Eid prayers in new clothes, shaking hands and exchanging good wishes, children running up to adults to get their Eid money, and large, meat-filled feasts – all are scenes from across the region as Eid Al Adha brings the Hajj season to a close.
In Makkah, almost two million pilgrims are performing their final rites, marking the end of their pilgrimage with the stoning of the devil ritual.
Eid Al Adha marks Prophet Ibrahim's willingness to obey Allah's command to slaughter his son. But, after testing the prophet's loyalty, Allah told Ibrahim to slaughter a sheep instead.
Mamadou Sow is spending his Eid barbecuing in his Kuwait home.
"I went yesterday to the livestock market and picked a sheep. A nice Kuwaiti sheep." Mr Sow said the sheep was slaughtered after Eid prayers on Wednesday.
"I picked up the meat and now we're making a barbecue. Friends from the African community are coming in to visit and say hello.
"It's going really, really well."
It was also a special Eid for Mr Sow's niece, who participated in the tradition for the first time.
As is customary before Eid, people continued shopping for new clothes, fruit, sweets and gifts despite tension in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.
In Nablus, barber shops, tailors, shops selling fruit and nuts were packed as people ran last-minute errands on Tuesday night.
"People are crossing Israeli check points from places like Ramallah and nearby villages to come visit family here. Most businesses are also closed, except for restaurants," said Luay Mazen, 41, who is visiting family later in the day.
In Jenin, where an Israeli arrest operation turned deadly earlier this month, killing six people and wounding 91 others, residents are hopeful for a peaceful Eid.
"I hope this Eid will be better than previous Eids. We hope the situation will stay calm, without martyrs, sadness, and illness. We hope that people will be happy. We hope that people will enjoy this Eid, and the merchants reduce prices so people can enjoy the Eid," Sukon Shaban told Reuters.
Carpenter Ahmed Idrees, who makes wooden moulds for Eid date-filled sweets, known as maamoul, said: "When someone buys it, it adds to the holiday spirit. When we were young, we all have those memories of when we were little, we made Eid maamoul whether with our mothers or with our fathers."
About 115km from Cairo, Noha Hassan and her family escaped the sweltering heat at their summer house in Ain Sokhna.
"We're eating meat, we're swimming, and we're spending it with our cousins," she said.
The family is quite large. "We are five people in my family and my uncle's is made up of seven members. We have beach houses in the same area so it's perfect."
"We usually spend the night together watching a movie and eating snacks."
In Pakistan wealthier families are opting to sacrifice a camel to feed larger families.
Sellers at the Eid Al Adha camel market decorated camel hides in festive patterns using henna.
More than 250 camels have been brought to the Islamabad market, along with thousands of bulls, cows, goats and sheep.
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 4 (Gundogan 8' (P), Bernardo Silva 19', Jesus 72', 75')
Fulham 0
Red cards: Tim Ream (Fulham)
Man of the Match: Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City)
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
World ranking (at month’s end)
Jan - 257
Feb - 198
Mar - 159
Apr - 161
May - 159
Jun – 162
Currently: 88
Year-end rank since turning pro
2016 - 279
2015 - 185
2014 - 143
2013 - 63
2012 - 384
2011 - 883
UAE Team Emirates
Valerio Conti (ITA)
Alessandro Covi (ITA)
Joe Dombrowski (USA)
Davide Formolo (ITA)
Fernando Gaviria (COL)
Sebastian Molano (COL)
Maximiliano Richeze (ARG)
Diego Ulissi (ITAS)
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
Greatest Royal Rumble match listing
50-man Royal Rumble - names entered so far include Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, The New Day and Elias
Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
WWE World Heavyweight ChampionshipAJ Styles (champion) v Shinsuke Nakamura
Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe
United States Championship Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal
SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos
Raw Tag Team Championship (currently vacant) Cesaro and Sheamus v Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt
Casket match The Undertaker v Rusev
Singles match John Cena v Triple H
Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander v Kalisto
Company Profile
Company name: Fine Diner
Started: March, 2020
Co-founders: Sami Elayan, Saed Elayan and Zaid Azzouka
Based: Dubai
Industry: Technology and food delivery
Initial investment: Dh75,000
Investor: Dtec Startupbootcamp
Future plan: Looking to raise $400,000
Total sales: Over 1,000 deliveries in three months
Company%C2%A0profile
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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.”
Continental champions
Best Asian Player: Massaki Todokoro (Japan)
Best European Player: Adam Wardzinski (Poland)
Best North & Central American Player: DJ Jackson (United States)
Best African Player: Walter Dos Santos (Angola)
Best Oceanian Player: Lee Ting (Australia)
Best South American Player: Gabriel De Sousa (Brazil)
Best Asian Federation: Saudi Jiu-Jitsu Federation
Real Madrid 1
Ronaldo (87')
Athletic Bilbao 1
Williams (14')
Meydan racecard:
6.30pm: Handicap | US$135,000 (Dirt) | 1,400 metres
7.05pm: Handicap | $135,000 (Turf) | 1,200m
7.40pm: Dubai Millennium Stakes | Group 3 | $200,000 (T) | 2,000m
8.15pm: UAE Oaks | Group 3 | $250,000 (D) | 1,900m
8.50pm: Zabeel Mile | Group 2 | $250,000 (T) | 1,600m
9.20pm: Handicap | $135,000 (T) | 1,600m
