A weekend show of force by British climate activists is set to test the public’s patience with the re-emerging Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil movements.
The London Marathon is the latest sporting showpiece at risk of disruption after protesters targeted the World Snooker Championship and horse racing’s Grand National.
Runners near Sunday's finish line will pass by Parliament Square, where Extinction Rebellion is expecting 30,000 people at a four-day protest that begins on Friday. Tens of thousands are expected to participate in a days-long demonstration titled The Big One that blocks off the Houses of Parliament and government buildings.
Marathon bosses say they have struck an unlikely deal with Extinction Rebellion leaders, who are promising to stop hardliners causing chaos around the runners just hundreds of metres away as they come to the finish line.
Extinction Rebellion “will be uniquely asking all their participants to help guard the London Marathon”, said event director Hugh Brasher.
While Extinction Rebellion has recently backed away from the mass disruption tactics that made it famous, it has threatened to “unquit” its campaign if ministers do not call time on fossil fuels.
“Disrupting the London Marathon isn’t happening, but civilisational collapse is. Which should we be talking about?” said activist Yaz Ashmawi from Extinction Rebellion.
The group's cousin Just Stop Oil was in last-ditch talks with marathon organisers after failing to give the same assurances as Extinction Rebellion.
A protester wearing a Just Stop Oil shirt jumped on a table at the snooker last weekend and threw orange powder over the cloth.
Professor Ian Acheson, a senior director at the Counter Extremism Project, said stunts such as these could terrify spectators even if they seem relatively harmless in hindsight.
“It’s highly unlikely that stunts like this will do anything other than alienate ordinary people and trivialise real concerns about climate,” he told The National.
“On the other hand it is likely to reinforce and nourish a base of supporters for whom such actions are already priced in.”
Just Stop Oil staged marches near the Grand National venue while animal rights activists delayed the start of the race — in an incident blamed for the death of one of the horses.
A YouGov poll this week found that 51 per cent in Britain had an unfavourable opinion of Just Stop Oil, with 16 per cent favourable.
About a quarter said they had never heard of the group despite its publicity tactics. Representatives of Just Stop Oil have not ruled out an escalation by disrupting the coronation of King Charles III next month.
“Protesting with little or no visibility is Kryptonite for mass activist groups,” Prof Acheson said.
“It diminishes impact and reduces relevance, so disrupting any event, even those where the audience is likely to be hostile, is a rational choice.”
Environmental protests in the UK — in pictures
Extinction Rebellion, known as XR, insists the four-day protest known as The Big One will be peaceful and family-friendly. However plans for the multi-day event are much more military, with a “biodiversity march and mass ‘die-in” on the cards for Saturday afternoon plus going ahead, and an attention-grabbing encroachment on the marathon.
Allies including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and trade unionists have pledged to join the protest.
A US activist network called Avaaz said on Thursday it was encouraging supporters to join The Big One.
“It’s not just the global temperature rising, it’s people everywhere, rising to fight for the survival of humanity and all life. Politicians must respond with an urgent and just transition away from fossil fuels,” it said.
Mr Brasher, the marathon organiser, said Extinction Rebellion organisers “have assured us that they do not wish to disrupt” the 42km race.
Activists say they do not plan to block roads or glue themselves to anything as they have done in the past.
Protests in years gone by saw activists cause mass disruption by blockading roads and sticking themselves to Docklands Light Railway trains in London.
“XR has a reputation, we get that. But this time the primary aim is to get the attention of the government, not to target disruption at the public,” says an advert for the protest.
Just Stop Oil has not backed away from disruptive action and says its antics grab headlines where weighty climate reports do not.
A recent report by the world’s top climate scientists said greenhouse gas emissions should be cut in half by 2030, but activists say governments are not doing enough.
Their key demand is that the UK government bring an end to new coal, gas and oil projects — after it opened the door to new North Sea exploration following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Protesters from Just Stop Oil compare themselves to civil rights campaigners and suffragettes of decades gone by.
The women’s suffrage campaign reached boiling point when activist Emily Davison died after throwing herself in front of King George V’s horse at the Epsom Derby in 1913.
Recent Just Stop Oil stunts in Britain include throwing paint over a Vincent van Gogh artwork and interrupting a Premier League football match when a protester tied himself to the goalpost.
One common objection to protests on the streets is that they could block ambulances from reaching people in need.
There was outrage in Germany after an ugly incident in which a cyclist died during protests by a group called The Last Generation.
Prosecutors in Berlin said last month that emergency vehicles had been delayed by the protests but would not ultimately have saved the woman from her injuries.
History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
Profile
Company name: Jaib
Started: January 2018
Co-founders: Fouad Jeryes and Sinan Taifour
Based: Jordan
Sector: FinTech
Total transactions: over $800,000 since January, 2018
Investors in Jaib's mother company Alpha Apps: Aramex and 500 Startups
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.
INDIA SQUAD
Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami
Last 10 NBA champions
2017: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-1
2016: Cleveland bt Golden State 4-3
2015: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-2
2014: San Antonio bt Miami 4-1
2013: Miami bt San Antonio 4-3
2012: Miami bt Oklahoma City 4-1
2011: Dallas bt Miami 4-2
2010: Los Angeles Lakers bt Boston 4-3
2009: Los Angeles Lakers bt Orlando 4-1
2008: Boston bt Los Angeles Lakers 4-2
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
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.”
RESULT
Australia 3 (0) Honduras 1 (0)
Australia: Jedinak (53', 72' pen, 85' pen)
Honduras: Elis (90 4)
The biog
Name: Mohammed Imtiaz
From: Gujranwala, Pakistan
Arrived in the UAE: 1976
Favourite clothes to make: Suit
Cost of a hand-made suit: From Dh550
