Bollywood's Amitabh Bachchan made his first public appearance after his abdominal operations last month. The 69-year-old, clad in a white kurta pajama, greeted his fans outside his home on Sunday, reported MSN News.
"God bless the well-wishers. God bless them for their permanence in my life. God bless their consistency, their love and enthusiasm. I am indebted for life. It is a debt I shall never be able to repay; the one burden that shall remain with me unattended. One burden that shall make me happy," Big B posted on his blog.
Fox presents Bollywood Month
It's Mahrajan Bollywood Month on Fox. Every weeknight at 10, the channel is screening Arabic-dubbed films from India's movie capital.
The previous two weeks featured the films of Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan.
Action thrillers will be the focus of the week of March 17 to 21, featuring films such as Karthik Calling Karthik, Drona and Pinjar. From March 24 to 28, the dramatic films Tere Naam, Lajja and Laaga Chunari Mein Daag: Journey of a Woman will be showcased.
Meryl Streep pays tribute to Hillary Clinton
Meryl Streep is fresh off her Oscar win for playing Margaret Thatcher. But she had an entire theatre at New York's Lincoln Center wondering if an even better role for her would be playing a political icon closer to home: Hillary Clinton.
The question arose as Streep paid a glowing and affectionate tribute to the secretary of state at the Women in the World summit.
"This is what you get when you play a world leader," Streep said on Saturday.
The three-day summit, now in its third year, is organised by the Newsweek editor Tina Brown.
Angelina Jolie came to read the words of Hawa Abdi, a Somali humanitarian facing danger from Islamist rebels.
The conference came to a lighthearted end when Streep spoke humorously of the similarities she shared with Clinton: they're roughly the same age, have two brothers and went to graduate school at Yale.
"But I'm an actress, and she's the real deal," Streep noted.
"I'm just glad she didn't do a movie called The Devil Wears Pantsuits," quipped Clinton, mixing the title of a Streep film with her favoured style of clothing.
* AP
Emergent Artist unveils winner
The inaugural edition of the Emergent Artist Award is handing out its top prize to Julie de Waroquier, a 22-year-old photographer from Lyon, France. De Waroquier, chosen for her photography series on twins, will be attending the awards ceremony on Sunday at the Sofitel Dubai Jumeirah Beach.
She will be granted a solo exhibition roadshow, two in Dubai and one in France, worth Dh50,000. Her exhibition at the Sofitel will be open to the public from March 19 to 31.
Organised to take undiscovered talent to the global stage via the UAE, the competition attracted entries from 118 countries.
Sundance comes to Mumbai
The who's who of international screenwriting have converged at the Mumbai Mantra-Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab to guide 10 selected writers as they shape their scripts in a five-day workshop that began Sunday.
Inspired by the annual Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab in Utah, this first Indian collaboration, initiated by the industrialist Anand Mahindra, features nine industry advisers: Guillermo Arriaga (Babel, 21 Grams), Michael Goldenberg (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), Jose Rivera (The Motorcycle Diaries), Marcos Bernstein (Central Station), Malia Scotch-Marmo (Hook), Audrey Wells (Under the Tuscan Sun), Howard Rodman (Savage Grace) and Kasi Lemmons (Talk to Me), as well as the Indian filmmakers Asif Kapadia (The Warrior), Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth) and the writer Anjum Rajabali (Arakshan).
* Anjali A
The actor Mr T endorses tees
At 59, Mr T doesn't seem to age - or escape the pop-culture radar. Early this week, the clothing brand Old Navy released on YouTube two mock infomercials featuring The A-Team star.
The humorous videos show Mr T and the actress Anna Farris playing salespeople endorsing the brand's new Best-Tee collection, billed as the "greatest, most softest, best-fitting tee in the history of everything". The spots even include an endorsement from a "doctor" and an "As Seen on TeeV" logo.
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Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Company%20profile
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La Mer lowdown
La Mer beach is open from 10am until midnight, daily, and is located in Jumeirah 1, well after Kite Beach. Some restaurants, like Cupagahwa, are open from 8am for breakfast; most others start at noon. At the time of writing, we noticed that signs for Vicolo, an Italian eatery, and Kaftan, a Turkish restaurant, indicated that these two restaurants will be open soon, most likely this month. Parking is available, as well as a Dh100 all-day valet option or a Dh50 valet service if you’re just stopping by for a few hours.
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
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: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
Under 19 Cricket World Cup, Asia Qualifier
Fixtures
Friday, April 12, Malaysia v UAE
Saturday, April 13, UAE v Nepal
Monday, April 15, UAE v Kuwait
Tuesday, April 16, UAE v Singapore
Thursday, April 18, UAE v Oman
UAE squad
Aryan Lakra (captain), Aaron Benjamin, Akasha Mohammed, Alishan Sharafu, Anand Kumar, Ansh Tandon, Ashwanth Valthapa, Karthik Meiyappan, Mohammed Faraazuddin, Rishab Mukherjee, Niel Lobo, Osama Hassan, Vritya Aravind, Wasi Shah
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
SPECS
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The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
THE BIO: Mohammed Ashiq Ali
Proudest achievement: “I came to a new country and started this shop”
Favourite TV programme: the news
Favourite place in Dubai: Al Fahidi. “They started the metro in 2009 and I didn’t take it yet.”
Family: six sons in Dubai and a daughter in Faisalabad
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Match info
Manchester United 1
Fred (18')
Wolves 1
Moutinho (53')
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
THREE
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
