A scene from Ali F Mostafa's From A to B. Courtesy Abu Dhabi Film Festival
A scene from Ali F Mostafa's From A to B. Courtesy Abu Dhabi Film Festival

Ali Mostafa’s From A to B will open Abu Dhabi Film Festival



From A to B, the new film by the Emirati director Ali F Mostafa, will open the Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF) on October 23. The film, produced by Image Nation Abu Dhabi (which is owned by The National's parent company Abu Dhabi Media), is the long-awaited follow-up to Mostafa's successful 2009 debut City of Life. Disney's latest animated film, Big Hero 6, will close the festival on November 1. From A to B tells the tale of three western-educated Arab youths who travel from Abu Dhabi to Beirut to honour the memory of a dead friend. "It is a privilege to celebrate the world premiere in our capital city and I am proud to have the first Emirati film to ever open the festival," says Mostafa. "This is another testament to our growing industry, as the festival has proven to be a great platform for launching Arab films to an international audience." Ali Al Jabri, the ADFF director, says that the film's prestigious opening slot reflects the growing confidence within the local film industry. "We are delighted to feature a locally produced film as the opening title of this year's festival," he says. "The success of high-calibre Arab filmmakers such as Ali Mostafa is a testament to the vibrancy of filmmaking in the region." – Saeed Saeed

Sarah Geronimo returns to the UAE

Two Filipino pop stars are coming to Dubai to perform. After wowing crowds at Abu Dhabi's du Forum earlier in the year, Sarah Geronimo and her energetic G Force dancers are reportedly returning to Dubai for a show at the Dubai World Trade Centre on December 1. The concert is considered an encore performance to her Perfect 10 tour, which celebrates her decade-long career and features her latest hits It Takes a Man and a Woman and Ikot-Ikot from last year's album Expressions. Ticket details and prices will be released soon. Also coming to Dubai is the young starlet Anne Curtis, who is bringing back her popular Forbidden Concert tour to the city on November 7. The show will feature tracks from her latest album, Annebisyosa, including her latest hit Made in the Philippines. The promoters Sundance Live will release venue details and prices soon. Watch this space. – The National staff

Miss America drums up support with plastic cup act

Miss New York Kira Kazantsev was crowned Miss America on Sunday night, winning the beauty-pageant title after singing the Pharrell Williams song Happy while sitting cross-legged on the stage and banging a red plastic cup on the floor. She revealed that the unusual performance, in the talent portion of the contest, had been inspired by a similar scene in the 2012 movie Pitch Perfect, in which a character auditions for an a cappella group by performing using a cup. She also said she did it to show future contestants that they can win with any talent routine, regardless of what other people may think of it. Despite winning the contest, which was held at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall, Kazantsev came under withering criticism on social media sites for her talent performance. But she said she had the time of her life performing the cup routine. Her success marked the third year in a row that a Miss New York has won the televised pageant. She chose combating sexual assault in the military as the issue that she wants female senators to raise with male counterparts. – AP

Bollywood star lashes out at newspaper’s lack of respect

The Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone has hit out at a newspaper that published what she considered an insulting and demeaning story about an outfit she wore to a movie event, the Indian Express reported. Last year, Padukone was photographed at a launch of Chennai Express in a low-cut dress designed by Anaita Shroff Adajania, and on Sunday morning, The Times of India newspaper retweeted a story they had run, with the comment "OMG: Deepika Padukone's cleavage show!" The normally laid-back actress was not impressed and replied with a series of tweets: "Supposedly India's 'LEADING' newspaper and this is 'NEWS'!!? YES! I am a Woman. I have breasts AND a cleavage! You got a problem!!? Don't talk about Woman's Empowerment when YOU don't know how to RESPECT Women!" Fans of the actress also voiced their support, with 1,550 retweets within an hour. The Finding Fanny director Homi Adajania also tweeted in support and registered his anger, wri­ting: "We just slam ourselves back into the dark ages." – The National staff

What should do investors do now?

What does the S&P 500's new all-time high mean for the average investor? 

Should I be euphoric?

No. It's fine to be pleased about hearty returns on your investments. But it's not a good idea to tie your emotions closely to the ups and downs of the stock market. You'll get tired fast. This market moment comes on the heels of last year's nosedive. And it's not the first or last time the stock market will make a dramatic move.

So what happened?

It's more about what happened last year. Many of the concerns that triggered that plunge towards the end of last have largely been quelled. The US and China are slowly moving toward a trade agreement. The Federal Reserve has indicated it likely will not raise rates at all in 2019 after seven recent increases. And those changes, along with some strong earnings reports and broader healthy economic indicators, have fueled some optimism in stock markets.

"The panic in the fourth quarter was based mostly on fears," says Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist for Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. "The fundamentals have mostly held up, while the fears have gone away and the fears were based mostly on emotion."

Should I buy? Should I sell?

Maybe. It depends on what your long-term investment plan is. The best advice is usually the same no matter the day — determine your financial goals, make a plan to reach them and stick to it.

"I would encourage (investors) not to overreact to highs, just as I would encourage them not to overreact to the lows of December," Mr Schutte says.

All the same, there are some situations in which you should consider taking action. If you think you can't live through another low like last year, the time to get out is now. If the balance of assets in your portfolio is out of whack thanks to the rise of the stock market, make adjustments. And if you need your money in the next five to 10 years, it shouldn't be in stocks anyhow. But for most people, it's also a good time to just leave things be.

Resist the urge to abandon the diversification of your portfolio, Mr Schutte cautions. It may be tempting to shed other investments that aren't performing as well, such as some international stocks, but diversification is designed to help steady your performance over time.

Will the rally last?

No one knows for sure. But David Bailin, chief investment officer at Citi Private Bank, expects the US market could move up 5 per cent to 7 per cent more over the next nine to 12 months, provided the Fed doesn't raise rates and earnings growth exceeds current expectations. We are in a late cycle market, a period when US equities have historically done very well, but volatility also rises, he says.

"This phase can last six months to several years, but it's important clients remain invested and not try to prematurely position for a contraction of the market," Mr Bailin says. "Doing so would risk missing out on important portfolio returns."

City's slump

L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1

The%20specs
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Turning%20waste%20into%20fuel
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Walls

Louis Tomlinson

3 out of 5 stars

(Syco Music/Arista Records)

The Settlers

Director: Louis Theroux

Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz

Rating: 5/5

Lexus LX700h specs

Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor

Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh590,000

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

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.”

GAC GS8 Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh149,900

The 12 Syrian entities delisted by UK 

Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Defence
General Intelligence Directorate
Air Force Intelligence Agency
Political Security Directorate
Syrian National Security Bureau
Military Intelligence Directorate
Army Supply Bureau
General Organisation of Radio and TV
Al Watan newspaper
Cham Press TV
Sama TV

if you go

The flights

Air France offer flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi to Cayenne, connecting in Paris from Dh7,300.

The tour

Cox & Kings (coxandkings.com) has a 14-night Hidden Guianas tour of Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. It includes accommodation, domestic flights, transfers, a local tour manager and guided sightseeing. Contact for price.

Top%2010%20most%20competitive%20economies
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