CAIRO // First it was pro-democracy protesters, then it was minority Christians, then it was women.
The list of those who oppose Egypt's ruling generals has steadily grown since they took over power from Hosni Mubarak a year ago. The latest to join the list are the avid football fans known as the Ultras.
Generally viewed as hooligans, the Ultras initially entered the political fray when tens of thousands of its members joined the 18-day uprising that toppled Mubarak in February last year. They have since been an integral part of the protest movement in Egypt, giving it much needed street muscle as the fight for Egypt's future intensifies ahead of the promised July 1 deadline for the transfer of power back to a civilian administration.
The Ultras could pose a serious challenge to the generals' hold on power and further erode their popularity, already hurting by the loss of support among many women, minority Christians and the country's youth.
In October, 27 people, mostly Christians, were killed by troops during a protest outside the state television headquarters in Cairo. Video clips posted on social networks showed army vehicles running over protesters. In December, army troops were captured on camera again, this time beating and stomping on women protesters, including one who was stripped half-naked.
The two incidents caused an uproar among Christians, who account for about 10 per cent of Egypt's 85 million people, and women, and led to charges that the generals were no better than Mubarak.
The fury added to an already growing resentment of the generals by protesters and activists credited for engineering Mubarak's removal. They accuse the military of torturing detainees, hauling at least 12,000 civilians, many of them protesters, before military tribunals for trial since Mubarak was toppled and bungling the transition in a way that allowed Islamists to sweep parliamentary elections.
The Ultras are credited with playing a key role defending protesters in Tahrir Square, first against riot police and later against Mubarak loyalists who charged the square on horses and camels on February 2 last year, killing and wounding many. Acting in an individual capacity, rather then as members of the Ultras, they again fought police and troops in November and December in deadly clashes in Cairo.
But the deaths in a football riot on February 1 of 74 people - mostly Ultras who supported the Cairo club Al Ahly - have unleashed such fury in the movement's ranks that many expect the Ultras to turn out in even greater numbers in future street protests.
Al Ahly, Egypt's most popular team, played the home team Al Masry, from Port Said, in a league game. Al Masry won 3-1.
The Ultras supporting Al Ahly claim that police stood by and allowed Al Masry's home fans to prey on them, backing up their claim with video clips posted on the internet.
The preliminary findings of a probe by a parliamentary committee blamed fans, police inaction and the football federation for the riot, one of Egypt's worst.
But Al Ahly's Ultras have a different take on the events. They claim that fellow members were punished by the police in Port Said for their high-profile involvement in last year's Tahrir Square protests and subsequent anti-government demonstrations.
The issue, however, is that politics has not changed the movement's origins as a group of young men willing to engage in violence whether the enemy is the police, army troops or rival fans.
Already, Al Ahly's Ultras speak of revenge killings against Al Masry's fans and possibly the police.
Last Wednesday, thousands of them marched to the offices of the country's top prosecutor to demand retribution, waving their hallmark giant flags and chanting slogans against military rule and the police.
The Ultras in Egypt surfaced on the scene as recently as 2007. In many ways, they are an extension of like-minded groups in southern Europe, particularly Italy. In Egypt, they attracted followers from among the millions of disaffected youths who found satisfaction in the camaraderie and the defiance of authority represented by police, the most hated of all Mubarak-era institutions.
Being an Ultra also gave them a sense of belonging to a large community that operated outside their own suffocating confines of poverty and disenfranchisement. The Ultra community provides them with a world filled with passion for the team of their choice, chanting lyrics that yearn for freedom and, spicing their own culture, ridiculing police officers as dimwits and the regime as stupid.
Their hostility towards the police carried a price.
Under Mubarak, many were detained, tortured and intimidated by the police. Much to their dismay, their fireworks and light flares were taken away from them at the gates of stadiums across Egypt. Sports commentators, many of them loyal to the Mubarak regime, had nothing but contempt for them. But the players loved them for their passion and, more importantly, that they cheered them the entire 90 minutes regardless of the score.
"Hey government, tomorrow you will be cleansed by the people's hands. Hey stupid regime, when will you understand that what I demand is freedom, freedom, freedom?" goes one Ultra chant.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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The winners
Fiction
- ‘Amreekiya’ by Lena Mahmoud
- ‘As Good As True’ by Cheryl Reid
The Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Award
- ‘Syrian and Lebanese Patricios in Sao Paulo’ by Oswaldo Truzzi; translated by Ramon J Stern
- ‘The Sound of Listening’ by Philip Metres
The George Ellenbogen Poetry Award
- ‘Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance’ by Fady Joudah
Children/Young Adult
- ‘I’ve Loved You Since Forever’ by Hoda Kotb
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
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How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
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.”
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlmouneer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dr%20Noha%20Khater%20and%20Rania%20Kadry%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEgypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E120%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBootstrapped%2C%20with%20support%20from%20Insead%20and%20Egyptian%20government%2C%20seed%20round%20of%20%3Cbr%3E%243.6%20million%20led%20by%20Global%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Racecard
5.25pm: Etihad Museum – Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,200m
6pm: Al Shindaga Museum – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (Dirt) 1,200m
6.35pm: Poet Al Oqaili – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1,400m
7.10pm: Majlis Ghurfat Al Sheif – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,600m
7.45pm: Hatta – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1,400m
8.20pm: Al Fahidi – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 2,200m
8.55pm: Zabeel Trophy – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh120,000 (T) 1,600m
9.30pm: Coins Museum – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,600m
10.05pm: Al Quoz Creative – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1,000m
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
