddafi cash is said to have been hidden.
The National Crime Agency said the tactic was still being tested in the courts and is not used where there is co-operation from the state from where the money was looted. Libyan officials were now forthcoming with information, the NCA said.
But tackling grand corruption across borders remains a laborious process for an entity with a broad remit to tackle the most serious organised criminals in the UK.
“They're being asked to use a very small contingent of staff to go up against some of the biggest, nastiest, most meticulous people in the world who have taken a lot of time to structure their assets in such a way that makes it very, very difficult to get that real beneficial owner behind them,” Ms Wood said.
“It's just a slog, asset recovery, it just takes years. If someone could ship in a load of tech and investigators to help them [the Libyans] with it, that would be a good aid spend in my view, helping them to get the money back.”
For now, the home once owned by Saadi Qaddafi stands as a symbol of what could be achieved. It is a short distance from Bishop’s Avenue, known as billionaire’s row because of its popularity with Middle Eastern buyers.
It was relatively easy to retrieve as the Qaddafi's involvement in the property was not hidden. It was used by Saad's brother Saif as his base.
He left the house for the last time to return to Libya to play his part in a failed attempt to dampen protests in 2011 against his father’s 42-year-rule.
Days after his warning that thousands would die in “rivers of blood” if demonstrators continued their defiance, activists in March 2011 moved into the eight-bedroom property and claimed it for the Libyan people.
Seven months after the death of the dictator Qaddafi, a London court in May 2012 ordered the home to be seized from the anonymous British Virgin Islands front company and return it to the Libyan state.
Since then, it has been empty – missing out on tens of thousands of pounds of rental money and for most of that time in an area of stagnating property prices, said Camilla Dell, managing partner of Black Brick, a central London buying agent.
It is unclear what is happening with the house. One property website had it listed for sale in 2017 but it remains the property of the Libyan state. The Libyan embassy did not respond to requests for comment.
“Bishop’s Avenue is synonymous with money launderers,” said Ms Dell. “It has suffered a bit from that.”
Kat Wightman's tips on how to create zones in large spaces
- Area carpets or rugs are the easiest way to segregate spaces while also unifying them.
- Lighting can help define areas. Try pendant lighting over dining tables, and side and floor lamps in living areas.
- Keep the colour palette the same in a room, but combine different tones and textures in different zone. A common accent colour dotted throughout the space brings it together.
- Don’t be afraid to use furniture to break up the space. For example, if you have a sofa placed in the middle of the room, a console unit behind it will give good punctuation.
- Use a considered collection of prints and artworks that work together to form a cohesive journey.
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
if you go
The flights
Fly direct to Kutaisi with Flydubai from Dh925 return, including taxes. The flight takes 3.5 hours. From there, Svaneti is a four-hour drive. The driving time from Tbilisi is eight hours.
The trip
The cost of the Svaneti trip is US$2,000 (Dh7,345) for 10 days, including food, guiding, accommodation and transfers from and to Tbilisi or Kutaisi. This summer the TCT is also offering a 5-day hike in Armenia for $1,200 (Dh4,407) per person. For further information, visit www.transcaucasiantrail.org/en/hike/
AL%20BOOM
%3Cp%20style%3D%22text-align%3Ajustify%3B%22%3E%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3BDirector%3AAssad%20Al%20Waslati%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%20style%3D%22text-align%3Ajustify%3B%22%3E%0DStarring%3A%20Omar%20Al%20Mulla%2C%20Badr%20Hakami%20and%20Rehab%20Al%20Attar%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EStreaming%20on%3A%20ADtv%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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.”
Voy!%20Voy!%20Voy!
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Omar%20Hilal%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Muhammad%20Farrag%2C%20Bayoumi%20Fouad%2C%20Nelly%20Karim%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
More from Aya Iskandarani
The finalists
Player of the Century, 2001-2020: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Ronaldinho
Coach of the Century, 2001-2020: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Jose Mourinho (Tottenham Hotspur), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid), Sir Alex Ferguson
Club of the Century, 2001-2020: Al Ahly (Egypt), Bayern Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Real Madrid (Spain)
Player of the Year: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Club of the Year: Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Real Madrid
Coach of the Year: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta), Hans-Dieter Flick (Bayern Munich), Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Agent of the Century, 2001-2020: Giovanni Branchini, Jorge Mendes, Mino Raiola
The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Power: 272hp at 6,400rpm
Torque: 331Nm from 5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.7L/100km
On sale: now
Price: Dh149,000
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
HER%20FIRST%20PALESTINIAN
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20Saeed%20Teebi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPages%3A%20256%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPublisher%3A%C2%A0House%20of%20Anansi%20Press%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: N2 Technology
Founded: 2018
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Startups
Size: 14
Funding: $1.7m from HNIs
The%20Roundup
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Lee%20Sang-yong%3Cbr%3EStars%3A%20Ma%20Dong-seok%2C%20Sukku%20Son%2C%20Choi%20Gwi-hwa%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
Cultural fiesta
What: The Al Burda Festival
When: November 14 (from 10am)
Where: Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi
The Al Burda Festival is a celebration of Islamic art and culture, featuring talks, performances and exhibitions. Organised by the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development, this one-day event opens with a session on the future of Islamic art. With this in mind, it is followed by a number of workshops and “masterclass” sessions in everything from calligraphy and typography to geometry and the origins of Islamic design. There will also be discussions on subjects including ‘Who is the Audience for Islamic Art?’ and ‘New Markets for Islamic Design.’ A live performance from Kuwaiti guitarist Yousif Yaseen should be one of the highlights of the day.
