An Iraq-born computer engineer has been knighted in the New Year Honours list, appearing alongside London mayor Sadiq Khan, senior Labour MP Emily Thornberry and actor and writer Stephen Fry.
Professor Sir Bashir Al-Hashimi was recognised for services to engineering and education.
Born in Baghdad in 1961, Sir Bashir played a prominent role in the development of battery-free computing, including the Internet of Things. He previously received a CBE in 2018 for his services to engineering and industry, calling the recognition at the time an honour and testament to the efforts of the “great many colleagues” he had worked with over the years in an interview with The Muslim News.
In May 2023, he became a fellow of the Royal Society and was elected to the fellowship of the European Academy of Science and Arts. He previously received the Faraday Medal from the UK Institution of Engineering and Technology, and recently completed a three-year term as a Royal Academy of Engineering Board Trustee.
He is currently Vice President for Research and Innovation at King’s College London.
More than 1,200 people from across the UK received honours in the latest list. Women make up 49 per cent of those honoured, with 12 per cent of recipients from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Sir Sadiq, 54, was honoured for political and public service, having been the capital's Labour mayor since 2016. Born in Tooting, he worked as a human rights lawyer before entering Parliament as MP for his hometown in 2005, serving as a junior minister under Gordon Brown and then as shadow justice secretary under Ed Miliband.
In 2016, he defeated Conservative Zac Goldsmith to succeed Boris Johnson as mayor of London, becoming the first Muslim mayor of a major western city and going on to win two further terms.
His tenure has at times proved controversial and a petition started by a Conservative councillor opposing his knighthood has had more than 200,000 signatures since December 5.
The London mayor has taken a firm stance on making London a greener and less polluted place to live, and his ultra low emission zone (Ulez) expansion has split opinion. He has also pledged to clean up the Thames, planning to make the river swimmable within 10 years.
Sir Sadiq has faced scrutiny over his record on law and order, having regularly clashed with the Conservative former government, criticising ministers over police funding and for failing to promptly ban zombie knives. However, he was accused of not taking knife crime “seriously” earlier this year by Kemi Badenoch, then a cabinet minister.
He has worked on improving London's transport, introducing names and colours for London Overground railway lines in November.
“I am truly humbled to have received a knighthood in the King's New Year Honours,” he said. “I couldn't have dreamt when growing up on a council estate in south London that I would one day be mayor of London.
“It's the honour of my life to serve the city I love and I will continue to build the fairer, safer, greener and more prosperous London that all of the capital's communities deserve.”
Foreign Secretary David Lammy congratulated Sir Sadiq, saying the mayor had “delivered free school meals for London's kids, cleaned up the city's polluted air and built record numbers of council homes”.
“I'm so proud that Britain is a place where you can go from being the son of a bus driver on a council estate to being the first Muslim in Cabinet, mayor of our great capital city and a knight of the realm,” Mr Lammy added.
Senior Labour MP Ms Thornberry has been made a dame. She has served as MP for Islington South since 2005 and, after her surprise exclusion from Keir Starmer's first cabinet after the election, now chairs the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.
She said she was “both honoured and surprised” by her appointment. “I think of my grandmothers, neither of whom were even allowed to work as married women, and think how utterly delighted they'd be to see this,” she added.
Comedian, actor, writer and presenter Stephen Fry, 67, known for BBC comedy Blackadder and hosting quiz show QI, was recognised for services to mental health awareness, the environment and charity.
Since 2011, he has been president of mental health charity Mind and supported the conservation group Fauna and Flora International, of which the Prince of Wales is patron.
Sir Stephen said he felt “startled and enchanted” after receiving the letter informing him of the knighthood and that it was “wonderful” to see the charities get recognition.
“When you are recognised it does make you feel a bit 'crikey', but I think the most emotional thing is that when I think of my childhood, and my dreadful unhappiness and misery and stupidity, and everything that led to so many failures as a child,” he added.
“And for my parents, really, what a disaster. I mean every time the phone rang, they thought, 'Oh, God, what has Stephen done now.' It was a sort of joke in the family.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Diriyah%20project%20at%20a%20glance
%3Cp%3E-%20Diriyah%E2%80%99s%201.9km%20King%20Salman%20Boulevard%2C%20a%20Parisian%20Champs-Elysees-inspired%20avenue%2C%20is%20scheduled%20for%20completion%20in%202028%3Cbr%3E-%20The%20Royal%20Diriyah%20Opera%20House%20is%20expected%20to%20be%20completed%20in%20four%20years%3Cbr%3E-%20Diriyah%E2%80%99s%20first%20of%2042%20hotels%2C%20the%20Bab%20Samhan%20hotel%2C%20will%20open%20in%20the%20first%20quarter%20of%202024%3Cbr%3E-%20On%20completion%20in%202030%2C%20the%20Diriyah%20project%20is%20forecast%20to%20accommodate%20more%20than%20100%2C000%20people%3Cbr%3E-%20The%20%2463.2%20billion%20Diriyah%20project%20will%20contribute%20%247.2%20billion%20to%20the%20kingdom%E2%80%99s%20GDP%3Cbr%3E-%20It%20will%20create%20more%20than%20178%2C000%20jobs%20and%20aims%20to%20attract%20more%20than%2050%20million%20visits%20a%20year%3Cbr%3E-%20About%202%2C000%20people%20work%20for%20the%20Diriyah%20Company%2C%20with%20more%20than%2086%20per%20cent%20being%20Saudi%20citizens%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX RESULT
1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 1:39:46.713
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 00:00.908
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes-GP 00:12.462
4. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-GP 00:12.885
5. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing 00:13.276
6. Fernando Alonso, McLaren 01:11.223
7. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso 1 lap
8. Sergio Perez, Force India 1 lap
9. Esteban Ocon, Force India 1 lap
10. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren 1 lap
11. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso 1 lap
12. Jolyon Palmer, Renault 1 lap
13. Kevin Magnussen, Haas 1 lap
14. Lance Stroll, Williams 1 lap
15. Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber 2 laps
16. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber 2 laps
17r. Nico Huelkenberg, Renault 3 laps
r. Paul Di Resta, Williams 10 laps
r. Romain Grosjean, Haas 50 laps
r. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing 70 laps
TICKETS
For tickets for the two-day Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) event, entitled Dubai Invasion 2019, on September 27 and 28 go to www.meraticket.com.
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How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
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.”
