Follow the latest Sudan updates here
Embassies in Sudan are evacuating their staff, as violence in Khartoum enters its second week.
Clashes between two warring factions, the Sudanese army and a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces, have killed more than 420 people and injured thousands in days.
On Sunday, the US and UK rescued diplomats and their families in military operations, while France and Italy announced that plans to evacuate their staff and citizens were under way.
More than 100 US troops and three Chinook helicopters were sent to evacuate less than 100 people, US military officials said. The aircraft flew in from Djibouti, and were grounded in Khartoum for less than an hour, according to AFP.
Yet thousands of US citizens and dual nationals are thought to remain in the country. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US would continue to “assist Americans in planning for their own safety”.
The UK sent more than 1,200 military personnel to evacuate its diplomats and their families. The 16 Air Assault Brigade, the Royal Marines and the RAF were involved in the evacuation of the British embassy.
Elite British troops flew into Khartoum on board an American military aircraft.
France said a “rapid evacuation operation” for diplomats and citizens was under way. About 250 French citizens are believed to be in Sudan. Other European citizens and those from “allied partner countries” will also be assisted, the Foreign Ministry said.
About 100 people were evacuated on the first French flight after a “complicated” rescue operation, French officials said on Sunday.
According to a Djibouti airport source, 106 people landed in Djibouti, while a French official said another flight was on the way.
“A plane has landed and another is in the air”, each plane allowing the evacuation of “100 people”, the French military said.
However, the warring army and RSF each accused the other of attacking a French convoy, Reuters reported. The army said the RSF had fired on the convoy, wounding a French national.
Italy said it would try to evacuate citizens on Sunday and was “working on a window of opportunity” to get them out, according to its AGI news agency. Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said on Twitter that the Netherlands was “participating in an international evacuation operation with a team from Jordan”.
Egypt said it had started evacuating citizens from Port Sudan and Wadi Halfa, in the north. It earlier urged nationals in Khartoum to shelter at home until the situation improved. It said there needed to be a “meticulous, safe and organised” evacuation process for its 10,000 citizens in neighbouring Sudan to reach home. It said one of its diplomats had been wounded by gunfire, without giving details.
There have been two aborted evacuation attempts. The first was by Germany, which sent three military transport planes to carry 150 citizens on Wednesday, according to Der Spiegel.
Jordan's Foreign Ministry said four Jordanian military planes left Port Sudan airport overnight heading to Amman with 343 evacuees on board.
Jordanian nationals made up most of the evacuees but there are also Palestinian, German, Syrian and Iraqi nationals on board, the ministry said.
On Sunday, Turkey began the evacuation by road of its estimated 600 nationals in two districts of Khartoum and the city of Wad Madani. But explosions near one of the designated meeting points in Khartoum forced them to postpone the plans in that area.
Other countries have sent forces to nearby countries to prepare for evacuations.
On Friday, South Korea sent a military aircraft to the US airbase in Djibouti, to evacuate 26 nationals, whom the Foreign Ministry said were safe. Japan deployed three Japanese Self-Defence Forces aircraft and a task force of 370 military personnel to Djibouti to evacuate an estimated 63 Japanese citizens in Sudan, according to Kyodo News.
India said it had sent a naval ship to Port Sudan and two military planes to Jeddah as part of its preparations and was telling citizens to avoid unnecessary risks.
Greece announced on Sunday that Air Force aircraft and troops were being relocated to Egypt to participate in a potential operation to rescue Greek and Cypriot citizens.
The Sudanese army said on Saturday that it was aiding efforts to evacuate diplomats from China.
The Indonesian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that 43 of its 1,600 citizens in Sudan were sheltering in the embassy compound in Khartoum.
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
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It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
Abu Dhabi traffic facts
Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road
The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.
Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.
The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.
The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.
Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019
UAE Premiership
Results
Dubai Exiles 24-28 Jebel Ali Dragons
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 43-27 Dubai Hurricanes
Final
Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Jebel Ali Dragons, Friday, March 29, 5pm at The Sevens, Dubai
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
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57%20Seconds
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The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
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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.”
