Egyptian actress Karima Mokhtar is the subject of Monday's Google Doodle, visible across the Mena region.
The illustration, a painting of her with a television screen in the background, celebrates what would have been her 89th birthday.
Known as the “Mother of Egyptian Cinema”, Mokhtar often depicted maternal characters in her work, which spanned film, television and theatrical plays.
Who was Karima Mokhtar?
Mokhtar was born Ateiat Mohamed El Badry on January 16, 1934, in Sahel Selim, Egypt. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in theatre before pursuing her career on the silver screen.
Her career took off when she began presenting on Baba Sharou, a children's radio programme.
She stayed in radio for a while because her parents disapproved of film acting, but that changed with her marriage to actor and director Noor Al Demerdash, who supported her in her acting ambitions and helped her land her first breakthrough role.
Her first film role was in Thaman El Horeya (The Price of Freedom), but it was in Al Hafeed (The Grandson), in which she was a mother of seven children, that her reputation for playing maternal characters began.
She has close to 40 acting credits to her name on IMDb, the last of which were in 2014, but El Cinema, the Arab media database, has her listed with more than 200 credits, including stints on radio shows.
These also include films such as Amira Hobi Ana (Amira My Love) and Al Shaytan Ya'ez (The Devil Preaches), as well as TV series, including Yetraba Fi Ezo (May He Grow Up Prosperous), and — her first love — plays, such as El Eyal Kebret (The Kids Have Grown Up).
In 2007, Mokhtar won Best Actress at the Cairo Arab Media Festival.
'A legacy of strong and sympathetic performances'
Mokhtar died in January 2017, days before her 83rd birthday, after an undisclosed illness.
Among the hundreds who attended her funeral in Cairo were Helmi Namnam, Egypt’s culture minister at the time, and several prominent Egyptian TV personalities, including presenter Mahmoud Saad, actor Rashwan Tawfeeq and Poussy, widow of the late actor Noor El Sherif.
Mokhtar reportedly spoke with Ashraf Zaki, the head of Egypt’s Actors’ Syndicate, in her final days, saying she had conveyed the message she was destined to fulfil.
“Leaving behind a legacy of strong and sympathetic performances, Karima helped revolutionise the Egyptian film industry and paved the way for future generations of actresses,” reads Google's doodle description.
Google pays homage to the Mena region
The search engine often pays tribute to famous figures across the Mena region.
Already this month, Google paid homage to Egyptian writer Ihsan Abdel Quddous, one year after the first English translation of his popular novel I Do Not Sleep was released.
In December, it was the turn of Kuwaiti actor, singer, playwright and comedian Abdulhussain Abdulredha on what would have been his 83rd birthday.
For the UAE's 51st National Day, Google ran an animated doodle of the UAE's flag fluttering in the wind, visible on homepages across the nation.
Once users clicked on the animation, fireworks shot across the web page in green, white and black, the colours of the UAE flag, which Google explained “represent courage, prosperity, peace and strength of mind”.
A few days earlier, Emirati poet Ousha bint Khalifa Al Suwaidi, or Ousha the Poet, was honoured with a dedicated doodle.
One of the greatest Nabati poets of the 20th century, Al Suwaidi was recognised on November 28 in 2011 for her contributions to literature.
Scroll through the gallery below to see other regional Google Doodles over the past few years
MATCH INFO
Burnley 0
Man City 3
Raheem Sterling 35', 49'
Ferran Torres 65'
CHATGPT%20ENTERPRISE%20FEATURES
%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Enterprise-grade%20security%20and%20privacy%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Unlimited%20higher-speed%20GPT-4%20access%20with%20no%20caps%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Longer%20context%20windows%20for%20processing%20longer%20inputs%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Advanced%20data%20analysis%20capabilities%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Customisation%20options%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Shareable%20chat%20templates%20that%20companies%20can%20use%20to%20collaborate%20and%20build%20common%20workflows%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Analytics%20dashboard%20for%20usage%20insights%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Free%20credits%20to%20use%20OpenAI%20APIs%20to%20extend%20OpenAI%20into%20a%20fully-custom%20solution%20for%20enterprises%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO
Day 2 at the Gabba
Australia 312-1
Warner 151 not out, Burns 97, Labuschagne 55 not out
Pakistan 240
Shafiq 76, Starc 4-52
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The biog
Favourite book: You Are the Placebo – Making your mind matter, by Dr Joe Dispenza
Hobby: Running and watching Welsh rugby
Travel destination: Cyprus in the summer
Life goals: To be an aspirational and passionate University educator, enjoy life, be healthy and be the best dad possible.
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.”