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica
Best Agent: Jorge Mendes
Best Club : Liverpool
Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker
Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP
Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart
Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)
Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)
Best Women's Player: Lucy Bronze
Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi
Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)
Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
How Filipinos in the UAE invest
A recent survey of 10,000 Filipino expatriates in the UAE found that 82 per cent have plans to invest, primarily in property. This is significantly higher than the 2014 poll showing only two out of 10 Filipinos planned to invest.
Fifty-five percent said they plan to invest in property, according to the poll conducted by the New Perspective Media Group, organiser of the Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition. Acquiring a franchised business or starting up a small business was preferred by 25 per cent and 15 per cent said they will invest in mutual funds. The rest said they are keen to invest in insurance (3 per cent) and gold (2 per cent).
Of the 5,500 respondents who preferred property as their primary investment, 54 per cent said they plan to make the purchase within the next year. Manila was the top location, preferred by 53 per cent.
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
Top%2010%20most%20competitive%20economies
%3Cp%3E1.%20Singapore%0D%3Cbr%3E2.%20Switzerland%0D%3Cbr%3E3.%20Denmark%0D%3Cbr%3E4.%20Ireland%0D%3Cbr%3E5.%20Hong%20Kong%0D%3Cbr%3E6.%20Sweden%0D%3Cbr%3E7.%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3E8.%20Taiwan%0D%3Cbr%3E9.%20Netherlands%0D%3Cbr%3E10.%20Norway%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20NOTHING%20PHONE%20(2)
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDisplay%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%206.7%E2%80%9D%20LPTO%20Amoled%2C%202412%20x%201080%2C%20394ppi%2C%20HDR10%2B%2C%20Corning%20Gorilla%20Glass%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EProcessor%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Qualcomm%20Snapdragon%208%2B%20Gen%202%2C%20octa-core%3B%20Adreno%20730%20GPU%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMemory%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208%2F12GB%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECapacity%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20128%2F256%2F512GB%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPlatform%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Android%2013%2C%20Nothing%20OS%202%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMain%20camera%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dual%2050MP%20wide%2C%20f%2F1.9%20%2B%2050MP%20ultrawide%2C%20f%2F2.2%3B%20OIS%2C%20auto-focus%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMain%20camera%20video%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204K%20%40%2030%2F60fps%2C%201080p%20%40%2030%2F60fps%3B%20live%20HDR%2C%20OIS%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFront%20camera%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2032MP%20wide%2C%20f%2F2.5%2C%20HDR%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFront%20camera%20video%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Full-HD%20%40%2030fps%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBattery%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204700mAh%3B%20full%20charge%20in%2055m%20w%2F%2045w%20charger%3B%20Qi%20wireless%2C%20dual%20charging%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EConnectivity%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Wi-Fi%2C%20Bluetooth%205.3%2C%20NFC%20(Google%20Pay)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBiometrics%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Fingerprint%2C%20face%20unlock%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EI%2FO%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20USB-C%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDurability%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20IP54%2C%20limited%20protection%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECards%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dual-nano%20SIM%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EColours%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dark%20grey%2C%20white%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIn%20the%20box%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nothing%20Phone%20(2)%2C%20USB-C-to-USB-C%20cable%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%20(UAE)%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dh2%2C499%20(12GB%2F256GB)%20%2F%20Dh2%2C799%20(12GB%2F512GB)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The%20Afghan%20connection
%3Cp%3EThe%20influx%20of%20talented%20young%20Afghan%20players%20to%20UAE%20cricket%20could%20have%20a%20big%20impact%20on%20the%20fortunes%20of%20both%20countries.%20Here%20are%20three%20Emirates-based%20players%20to%20watch%20out%20for.%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EHassan%20Khan%20Eisakhil%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMohammed%20Nabi%20is%20still%20proving%20his%20worth%20at%20the%20top%20level%20but%20there%20is%20another%20reason%20he%20is%20raging%20against%20the%20idea%20of%20retirement.%20If%20the%20allrounder%20hangs%20on%20a%20little%20bit%20longer%2C%20he%20might%20be%20able%20to%20play%20in%20the%20same%20team%20as%20his%20son%2C%20Hassan%20Khan.%20The%20family%20live%20in%20Ajman%20and%20train%20in%20Sharjah.%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EMasood%20Gurbaz%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EThe%20opening%20batter%2C%20who%20trains%20at%20Sharjah%20Cricket%20Academy%2C%20is%20another%20player%20who%20is%20a%20part%20of%20a%20famous%20family.%20His%20brother%2C%20Rahmanullah%2C%20was%20an%20IPL%20winner%20with%20Kolkata%20Knight%20Riders%2C%20and%20opens%20the%20batting%20with%20distinction%20for%20Afghanistan.%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOmid%20Rahman%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EThe%20fast%20bowler%20became%20a%20pioneer%20earlier%20this%20year%20when%20he%20became%20the%20first%20Afghan%20to%20represent%20the%20UAE.%20He%20showed%20great%20promise%20in%20doing%20so%2C%20too%2C%20playing%20a%20key%20role%20in%20the%20senior%20team%E2%80%99s%20qualification%20for%20the%20Asia%20Cup%20in%20Muscat%20recently.%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre, V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: seven-speed PDK dual clutch automatic
Power: 375bhp
Torque: 520Nm
Price: Dh332,800
On sale: now
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
