Afghanistan's first vice president escaped unharmed from an ISIS-claimed suicide bomb blast near Kabul airport as he returned home on Sunday after living in exile for more than a year
Former Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum narrowly escaped the suicide bomb attack after returning to the country from the cold after facing allegations of torturing and abusing a political rival.
The bomber detonated his suicide jacket at a celebration held to receive the vice president, the militant group said in its claim of responsibility issued through its self-styled news agency, Amaq. It gave no further details.
Mr Dostum's charter plane landed in Kabul late Sunday afternoon, where he was received by several Afghan officials, including Second Vice President Sarwar Danish, and a massive crowd of supporters in and around the airport.
Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said that 14 people, including both civilians and military forces, were killed in the attack and 50 others wounded. The victims included an AFP news agency employee. This is the second AFP employee to have been killed in an attack in Kabul this year.
An eyewitness, an official close to Gen Dostum who was at the airport to receive the vice president, described seeing several bodies on the street outside the airport and said that the explosion had ruined the spirit of the day.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned the attack in a statement issued by the presidential palace.
Mr Dostum faced outrage from Western donor countries including the United States after reports surfaced in 2016 that his guards had seized Ahmad Ishchi and subjected him to beatings, torture and violent sexual abuse. Mr Dostum left Afghanistan in 2017 after the attorney-general's office launched an investigation into the allegations.
He denied Mr Ishchi's accusations but, amid international demands that he be held accountable, Mr Dostum he left the country in May last year, ostensibly to seek medical treatment in Turkey.
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Read more:
Nato officially initiates UAE into Afghan mission
Afghan crisis: ISIS bomber kills 20 while Taliban slaughter nine police
ISIS targets Taliban in fight for Afghanistan
Watch: Sightline with Tim Marshall: On America's longest war
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The former warlord has since reportedly been barred by the government from returning to Afghanistan. It was not immediately clear whether Dostum will now face any charges.
Despite the explosion and the cloud hanging over Mr Dostum, a large crowd of his supporters had gathered at Sedarat Palace — the vice president’s office — in Kabul to participate in a welcome ceremony. Among them was Humaira Mohammadi, a female Junbish party member from Baghlan province, who travelled to Kabul to welcome Get Dostum.
“I cannot express my happiness in words. We are delighted that our leader is back to our homeland,” she told The National.
While the controversial vice president left Kabul on pretext of seeking medical attentions, officials close to him confirmed that his return to Afghanistan was prevented over the past year. But following the recent protests in the north against the arrest of a strongman — Nizamuddin Qaisari — a figure close to Gen Dostum, the Afghan government was forced to negotiate his return.
The allegations of torture and abuse against Mr Dostum and his men are still to be tackled. However, for many of his supporters, the general is seen as a victim of politics.
“The case was plot against our leader. The government knows he’s innocent,” Mohammad Nasim Rahmani, the deputy of Junbish party in Faryab province, the party’s stronghold and the centre of the recent protests, declared with strong conviction in his voice. Ms Mohammadi agreed with equal certainty: “This is not a legal case. It is political. Long before this case, there was a plan to attack Gen Dostum in Ghormach district of Faryab.”
Many of his supporters see his return as a personal victory. “We are very excited to our leader return. This is one of the demands we have raised in our protests in the last 20 days and this is the result of our demonstrations ,” said Mr Rahmani.
During the very first public address in over a year, the former warlord urged his supporters to end the protests and allow the reopening of the northern trade routes that had been closed over the last two weeks.
Hundreds of the Junbish party followers, many of whom travelled from northern provinces to welcome him, cheered as he promised to talk to the Afghan president and address the matter of Mr Qaisari’s arrest.
Mr Dostum will resume his position as the country’s vice president and is expected to meet with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Monday. He will discuss a range of issues such as the Faryab protests, Mr Qaiseri’s arrest and the mishandling of his guards. Atta Noor, the former governor of Balkh, also attended the welcome ceremony and mentioned the formation of a new political coalition in Afghanistan during his speech.
Mr Rahmani, who participated in the protests in Faryab, confirmed to The National that they would oblige the demand of their figurehead and end the protests in the north.
“We will follow our leader’s commands from here on,” he said.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
ARM%20IPO%20DETAILS
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Results
2.15pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,200m
Winner: Maqam, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer).
2.45pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,200m
Winner: Mamia Al Reef, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.
3.15pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 2,000m
Winner: Jaahiz, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel.
3.45pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,000m
Winner: Qanoon, Szczepan Mazur, Irfan Ellahi.
4.15pm: Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Cup Handicap (TB) Dh200,000 1,700m.
Winner: Philosopher, Tadhg O’Shea, Salem bin Ghadayer.
54.45pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,700m
Winner: Jap Al Yassoob, Fernando Jara, Irfan Ellahi.
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.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
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
Stage results
1. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 4:39:05
2. Michael Matthews (AUS) Team BikeExchange 0:00:08
3. Primoz Roglic (SLV) Jumbo-Visma same time
4. Jack Haig (AUS) Bahrain Victorious s.t
5. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Bora-Hansgrohe s.t
6. Tadej Pogacar (SLV) UAE Team Emirates s.t
7. David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ s.t
8. Sergio Higuita Garcia (COL) EF Education-Nippo s.t
9. Bauke Mollema (NED) Trek-Segafredo s.t
10. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers s.t
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Isle of Dogs
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Liev Schreiber, Ed Norton, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson
Three stars
Arsenal's pre-season fixtures
Thursday Beat Sydney 2-0 in Sydney
Saturday v Western Sydney Wanderers in Sydney
Wednesday v Bayern Munich in Shanghai
July 22 v Chelsea in Beijing
July 29 v Benfica in London
July 30 v Sevilla in London
Pad Man
Dir: R Balki
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte
Three-and-a-half stars
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A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday Celta Vigo v Villarreal (midnight kick-off UAE)
Saturday Sevilla v Real Sociedad (4pm), Atletico Madrid v Athletic Bilbao (7.15pm), Granada v Barcelona (9.30pm), Osasuna v Real Madrid (midnight)
Sunday Levante v Eibar (4pm), Cadiz v Alaves (7.15pm), Elche v Getafe (9.30pm), Real Valladolid v Valencia (midnight)
Monday Huesca v Real Betis (midnight)
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Company%20Profile
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Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
More on Palestine-Israeli relations
Results
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What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
