NEW YORK // A fractious debate over whether to withdraw UN peacekeepers from war-ravaged Congo took a new twist this week, with one of the world body's top investigators warning that a pullout may lead to more civilian murders, rapes and mutilations. Philip Alston, the UN human rights investigator, said rebel troops continue wreak havoc on the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and ordinary civilians are suffering worst. Victims have "had their lips or ears chopped off", he said.
His warnings come only days after UN Security Council members acquiesced to demands from Congolese officials to withdraw peacekeepers - agreeing to pull out 2,000 personnel from a 20,600-strong force by the end of the month. Mr Alston described an upsurge in violence by the Lord's Resistance Army, a fundamentalist Christian militia which has slaughtered at least 400 civilians and abducted or mutilated hundreds more in Province Orientale since his visit at the end of last year.
"It is clear that the major human rights violations which I identified in October have continued to plague the country in the intervening period," said Mr Alston, a special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions. "The alarm that I sounded at the time ... has been largely ignored." Rwandan Hutu rebels likewise conduct brutal retribution raids on villages in the two eastern Kivu provinces, he said. Some militants have been based in eastern Congo since slaughtering minority Tutsis during the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and fleeing their homeland.
He called on Congo's government and the UN to beef up their military presence in Province Orientale, while blasting national forces for failing to arrest wanted war criminals and rid its ranks of commanders who have brutalised civilians. "We have continued to see poorly-planned and under-resourced military operations, reprisal attacks by rebel groups on unprotected civilians, the failure to arrest war criminals serving in the Congolese army, many hundreds of civilians killed, and many more displaced and gravely injured, often at the hands of the very troops whose duty it is to protect civilians," said Mr Alston.
The controversial report comes only days after Security Council members voted unanimously to withdraw 2,000 peacekeepers by the end of the month - coinciding with Congo celebrating the 50th anniversary of its independence. Congo's president, Joseph Kabila, has repeatedly called for the world's largest and most expensive peacekeeping force to leave his country - boosting his nationalist credentials and likely to improve his performance in next year's election.
Lambert Mende, the Information Minister, said the UN was pretending "to help a people while trampling its dignity" and accused the world body of trying to seize power from a mineral-rich country replete with copper, gold and coltan. But Security Council members did not act upon Kinshasa's request to totally withdraw from the former Belgian colony by the end of next year, saying instead it will only pull out troops "from areas where the security situation permits".
From the beginning of next month, the US$1.35 billion--a-year operation will change its current name, Monuc, derived from a French acronym, to Monusco, shifting the emphasis of the mission towards "stabilisation" rather than peacekeeping. Alain Le Roy, the UN peacekeeping chief, described a "new phase in the Congo and the situation has improved". But he acknowledged that eastern regions remain blighted by rebel violence and that his soldiers are "not able to protect every single citizen".
When Monusco's mandate expires on June 30 next year, Security Council members will conduct a "joint assessment with Congolese authorities to decide on any further withdrawals", added Mr Le Roy, who will concentrate his remaining troops in the turbulent east. Rebels ousted long-time dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in 1997, then turned on each other in back-to-back civil wars across a country the size of Western Europe, spawning cross-border scrambles for minerals that drew in soldiers from a half-dozen African nations.
Peacekeepers arrived in 1999 to observe a cease-fire and the withdrawal of foreign troops, but widespread conflict ensued until 2003 and claimed the lives of as many as 5.4 million. Blue helmet troops helped hold Congo's first democratic elections in 40 years in 2006. Humanitarian groups say every peacekeeper is needed, even though the unpopular UN force has been unable to protect all civilians from rape, abduction and decapitation. Peacekeepers themselves have been accused of sexual abuse, gold trading and corruption.
"Many parts of Congo are still extremely insecure and violence is a daily threat. Any reduction in peacekeepers could be bad news for ordinary Congolese women and men," said Marcel Stoessel, Oxfam's regional boss. "Congo needs each peacekeeper that it has, every pair of boots counts." Oxfam noted almost 2 million people still cannot go home because of Congo's violence, and along with reports of massacres by the hundreds in some areas the UN estimates that 160 women are raped in the Kivu provinces each week.
@Email:jreinl@thenational.ae
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Recipe: Spirulina Coconut Brothie
Ingredients
1 tbsp Spirulina powder
1 banana
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (full fat preferable)
1 tbsp fresh turmeric or turmeric powder
½ cup fresh spinach leaves
½ cup vegan broth
2 crushed ice cubes (optional)
Method
Blend all the ingredients together on high in a high-speed blender until smooth and creamy.
