Middle East mourns Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh with art and protest

A memorial was held in the Ramallah in the West Bank on Thursday to mourn the death of veteran Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

The reporter, who had covered the plight of the Palestinians for more than 25 years, was shot dead on Wednesday in an Israeli military raid in the West Bank town of Jenin.

As thousands gathered in Ramallah to mark her death, others in the region paid tribute in the forms of art and protest.

Gaza

Gazans paid tribute to the veteran reporter with a giant sand sculpture featuring her name in Arabic. A photograph of Abu Akleh was placed above.

Elsewhere in the enclave, a huge mural dedicated to Abu Akleh was created by Palestinian artists. It featured a painting of her and a bloodied press helmet. Abu Akleh was clearly identified as a member of the press when she was killed.

Palestinian artists paint a mural in honour of Shireen Abu Akleh in Gaza city. AFP

Syria

Syrian journalists and activists also painted a mural of Abu Akleh in Idlib and gathered nearby to pay their respects.

The reporter, 51, was well-known as a veteran on-air correspondent for Al Jazeera’s Arabic-language channel. Her reporting shed light on the harsh realities of Israeli military rule, which is well into its sixth decade with no end in sight. Abu Akleh was also a US citizen.

Doha

In Doha, where Abu Akleh's employer Al Jazeera has its headquarters, the Foster + Partners Lusail Towers were lit up with her image and a Palestinian flag. Qatar's deputy foreign minister said on Twitter that the nation "condemns in the strongest terms [the journalist's] assassination by Israeli occupation forces".

Turkey

Egyptian journalist Ibrahim El-Masry holds up his camera as he stands next to a placard with a picture of Shireen Abu Akleh, during a protest outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul. Reuters

Journalists in Turkey demonstrated outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul on Wednesday after the killing of their colleague. Turkey has called for an independent investigation into her death.

Lebanon

Palestinians held a symbolic funeral for Abu Akleh in Lebanon's Ain Helwah refugee camp, near Sidon.

Jenin

In Jenin, where Abu Akleh was killed, Palestinians left flowers and farewell notes. Journalists who were with her, including one who was shot and wounded, said Israeli forces fired upon them, even though they were clearly identifiable as reporters.

Israeli officials had initially suggested Abu Akleh was struck by militant fire and released a video showing gunmen shooting at Israeli forces in a narrow alley inside the Jenin refugee camp. They later backtracked after an Israeli human rights group released its own video indicating that the site of that shooting was several hundred metres from where Abu Akleh was killed.

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2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
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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.”

GIANT REVIEW

Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan

Director: Athale

Rating: 4/5

ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS

- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns

- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;

- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces

- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,

- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.

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