Book news: Good Omens TV adaptation is coming and more

Good Omens TV adaptation coming

Twenty-seven years after it was published, it has been announced that Neil Gaiman and the late Terry Pratchett's best-selling fantasy comedy Good Omens will reach our screens next year as a TV mini-series. Some might say the novel was prescient in 1990 and worryingly on message right now. Amazon Prime describe it in these tongue-in-cheek terms: "The Apocalypse is near and Final Judgment is set to descend upon humanity. According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter Witch, the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner." Gaiman has written all six one-hour episodes. Meanwhile the TV adaptation of another of his best-sellers, American Gods, is due to debut in the US in April.

Translations start to gather speed

One of the main aims of the International Prize For Arabic Fiction (Ipaf) is to increase the reach of winning novels through English translation. But it can be a lengthy process – Raja Alem's The Dove's Necklace won the Ipaf in 2011 but English readers only got to read it last year. Rather overlooked in the excitement surrounding last week's 2017 longlist announcement, therefore, is the fact that Robin Moger is working on the translation of one of the nominees: Youssef Rakha's Paolo, the sequel to Crocodiles (which Moger also translated). While it might be a pipe dream to hope more English translations might follow so swiftly after all Ipaf nominations, this is surely a step in the right direction, given the winner will not be announced until April.

Obama talks about importance of books

One of Barack Obama's last cultural acts as commander in chief was to talk about the role books have played during his term of office. "At a time when events move so quickly and so much information is transmitted," he told The New York Times, reading gave him the ability to occasionally "slow down and get perspective" and "the ability to get in somebody else's shoes". He cited sci-fi epic The Three Body Problem by Chinese writer Liu Cixin, VS Naipaul's A Bend in the River and the last book he read, Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad, as novels that had provided succour and inspiration.

artslife@thenational.ae

India squad

Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, K.L. Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur.

Gifts exchanged

King Charles - replica of President Eisenhower Sword
Queen Camilla - Tiffany & Co vintage 18-carat gold, diamond and ruby flower brooch
Donald Trump - hand-bound leather book with Declaration of Independence
Melania Trump - personalised Anya Hindmarch handbag

MATCH INFO

Jersey 147 (20 overs)

UAE 112 (19.2 overs)

Jersey win by 35 runs

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

The specs: 2018 Ford Mustang GT

Price, base / as tested: Dh204,750 / Dh241,500
Engine: 5.0-litre V8
Gearbox: 10-speed automatic
Power: 460hp @ 7,000rpm
Torque: 569Nm @ 4,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.3L / 100km

On Women's Day

Dr Nawal Al-Hosany: Why more women should be on the frontlines of climate action

Samar Elmnhrawy: How companies in the Middle East can catch up on gender equality

The National Editorial: Is there much to celebrate on International Women's Day 2021?

Justin Thomas: Challenge the notion that 'men are from Mars, women are from Venus'

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

PROFILE

Name: Enhance Fitness

Year started: 2018

Based: UAE

Employees: 200

Amount raised: $3m

Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors

THREE

%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Nayla%20Al%20Khaja%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Jefferson%20Hall%2C%20Faten%20Ahmed%2C%20Noura%20Alabed%2C%20Saud%20Alzarooni%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat

World Cricket League Division 2

In Windhoek, Namibia - Top two teams qualify for the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, which starts on March 4.

UAE fixtures

Thursday February 8, v Kenya; Friday February 9, v Canada; Sunday February 11, v Nepal; Monday February 12, v Oman; Wednesday February 14, v Namibia; Thursday February 15, final

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.”