After his estranged wife Angelina Jolie filed for divorce, after two years of marriage and more than a decade together, Brad Pitt has made a request to the public on behalf of his six children. "I am very saddened by this, but what matters most now is the well-being of our kids," he told People magazine. "I kindly ask the press to give them the space they deserve during this challenging time." Jolie and Pitt adopted Maddox Jolie-Pitt, 15, Pax Jolie-Pitt, 12, and Zahara Jolie-Pitt, 11, while Jolie gave birth to Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, 10, and twins Knox Jolie-Pitt and Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, 8, during the 12 years they were together. In an exclusive statement to E! News, Jolie's manager Geyer Kosinski said Jolie will do what is in the best interest of taking care of her family. The actress filed for divorce this week citing "irreconcilable differences". – The National
Jared Leto to Play Andy Warhol in Biopic
Jared Leto, Michael De Luca and Terence Winter are teaming up to tackle the life of Andy Warhol, the famed pop-art artist whose blend of art and commerce made him a household name. Leto will portray the artist for the biopic, titled Warhol, as well as produce it, along with De Luca, whose credits include such Oscar-winning and nominated true-life tales as The Social Network and Captain Phillips. Winter, the Boardwalk Empire creator who also wrote The Wolf of Wall Street, will write the screenplay, using the 1989 Victor Bockris book, Warhol: The Biography, as the basis. Leto and De Luca jointly acquired the rights to the book, having had a desire to work together on a project for some time, according to The Hollywood Reporter. – The National staff
LA Confidential director Curtis Hanson dies
Filmmaker Curtis Hanson, who won a screenwriting Oscar for LA Confidential, which he also directed, and also made the psychological thriller The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and Eminem's tale of Detroit hip-hop, 8 Mile, has died. He was 71. Paramedics declared Hanson dead at his Hollywood Hills home late on Tuesday, according to Los Angeles Police. He died of natural causes. Eminem was among many who worked with Hanson who paid tribute to the filmmaker after his death. A native of Reno, Nevada, who grew up in Los Angeles, Hanson dropped out of high school to work as a photographer, writer and editor for the magazine Cinema. He began screenwriting and directing in the early-1970s, but didn't find much success until he directed 1992's The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. Hanson's breakthrough as an acclaimed filmmaker came five years later with LA Confidential. – AP
Sajid Nadiadwala awarded French creative honour
Bollywood filmmaker Sajid Nadiadwala has been awarded France's prestigious Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters). The honour is given to those who have distinguished themselves by their creativity in the field of art, culture or literature, or for their contribution to the influence of arts in France and throughout the world. French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler conferred the honour in recognition of Nadiadwala's contribution to boosting an Indo-French partnership in cinema. Nadiadwala's latest movie Tamasha was partly shot in France's picturesque Corsica island. The filmmaker praised France as a beautiful country that has not been completely tapped by the Bollywood elite. Other noted Indian recipients of this honour have included the late Sivaji Ganesan, Lata Mangeshkar, superstar Shah Rukh Khan and actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.– IANS
Sonakshi, Sakshi Malik announce new campaign
Actress Sonakshi Sinha and Rio Olympics bronze medal-winning wrestler Sakshi Malik, have announced their involvement in the LikeAGirl campaign. The campaign, which is sponsored by Whisper, was launched to reinforce the need to redefine the phrase "Like A Girl". Sinha says she believes it is important for girls to understand that gender does not and should not define a woman. She says every girl should be actively encouraged to do things she loves to do. – IANS
Kevin Hart shares first photo from sets of Jumanji reboot
Kevin Hart has given his fans the first glimpse of the Jumanji reboot twith a still from the first day of shooting. "Day 1 of shooting Jumanji is officially in the can," Hart wrote on Instagram. "We had an amazing first day. The chemistry & energy of our cast & crew was beyond amazing!!!! This movie is going to be dope as hell …. Can't wait to get back to work tomorrow." In the photo, Hart is standing beside co-stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Karen Gillian, and Jack Black. Jake Kasdan is directing, based off the screenplay by Zach Helm, Chris McKenna, Jeff Pinkner, Scott Rosenberg and Erik Sommers, reports The Wrap. The original movie with Robin Williams was released in 1995. Johnson has assured fans that the reboot will be different. "Now in two weeks I'll reunite with ol' friends Kevin Hart & Jack Black and we have the honour to introduce a whole new generation to the amazing world of #JUMANJI. *(for the record we are NOT making a reboot, but rather a continuation of the awesome JUMANJI story)," he said back in August. Jumanji is set to hit theatres on July 28, 2017. — The National staff
About Tenderd
Started: May 2018
Founder: Arjun Mohan
Based: Dubai
Size: 23 employees
Funding: Raised $5.8m in a seed fund round in December 2018. Backers include Y Combinator, Beco Capital, Venturesouq, Paul Graham, Peter Thiel, Paul Buchheit, Justin Mateen, Matt Mickiewicz, SOMA, Dynamo and Global Founders Capital
Nancy 9 (Hassa Beek)
Nancy Ajram
(In2Musica)
The finalists
Player of the Century, 2001-2020: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Ronaldinho
Coach of the Century, 2001-2020: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Jose Mourinho (Tottenham Hotspur), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid), Sir Alex Ferguson
Club of the Century, 2001-2020: Al Ahly (Egypt), Bayern Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Real Madrid (Spain)
Player of the Year: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Club of the Year: Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Real Madrid
Coach of the Year: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta), Hans-Dieter Flick (Bayern Munich), Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Agent of the Century, 2001-2020: Giovanni Branchini, Jorge Mendes, Mino Raiola
One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 3 (Silva 8' &15, Foden 33')
Birmginahm City 0
Man of the match Bernado Silva (Manchester City)
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.”
