Hunger Games and Harry Potter lead MTV Awards

At Sunday's MTV Movie Awards, The Hunger Games went home with the most golden popcorn-shaped trophies, including best fight, best on-screen transformation, and best female and male performances for its stars Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson. "I've wanted to hold a golden popcorn since I was four years old," beamed Hutcherson. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 won the prizes for best cast and best hero. Other winners included Shailene Woodley for breakthrough performance in The Descendants and Melissa McCarthy for best comedic performance for Bridesmaids. * AP

Kamal Musallam to perform at Virgin Megastore

The famed Arabic fusion guitarist Kamal Musallam will lead a free workshop and jam session at Virgin Megastore, Mall of the Emirates, Dubai on Thursday at 7pm. The event coincides with the launch of Kamal's new Ibanez signature guitars KMM1 and KMA1, the first branded guitars featuring Arabic quarter tones. "I'm really looking forward to sharing my passion with Dubai's music lovers," said Kamal, who has performed alongside Bobby McFerrin, Bob Franceschini and Randy Brecker. His most recent album was last year's Songs for Seung-Eun.

George Lucas finished with blockbusters

George Lucas plans to retire and make small-scale movies at home for his own enjoyment. "I'm moving away from all my businesses and I'm going to retire to my garage with my saw and hammer and build hobby movies," Lucas, 68, told the Daily Mail. "I've always wanted to make movies that were more experimental in nature, and not have to worry about them showing in movie theatres."

Family Feud host Richard Dawson dies at 79

The former Family Feud TV host Richard Dawson has died in California after a battle with cancer. The British-born entertainer also starred in the 1960s TV comedy Hogan's Heroes. On his last Family Feud in 1985, the studio audience gave Dawson a standing ovation, and he responded: "Please sit down. I have to do at least 30 minutes of fun and laughter and you make me want to cry." * AP

Bill Clinton wants George Clooney for biopic

Appearing on last week's edition of CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight, Bill Clinton was asked by the guest host Harvey Weinstein who he would like to play him in a biopic - George Clooney or Brad Pitt. A smiling Clinton chose Clooney, saying of his latest film The Descendants: "He was so good in it, so real." Clinton added that Clooney could use prosthetics. "You could put bulbous things on his nose," referring to his own. He argued Pitt was "too good looking" to play him and that Meryl Streep could play Hillary Clinton.

Tips%20for%20travelling%20while%20needing%20dialysis

%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3EInform%20your%20doctor%20about%20your%20plans.%C2%A0%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EAsk%20about%20your%20treatment%20so%20you%20know%20how%20it%20works.%C2%A0%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EPay%20attention%20to%20your%20health%20if%20you%20travel%20to%20a%20hot%20destination.%C2%A0%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EPlan%20your%20trip%20well.%C2%A0%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A

Scoreline

Saudi Arabia 1-0 Japan

Saudi Arabia Al Muwallad 63’

Our legal consultants

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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.”

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm

Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm

Transmission: 9-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh117,059

Day 3, Dubai Test: At a glance

Moment of the day Lahiru Gamage, the Sri Lanka pace bowler, has had to play a lot of cricket to earn a shot at the top level. The 29-year-old debutant first played a first-class game 11 years ago. His first Test wicket was one to savour, bowling Pakistan opener Shan Masood through the gate. It set the rot in motion for Pakistan’s batting.

Stat of the day – 73 Haris Sohail took 73 balls to hit a boundary. Which is a peculiar quirk, given the aggressive intent he showed from the off. Pakistan’s batsmen were implored to attack Rangana Herath after their implosion against his left-arm spin in Abu Dhabi. Haris did his best to oblige, smacking the second ball he faced for a huge straight six.

The verdict One year ago, when Pakistan played their first day-night Test at this ground, they held a 222-run lead over West Indies on first innings. The away side still pushed their hosts relatively close on the final night. With the opposite almost exactly the case this time around, Pakistan still have to hope they can salvage a win from somewhere.

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.