Manchester United's Marcus Rashford has revealed he is in a “much better place” in recovery from the back injury that has sidelined him since January. PA
Manchester United's Marcus Rashford has revealed he is in a “much better place” in recovery from the back injury that has sidelined him since January. PA
Manchester United's Marcus Rashford has revealed he is in a “much better place” in recovery from the back injury that has sidelined him since January. PA
Manchester United's Marcus Rashford has revealed he is in a “much better place” in recovery from the back injury that has sidelined him since January. PA

Manchester United star Marcus Rashford in a 'much better place' after back injury


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Marcus Rashford has revealed he is in a "much better place" in recovery from the back injury that has sidelined him since January.

Before the coronavirus outbreak saw the season halted there were fears at Manchester United and England that the double stress fracture suffered by the forward would rule him out of the rest of the campaign.

The 22-year-old has been working hard to regain fitness for whenever the season resumes, currently set for an unrealistic date of April 30, and said he is feeling good.

"I feel much better," he told Sky Sports News.

"I have a scan in another couple of days so it'll solidify it then but I feel, comparing it to two or three weeks ago, 10 times better and for me now it's just about getting ready to build it back up to training and playing games with the team.

"I'm in a much better place, I'm much happier than I was about a month ago so things are looking positive."

With UK government advice to stay at home during the pandemic, Rashford explained how - given his recovery programme - the current state of play has had little impact on his recovery work.

"Everyone is just dealing with the circumstances as well as they can," he said.

"I've just been in my house, doing my gym and recovery work, reading books, watching Netflix, just whatever you can do to make the time pass really.

"There's not really anything that comes close to that feeling of being in the changing room and in the team in my opinion.

"So to be honest I'm not trying to chase that high. I had to have time off anyway because of my injury.

"But I'm fortunate enough to have a bike in the gym downstairs so not much in that sense has actually changed for me because I can still do my daily routine that I was doing."

Rashford has also been doing his bit for those less fortunate.

After donating to homeless charities last year, he has been backing an initiative by Fare Share to distribute food to those in need during the coronavirus lockdown.

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Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?

The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.

The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.

He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.

He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.

He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.

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Miguel Cotto world titles:

WBO Light Welterweight champion - 2004-06
WBA Welterweight champion – 2006-08
WBO Welterweight champion – Feb 2009-Nov 2009
WBA Light Middleweight champion – 2010-12
WBC Middleweight champion – 2014-15
WBO Light Middleweight champion – Aug 2017-Dec 2017

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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.”

VEZEETA PROFILE

Date started: 2012

Founder: Amir Barsoum

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: HealthTech / MedTech

Size: 300 employees

Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)

Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC