Star Wars actor Mark Hamill has called for more drones to help Ukraine fight Russia, which he compared to an “evil empire” from the film series.
Mr Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the films, and is now an ambassador to the United24 project, which collects charitable donations for Ukraine, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been “absolutely heroic”.
Speaking to BBC's Laura Kuenssberg on her politics show on Sunday, Mr Hamill said: "I was really fascinated with this man... because he's been absolutely heroic.
"And the Ukrainian people have been inspirational. He's an amazing man."
Mr Hamill spoke about when the pair met in September, when Mr Zelenskyy referenced the film series.
"He did reference the movies. And it's not hard to understand why.
"Star Wars was always a fairytale for children and fairytales are morality tales of good versus evil, where good is clearly defined, evil is clearly defined.
"It's not hard to extrapolate an evil empire with Russia invading a sovereign nation. So it's not surprising, and that's probably what appealed to him about me.
"We didn't dwell on it obviously — I mean, I was surprised he had the time in his schedule to even talk to me.
"When we spoke for so long I thought, don't you have to get back to work?" he said laughing.
The American actor said he was "honoured" to become an ambassador in the United24 project.
His role includes raising funds to support Ukrainian defenders, the Drone Army, a project set up by the Ukrainian government to procure unmanned drones to assist the war effort.
The drones will be used to monitor the 2,470km front line and provide an effective response to enemy attacks, according to the project's website.
When asked by Kuenssberg whether the platform would be used to supply lethal technology, Hamill answered: "Ukraine needs drones.
"They have some drones but not nearly as many as the Russians."
Russia is using drones from Iran to attack Ukraine on the battlefield, hitting logistics and command and control centres behind Ukrainian lines.
Ukrainian officials said they have been used to attack the southern port city of Odesa almost daily.
“These drones are quite slow, but they also carry a powerful charge, so a hit from them is equivalent from a hit from a missile,” said Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesman for the Odesa region military administration.
“Even if it takes several drones in a group to achieve that, they are so much cheaper it doesn’t matter.
“It can have a psychological impact on the population," he said.
“It’s an act of terrorism. They are just trying to find something new in their tactics.”
The Uefa Awards winners
Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)
Best players of the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League
Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)
Defender: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)
Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona
The schedule
December 5 - 23: Shooting competition, Al Dhafra Shooting Club
December 9 - 24: Handicrafts competition, from 4pm until 10pm, Heritage Souq
December 11 - 20: Dates competition, from 4pm
December 12 - 20: Sour milk competition
December 13: Falcon beauty competition
December 14 and 20: Saluki races
December 15: Arabian horse races, from 4pm
December 16 - 19: Falconry competition
December 18: Camel milk competition, from 7.30 - 9.30 am
December 20 and 21: Sheep beauty competition, from 10am
December 22: The best herd of 30 camels
Company%20Profile
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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.”
TV: World Cup Qualifier 2018 matches will be aired on on OSN Sports HD Cricket channel
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Turkish Ladies
Various artists, Sony Music Turkey
