Fulham's American midfielder Clint Dempsey celebrates scoring a goal during their UEFA Europa League, round of 16, second leg football match against Juventus at Craven Cottage, London, on Thursday, March 18, 2010.
Fulham's American midfielder Clint Dempsey celebrates scoring a goal during their UEFA Europa League, round of 16, second leg football match against Juventus at Craven Cottage, London, on Thursday, MaShow more

Fulham's astonishing win over Juventus



Fulham completed an astonishing second-leg comeback as Clint Dempsey's goal saw them into the last eight of the Europa League after a 4-1 win over nine-man Juventus at Craven Cottage. Dempsey drifted a sublime chip past goalkeeper Antonio Chimenti to seal an historic 5-4 aggregate win for the Cottagers. Bobby Zamora cancelled out David Trezeguet's opener before Fulham surged into a 3-1 lead on the night, levelling the tie on aggregate, thanks to two goals from Zoltan Gera. Juventus had been reduced to 10 men after Fabio Cannavaro was sent off in the first half and their fate was sealed in the 82nd minute thanks to Dempsey's winner. Juve's misery was completed by the dismissal of Jonathan Zebina in injury time. David Villa's hat trick earned Valencia an equally thrilling away-goals win over Werder Bremen after a 4-4 draw at the Weserstadion. With the teams level at 1-1 from last week's clash in Spain, Villa and Juan Mata put Valencia 3-1 up on aggregate before Hugo Almeida halved the deficit. Villa struck again before Torsten Frings and Marko Marin made it 3-3 on the night, only for Villa to complete his treble and hand the initiative back to the visitors. Claudio Pizarro's header six minutes from time ensured a tense finish but Valencia prevailed after a 5-5 aggregate draw. Alan Kardec struck in injury time as Benfica edged out Marseille 2-1 at the Stade Velodrome and 3-2 on aggregate. All the goals came in the final 20 minutes, Mamadou Niang blasting Marseille into the lead before Maxi Pereira, a goal scorer in the first leg, repeated the feat from long range with the aid of a deflection off Benoit Cheyrou. The game went into stoppage time still level but, with extra time looming, Kardec fired home from Pablo Aimar's free-kick to seal victory and Marseille then had Hatem Ben Arfa sent off. Standard Liege, 3-1 up from the first leg, completed victory over Panathinaikos in routine fashion thanks to Dieudonne Mbokani's goal in first-half stoppage time. The striker flicked a bouncing ball over his marker before firing fiercely past goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas to put his side's place in the draw beyond doubt.

Liverpool joined their fellow Barclays Premier League side Fulham in the last eight after overcoming a first-leg deficit with a comfortable 3-0 win over Lille. Steven Gerrard levelled the tie at 1-1 with a ninth-minute penalty after Lucas was fouled, and two routine finishes from Spain striker Fernando Torres made the game safe. Hamburg claimed a thrilling 6-5 aggregate win over Anderlecht after a second leg, which swung to and fro at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium. Leading 3-1 from the first leg, Hamburg extended their advantage through Jerome Boateng three minutes before half-time but were remarkably pegged back to 4-3 on aggregate as teenager Romelu Lukaku and Matias Suarez, from a penalty, struck before the interval. Marcell Jansen restored the German side's two-goal cushion but Anderlecht against responded, Lucas Biglia and Mbark Boussoufa's goals meaning Hamburg led only by virtue of the away-goals rule. Mladen Petric, though, scored 15 minutes from time to ease his side's nerves and earn them a quarter-final spot. Sergio Aguero's first-half brace was enough to earn Atletico Madrid a tense away-goals victory over Sporting Lisbon. The Argentina striker turned in Antonio Lopes' cross in the third minute and, after Liedson headed the hosts level, Aguero beat two men and finished superbly with the outside of his foot to restore the Spanish side's lead. Sporting found a second equaliser when Anderson Polga headed in Miguel Veloso's free-kick in first-half injury time but a spell of pressure early in the second half came to nought and they were unable to break through again. Christian Gentner's late goal saw Wolfsburg complete the quarter-final line-up by virtue of a 2-1 extra-time win over Rubin Kazan. After a 1-1 first leg in Russia, Alan Kasaev put Rubin ahead having been teed up by Alexander Bukharov, but Wolves substitute Obafemi Martins levelled with a diving header from close range. The hosts were harshly denied a late winner when Edin Dzeko tapped in but an erroneous offside flag earlier in the move ensured an additional 30 minutes. Wolfsburg's Marcel Schafer and Rubin's Cesar Navas went close from corners before the latter was sent off following a second booking for tugging back Dzeko. And Gentner brilliantly swept home Martins' pass from the edge of the box with a minute remaining to ensure justice was done. * PA Sport

Essentials

The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.

Company%20Profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Opening Premier League fixtures, August 14
  • Brentford v Arsenal
  • Burnley v Brighton
  • Chelsea v Crystal Palace
  • Everton v Southampton
  • Leicester City v Wolves
  • Manchester United v Leeds United
  • Newcastle United v West Ham United
  • Norwich City v Liverpool
  • Tottenham v Manchester City
  • Watford v Aston Villa

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.”

Cinco in numbers

Dh3.7 million

The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown

46

The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.

1,000

The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]

50

How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday

3,000

The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

1.1 million

The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.

Business Insights
  • As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses. 
  • SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income. 
  • Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
From Zero

Artist: Linkin Park

Label: Warner Records

Number of tracks: 11

Rating: 4/5

COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Haltia.ai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202023%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECo-founders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Arto%20Bendiken%20and%20Talal%20Thabet%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20AI%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2041%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20About%20%241.7%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Self%2C%20family%20and%20friends%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Fasset%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2019%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Mohammad%20Raafi%20Hossain%2C%20Daniel%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%242.45%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2086%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Pre-series%20B%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Investcorp%2C%20Liberty%20City%20Ventures%2C%20Fatima%20Gobi%20Ventures%2C%20Primal%20Capital%2C%20Wealthwell%20Ventures%2C%20FHS%20Capital%2C%20VN2%20Capital%2C%20local%20family%20offices%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
TO A LAND UNKNOWN

Director: Mahdi Fleifel

Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa

Rating: 4.5/5

Pros%20and%20cons%20of%20BNPL
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