Any rush on banks in Cyprus will hurt whole euro zone
I am writing in response to Shared currency makes no sense (March 21), about the proposed bailout of the Cyprus banking system.
If the Cyprus government tries to take a percentage of depositors' money, even at the reduced rate now being proposed, it will start a run on that country's banks and do irreparable damage to all banks in the euro zone.
I know of many people who will withdraw all their funds from Cyprus if it comes to that, and many who will withdraw their funds from other banks in the euro zone.
The precedent set by this action would be mind-boggling; few people will want to do business with banks in Italy, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Greece or any other country in possible need of a bailout.
They will probably transfer their funds to other havens which will deprive the euro zone banks of billions, possibly trillions, of euros.
This will affect everything, including the rental of flats and villas, as landlords will probably insist on payments being made outside the jurisdiction.
Companies operating in Cyprus will shut up shop and open in Mauritius or another country that they perceive to be safer.
This will lead to the possible loss of thousands of jobs in Cyprus. Who then will pay for the fallout?
Jeremy Weeks, Abu Dhabi
Window cleaners' lives are in danger
Residents flee shattering glass (March 20) describes how high winds forced a cleaner's cradle into a window on a high-rise residential building.
The window-cleaning companies should not be putting these workers' lives in danger by having them go up in bad weather conditions.
The cleaners are paid a pittance. Is having clean windows worth a worker's life?
C Murray, Dubai
Fining patients not a solution
Missed appointments to cost patients (March 21) says patients at Lifeline hospital in Jebel Ali will be fined Dh50 if they fail to turn up without notice.
This is a bad idea. For such a negligible amount, the hospital is going to confuse, anger and lose patients.
While 10 per cent is a lot of no-shows, I think charging people will cause a bigger loss, as these people will never come back.
Instead, hospital staff should confirm appointments multiple times, and highlight who the "repeat offenders" are. These people than can be warned that they face a penalty.
S Mikdadi, Abu Dhabi
Fair assessment of Blair's role in Iraq
I am writing in reference to Invasion is Blair's blighted legacy (March 20), about former British prime minister Tony Blair's involvement in the Iraq war.
I totally agree with the assessment that "in the court of public opinion, he will be on trial for the rest of his life".
A Al Hammadi, Dubai
Don't let landfill be our legacy
I am concerned about the amount of landfill generated every day.
Rubbish has become one of civilisation's biggest challenges. Go to the supermarket, buy some apples, what do you get? A polystyrene carton and cellophane wrap, a plastic bag - and six apples.
The apples will be consumed over the next few days; the plastic bag, the cellophane and the polystyrene carton will still be here long after we are all dead.
We really need to get a grip on this reality. Proposals to impose a mandatory levy of Dh1 on a plastic bag will do no good. Maybe people will start to care if they are charged Dh10 per plastic bag.
We have a throwaway society; what kind of a future are we bequeathing our children?
P Nixon, Abu Dhabi
Football rumours too easy to believe
I enjoyed reading Osman Samiuddin's article, Hoax a sign of the times (March 20), about the false rumours of a Qatar-based "Dream Football League".
With all the investment in European football teams from Gulf interests, coupled with Qatar's surprise success in gaining the World Cup finals in 2018, nothing shocks this hard-bitten football fan.
I have just read that the Bahraini owner may be putting my beloved Leeds United up for sale again. It is no surprise that European fans are cynical about buyouts - and not just those from the Gulf - and this fact propagates hoaxes.
The potential Leeds sale only reinforces Samiuddin's complaint that these stories "reduce the region's relationship with football to a commercial or transactional one".
I am aware that the beautiful game is much loved in the Gulf, but European football fans will continue to be cynical about foreign buyers' motives.
David Simon, Abu Dhabi
So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
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.”
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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
RESULTS
6.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (Dirt) 1.600m
Winner: Miller’s House, Richard Mullen (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer).
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Kanood, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass.
7.50pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Gervais, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
8.15pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed (TB) Dh 132,500 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Important Mission, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8.50pm: The Entisar Listed (TB) Dh 132,500 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Firnas, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.
9.25pm: Conditions (TB) Dh 120,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Zhou Storm, Connor Beasley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Grubtech
Founders: Mohamed Al Fayed and Mohammed Hammedi
Launched: October 2019
Employees: 50
Financing stage: Seed round (raised $2 million)
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
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
HIV on the rise in the region
A 2019 United Nations special analysis on Aids reveals 37 per cent of new HIV infections in the Mena region are from people injecting drugs.
New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.
Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.
Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.
Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
