Agence France-Presse
The Golden State Warriors are rolling like a well-oiled machine, extending their record setting start with a 135-116 rout of the host Phoenix Suns on Friday night.
In what is becoming the status quo for the mighty Warriors, guard Stephen Curry scored 41 points and made nine three-pointers as they stretched their unbeaten streak to start the season to an NBA-record 17 games.
The Warriors had a season-high in points and made a season-high 22 three-pointers and shot 56.8 per cent from the field, 57.9 on three-point attempts.
Curry said they are attracting new fans where ever they go.
“It was packed in our section,” Curry said. “Dub Nation is growing by the day. It’s fun to see on the road. Even some ‘Let’s go Warrior’ chants during the game. And we played well to back it up.”
[INTERVIEW: 'Big fan' Stephen Curry bringing Lionel Messi inspiration to basketball]
Reserve guard Leandro Barbosa had 21 points and made all five of his three-point attempts for Golden State, who set the NBA record for consecutive wins at the start of the season against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.
Reigning league MVP Curry drained a season-high nine three-pointers and added eight assists and six rebounds at Talking Stick Resort Arena. He made nine-of-16 three-point attempts.
“A lot of that is based on our ball movement,” Curry said. “We shoot a lot of threes, but we like to shoot a lot of good ones. Ball movement leads to in-rhythm shots. I knew we made a lot.”
Said Phoenix forward Markieff Morris, “They shoot threes like layups.”
Forward Draymond Green finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his second triple-double of the season, and guard Klay Thompson had 15 points for the Warriors in the win.
Reserve forward T.J. Warren had a career-high 28 points for the Suns, who lost their fourth straight and fifth in their last six.
Guard Eric Bledsoe had 21 points and seven assists and Brandon Knight had 21 points and five assists in the loss.
Warriors forward Harrison Barnes left the game with a sprained left ankle with just over seven minutes remaining in the third quarter and did not return. Barnes finished with seven points and seven rebounds.
[Jonathan Raymond: Dallas Mavericks, a team with plenty to prove, doing exactly that in the Western Conference]
In Denver, Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points and Tony Parker added 13 as the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Denver Nuggets 91-80 to win their fourth game in a row.
The Spurs were without forward Tim Duncan and guard Manu Ginobili who stayed home to rest.
Leonard became the first player since Hakeem Olajuwon on December 12, 1992, to record 25 points, seven rebounds, six assists, five blocked shots and four steals in an NBA game.
Denver led by as many as 11 in a first half.
Elsewhere, guard Andrew Wiggins scored 22 points, and the Minnesota Timberwolves continued their hot start on the road with a 101-91 victory over the Sacramento Kings at Sleep Train Arena.
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
Saturday (UAE kick-off times)
Watford v Leicester City (3.30pm)
Brighton v Arsenal (6pm)
West Ham v Wolves (8.30pm)
Bournemouth v Crystal Palace (10.45pm)
Sunday
Newcastle United v Sheffield United (5pm)
Aston Villa v Chelsea (7.15pm)
Everton v Liverpool (10pm)
Monday
Manchester City v Burnley (11pm)
Know your camel milk:
Flavour: Similar to goat’s milk, although less pungent. Vaguely sweet with a subtle, salty aftertaste.
Texture: Smooth and creamy, with a slightly thinner consistency than cow’s milk.
Use it: In your morning coffee, to add flavour to homemade ice cream and milk-heavy desserts, smoothies, spiced camel-milk hot chocolate.
Goes well with: chocolate and caramel, saffron, cardamom and cloves. Also works well with honey and dates.
Gender equality in the workplace still 200 years away
It will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe, according to a December report from the World Economic Forum.
The WEF study said there had been some improvements in wage equality in 2018 compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade.
But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education.
At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.
The Geneva-based organisation's annual report tracked disparities between the sexes in 149 countries across four areas: education, health, economic opportunity and political empowerment.
After years of advances in education, health and political representation, women registered setbacks in all three areas this year, WEF said.
Only in the area of economic opportunity did the gender gap narrow somewhat, although there is not much to celebrate, with the global wage gap narrowing to nearly 51 per cent.
And the number of women in leadership roles has risen to 34 per cent globally, WEF said.
At the same time, the report showed there are now proportionately fewer women than men participating in the workforce, suggesting that automation is having a disproportionate impact on jobs traditionally performed by women.
And women are significantly under-represented in growing areas of employment that require science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, WEF said.
* Agence France Presse
The biog
Name: Younis Al Balooshi
Nationality: Emirati
Education: Doctorate degree in forensic medicine at the University of Bonn
Hobbies: Drawing and reading books about graphic design
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The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
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.”
MATCH INFO
Iceland 0 England 1 (Sterling pen 90 1)
Man of the match Kari Arnason (Iceland)
SPIDER-MAN%3A%20ACROSS%20THE%20SPIDER-VERSE
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Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
