A resident of Curitiba in the Brazilian team colors walks his dog in on June 13, 2014. CJ Gunther / EPA
A resident of Curitiba in the Brazilian team colors walks his dog in on June 13, 2014. CJ Gunther / EPA

World Cup Diary Day 5: ‘Quaint’ Curitiba plays amiable host to World Cup



CURITIBA // Travel seven-and-a-half hours by bus south of Sao Paulo, through winding roads lined by lush forest, and you reach Curitiba. The city seems so un-Sao-Paulo-like, with cobbled streets, a palpably less-hectic lifestyle and a distinctly European feel.
It is cold here, but it does not take long to warm to new surroundings. Leafy suburbs envelop its quiet core; an art class lined a street on a drizzly Sunday morning, sitting under umbrellas and quietly sketching the building the taxi driver informs is Curitiba's centre of culture.
If a city of 1.8 million inhabitants can be classified as "quaint", then this certainly is.
It is renowned for being clean and organised – Sao Paulo differs significantly – and its people soon debunk the myth they are among Brazil's most serious. Shyness is probably a more apt description.
But that should not be misconstrued for ignorance. Everyone here welcomes you with a friendly smile, swiftly followed by an inquisitive, yet amiable, look. Portuguese-Irish, or Irish-with-pigeon-Portuguese, remains an entirely foreign concept here.
One local menu accentuates that you indeed are a visitor. Battered alligator, bull's testicles and cattle stomach and sauce.
Yet Curitiba still has a hunger for football. The Fifa Fan Fest attracted a decent enough crowd for Saturday's match between England and Italy, while tourists from Canada, the United States, Iran and Australia have descended upon the city.
About 25 minutes on Sunday was spent pitching in on an Australian podcast beamed all the way back to the land down under. Hosted by Robbie and Pete, Balls of Glory's team were fascinated to find out why a UAE-based reporter is so far from home.
The answer was simple and met with nodded agreement among the four contributors: it's the World Cup. In Brazil.
jmcauley@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE

SERIE A FIXTURES

Friday (UAE kick-off times)

Sassuolo v Bologna (11.45pm)

Saturday

Brescia v Torino (6pm)

Inter Milan v Verona (9pm)

Napoli v Genoa (11.45pm)

Sunday

Cagliari v Verona (3.30pm)

Udinese v SPAL (6pm)

Sampdoria v Atalanta (6pm)

Lazio v Lecce (6pm)

Parma v Roma (9pm)

Juventus v Milan (11.45pm)

 

Cryopreservation: A timeline
  1. Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
  2. Ovarian tissue surgically removed
  3. Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
  4. Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
  5. Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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
Honeymoonish
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Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Herc's Adventures

Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5

Profile of VoucherSkout

Date of launch: November 2016

Founder: David Tobias

Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers

Sector: Technology

Size: 18 employees

Stage: Embarking on a Series A round to raise $5 million in the first quarter of 2019 with a 20 per cent stake

Investors: Seed round was self-funded with “millions of dollars” 

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.”

Company%20profile
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German intelligence warnings
  • 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

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