SERIES INFO
Cricket World Cup League Two
Nepal, Oman, United States tri-series
Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu
Fixtures
Wednesday February 5, Oman v Nepal
Thursday, February 6, Oman v United States
Saturday, February 8, United States v Nepal
Sunday, February 9, Oman v Nepal
Tuesday, February 11, Oman v United States
Wednesday, February 12, United States v Nepal
Table
The top three sides advance to the 2022 World Cup Qualifier.
The bottom four sides are relegated to the 2022 World Cup playoff
1 United States 8 6 2 0 0 12 0.412
2 Scotland 8 4 3 0 1 9 0.139
3 Namibia 7 4 3 0 0 8 0.008
4 Oman 6 4 2 0 0 8 -0.139
5 UAE 7 3 3 0 1 7 -0.004
6 Nepal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 PNG 8 0 8 0 0 0 -0.458
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Results
2.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,700m; Winner: AF Mezmar, Adam McLean (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer).
3pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 2,000m; Winner: AF Ajwad, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.
3.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,200m; Winner: Gold Silver, Sam Hitchcott, Ibrahim Aseel.
4pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,000m; Winner: Atrash, Richard Mullen, Ana Mendez.
4.30pm: Gulf Cup Prestige (PA) Dh150,000 1,700m; Winner: AF Momtaz, Saif Al Balushi, Musabah Al Muhairi.
5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh40,000 1,200m; Winner: Al Mushtashar, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
2020 Oscars winners: in numbers
- Parasite – 4
- 1917– 3
- Ford v Ferrari – 2
- Joker – 2
- Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood – 2
- American Factory – 1
- Bombshell – 1
- Hair Love – 1
- Jojo Rabbit – 1
- Judy – 1
- Little Women – 1
- Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl) – 1
- Marriage Story – 1
- Rocketman – 1
- The Neighbors' Window – 1
- Toy Story 4 – 1
Age 26
Born May 17, 1991
Height 1.80 metres
Birthplace Sydney, Australia
Residence Eastbourne, England
Plays Right-handed
WTA titles 3
Prize money US$5,761,870 (Dh21,162,343.75)
Wins / losses 312 / 181
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh132,000 (Countryman)
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Without Remorse
Directed by: Stefano Sollima
Starring: Michael B Jordan
4/5
Profile of Udrive
Date started: March 2016
Founder: Hasib Khan
Based: Dubai
Employees: 40
Amount raised (to date): $3.25m – $750,000 seed funding in 2017 and a Seed round of $2.5m last year. Raised $1.3m from Eureeca investors in January 2021 as part of a Series A round with a $5m target.
Normcore explained
Something of a fashion anomaly, normcore is essentially a celebration of the unremarkable. The term was first popularised by an article in New York magazine in 2014 and has been dubbed “ugly”, “bland’ and "anti-style" by fashion writers. It’s hallmarks are comfort, a lack of pretentiousness and neutrality – it is a trend for those who would rather not stand out from the crowd. For the most part, the style is unisex, favouring loose silhouettes, thrift-shop threads, baseball caps and boyish trainers. It is important to note that normcore is not synonymous with cheapness or low quality; there are high-fashion brands, including Parisian label Vetements, that specialise in this style. Embraced by fashion-forward street-style stars around the globe, it’s uptake in the UAE has been relatively slow.
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.”
ALL THE RESULTS
Bantamweight
Siyovush Gulmomdov (TJK) bt Rey Nacionales (PHI) by decision.
Lightweight
Alexandru Chitoran (ROU) bt Hussein Fakhir Abed (SYR) by submission.
Catch 74kg
Omar Hussein (JOR) bt Tohir Zhuraev (TJK) by decision.
Strawweight (Female)
Seo Ye-dam (KOR) bt Weronika Zygmunt (POL) by decision.
Featherweight
Kaan Ofli (TUR) bt Walid Laidi (ALG) by TKO.
Lightweight
Abdulla Al Bousheiri (KUW) bt Leandro Martins (BRA) by TKO.
Welterweight
Ahmad Labban (LEB) bt Sofiane Benchohra (ALG) by TKO.
Bantamweight
Jaures Dea (CAM) v Nawras Abzakh (JOR) no contest.
Lightweight
Mohammed Yahya (UAE) bt Glen Ranillo (PHI) by TKO round 1.
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) bt Aidan Aguilera (AUS) by TKO round 1.
Welterweight
Mounir Lazzez (TUN) bt Sasha Palatkinov (HKG) by TKO round 1.
Featherweight title bout
Romando Dy (PHI) v Lee Do-gyeom (KOR) by KO round 1.
Thor: Ragnarok
Dir: Taika Waititi
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, Mark Ruffalo, Tessa Thompson
Four stars
