Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded 31 points and nine rebounds to propel the host Milwaukee Bucks to a 112-109 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday.
The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player made 14 of 21 shots from the floor, though he sank just 1 of 10 attempts from the free-throw line. Milwaukee's Khris Middleton drained a pair of pivotal 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter to highlight his 25-point performance.
Jrue Holiday had 16 points and Brook Lopez added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Bucks, who overcame a 12-for-25 effort at the foul line to extend their winning streak to four games. Milwaukee also exacted a bit of revenge after being swept by Dallas in a two-game season series in 2019-20.
Luka Doncic collected 28 points and 13 assists and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 22 points for the Mavericks, who saw their season-high, four-game winning streak come to a halt.
Thunder tame Bulls in OT
Shai-Gilgeous Alexander's career-high 33 points led Oklahoma City to a stunning, come-from-behind overtime victory at Chicago.
Timely shooting from Mike Muscala (11 points) and Luguentz Dort (21 points, six steals) also helped the Thunder steal a tight victory.
The Bulls wasted a 35-point game from Zach LaVine, who is now averaging 37.5 points per game in his last four -- all losses.
Celtics smash Magic
Jaylen Brown scored 21 points to lead Boston in a home victory over Orlando.
Semi Ojeleye chipped in with 18 points, while Jeff Teague added 17, Payton Pritchard 16 and Marcus Smart 14 for the Celtics, who have won seven of their past eight games. Jayson Tatum and Robert Williams remained out for Boston after testing positive for COVID-19. The Celtics had their past three scheduled games postponed due to the virus.
The Magic were led by Aaron Gordon with 17 points. Nikola Vucevic, Cole Anthony and Dwayne Brown all scored 15 points apiece in the loss.
Drummond leads Cavaliers past Knicks
Andre Drummond put together a monster 33-point, 23-rebound performance to lead Cleveland past New York.
Drummond was joined by Cedi Osman's 25 points and Larry Nance's 14 points that helped the Cavaliers snap a three-game losing streak.
The Knicks wasted a 28-point performance from Julius Randle, while also receiving 23 points off the bench from rookie Immanuel Quickley and 20 points from RJ Barrett. The Knicks have now lost five straight.
Jazz clip Hawks
Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points in just 27 minutes to lead Utah to an easy victory over visiting Atlanta.
The Jazz received 17 points from Bojan Bogdanovic and a 15-point, 13-rebound double-double from Rudy Gobert in the win. It was Utah's fourth straight win.
Cam Reddish scored 20 points to lead the Hawks who saw star point guard Trae Young score only four points on 1 of 11 shooting.
Clippers claim easy win over Kings
Kawhi Leonard poured in 27 points to lead Los Angeles to an easy win at Sacramento.
Paul George chipped in with 26 points, while Marcus Morris added 18 off the bench for the Clippers, who won their third straight.
The Kings were led by Marvin Bagley's 20 points and Richaun Holmes' 17.
James stars in Lakers win against Pelicans
LeBron James scored 21 points and dished out 11 assists to lead Los Angeles to a rout of visiting New Orleans.
Anthony Davis put in 17 points, while Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope both added 16 for the streaking Lakers, who won their fifth straight game.
The Pelicans were happy to have Zion Williamson back from health and safety protocols, as he led the team with 21 points and 12 rebounds in a losing effort.
What is a Ponzi scheme?
A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.
Brief scores:
Toss: Rajputs, elected to field first
Sindhis 94-6 (10 ov)
Watson 42; Munaf 3-20
Rajputs 96-0 (4 ov)
Shahzad 74 not out
Premier Futsal 2017 Finals
Al Wasl Football Club; six teams, five-a-side
Delhi Dragons: Ronaldinho
Bengaluru Royals: Paul Scholes
Mumbai Warriors: Ryan Giggs
Chennai Ginghams: Hernan Crespo
Telugu Tigers: Deco
Kerala Cobras: Michel Salgado
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
Match info
Athletic Bilbao 0
Real Madrid 1 (Ramos 73' pen)
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft Toronto
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Windows
Release Date: April 10
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
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.”
