Four major Batman rides announced for Yas Island theme park

When Warner Bros. World opens on Abu Dhabi's Yas Island this summer, it will be home to 29 rides, attractions and live entertainment and six distinct zones, called Gotham City, Metropolis, Cartoon Junction, Bedrock, Dynamite Gulch, and Warner Bros. Plaza.

We recently found out what kind of rides you'll find at the Metropolis and Cartoon Junction zones at Warner Bros. World, and details have just been released on the rides that will be on offer in the Batman-themed Gotham City portion of the indoor theme park. There will be four main rides in Gotham City, as well as an arcade-style games zone, restaurants and shops.

The dark and immersive ride called Batman: Knight Flight will have visitors climbing into a batwing vehicle - which is robotically controlled. The ride starts at Wayne Tech headquarters, and we can expect drops, spins, climbs and rolls in the high-tech flight simulator.

Another ride called Scarecrow Scare Raid is a flight experience that will feature, in Warner Bros. World's words, "dramatic aerobatics and whirlwind barrel rolls". The Riddler Revolution ride will be a rocking and spinning rollercoaster (that, we imagine, being named after The Riddler, will be rather twisted).

Finally, there's The Joker's Funhouse, which is being touted as "a villainous twist on the classic carnival walkthrough experience". It will feature a hall of mirrors, a shrinking corridor, a labyrinth, moving carpets and the rather frightening sounding "hallucination hallway".

Restaurants in the zone will include Gotham City's Finest (themed as the police department's hangout) and the Hall of Doom (which is designed to look like it's hidden in an "abandoned subway station").

The exact opening date of Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi hasn't yet been announced. The park is themed entirely around stories from the comic book and movie worlds of Warner Bros. and DC Comics, which includes characters such as Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Scooby-Doo, and, of course, Batman and Superman.

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First look at Warner Bros World Abu Dhabi theme park attractions – in pictures

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.”

How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?

The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg

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Four major Batman rides announced for Yas Island theme park

Details on the rides in the Gotham City portion of Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi released

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