Arab MP returns to Israeli coalition

Ghaida Zoabi, an Arab-Israeli politician who quit the governing coalition last week after grievances including police aggression at an Al Jazeera reporter's funeral, rejoined the government on Sunday.

Her decision to depart from the coalition briefly left the government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett with only 59 out of 120 seats in the Knesset.

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, who was the main person to assemble the coalition after elections last year, said Ms Zoabi was now back in the alliance.

"I am happy that Ghaida Zoabi has returned to the coalition," Mr Lapid tweeted.

"We have put aside our differences and together we are resuming the work of the government."

The nearly one-year-old Bennett government has been regarded as vulnerable from its inception.

It counts on support from parties ranging from the Jewish right and Israeli doves to an Arab Muslim party.

It lost its single-seat Knesset majority last month when a member of Mr Bennett's religious, nationalist Yamina party left.

Idit Silman said she could not "take part in harming the Jewish identity of Israel", after the Health Ministry instructed hospitals to allow leavened bread products on to their premises during the Passover holiday.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pays his respects to Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Ramallah, the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Reuters
Shireen Abu Akleh was killed during an Israeli raid. Reuters
Palestinians bid farewell to the Al Jazeera journalist. Reuters
In the hours after her death, young Palestinians described Abu Akleh, 51, as an inspiration. AFP
Shireen Abu Akleh was among Arab media’s most prominent figures and widely hailed for her bravery and professionalism. AFP
Young female reporters said they were motivated to pursue journalism because of her. Reuters
Palestinian honour guards carry the veteran journalist’s coffin. AFP
Her body was carried in a hearse accompanied by vehicles containing armed police as thousands of Palestinians lined the streets to pay their respects. AFP

Ms Zoabi last week linked her departure to unrest and tension at Al Aqsa Mosque compound and the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, and "the funeral of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh".

Abu Akleh, a veteran reporter, was shot dead during an Israeli army raid in the West Bank last week.

In a move that has sparked international outrage, baton-wielding Israeli police beat several pallbearers as they carried her coffin out of a hospital before her burial.

Addressing the Cabinet earlier on Sunday, Mr Bennett said his government's ideological divergence was an asset.

"I think that if those from the left feel that the government is too right-wing, and those from the right feel that the government is too left-wing, this is a sign that the government is in a good place in the middle — a good government that gets things done," he said.

Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015

- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo

Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic

Power: 242bhp

Torque: 370Nm

Price: Dh136,814

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The biog

Title: General Practitioner with a speciality in cardiology

Previous jobs: Worked in well-known hospitals Jaslok and Breach Candy in Mumbai, India

Education: Medical degree from the Government Medical College in Nagpur

How it all began: opened his first clinic in Ajman in 1993

Family: a 90-year-old mother, wife and two daughters

Remembers a time when medicines from India were purchased per kilo

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

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.”