UAE leaders have pardoned more than 1,000 prisoners in the run-up to Ramadan.
President Sheikh Khalifa ordered the release of 540 prisoners.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, issued a directive to free 659 inmates from prisons in Dubai.
Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah, agreed to cut short the sentences of 210 inmates in Sharjah.
Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, also pardoned 345 prisoners in the emirate.
UAE leaders typically offer pardons to hundreds of inmates each year in keeping with the generous spirit of the holy month.
The directives are in line with humanitarian efforts to rehabilitate prisoners and ease the burden on their families.
"Sheikh Khalifa's annual pardon ahead of the month of Ramadan aims to enhance family cohesion, brings about happiness to mothers and children and provides released prisoners with an opportunity to rethink about their future and return to the righteous path that allows them to lead a successful social and professional life," state news agency Wam reported.
Ramadan is expected to begin on Saturday, April 2.
The UAE will seek to deliver crucial support to people in need around the globe during Ramadan.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid this month launched a drive to donate one billion meals to the poor and hungry around the world.
“Brothers and sisters, today we announce the one billion meals campaign for the poor and the needy around the world,” Sheikh Mohammed wrote.
“The campaign will begin at the beginning of the holy month and will continue for the coming years until the goal is achieved."
What is Ramadan?
Ramadan is the ninth and holiest month of the Islamic, or Hijri, calendar. It is also believed to be the month the Quran was revealed to the Prophet Mohammed.
Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset every day of the month, which typically lasts for 29 or 30 days.
As well as abstaining from food and drink, Ramadan is also a time when Muslims strengthen their faith through prayer and increased recitation of the Quran.
Piety increases further during the final 10 days, when Laylat Al Qadr is believed to occur.
That night is said to be when the Quran was revealed to the Prophet Mohammed. It is traditionally celebrated on the 27th night of Ramadan but its exact date is unknown.
The rewards for acts of worship carried out on this night are said to be more than the rewards of 1,000 months of worship.
Ramadan in the UAE - in pictures
Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
Profile of MoneyFellows
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Launched: 2016
Employees: 76
Financing stage: Series A ($4 million)
Investors: Partech, Sawari Ventures, 500 Startups, Dubai Angel Investors, Phoenician Fund
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Favourite holiday destination: I really enjoyed Sri Lanka and Vietnam but my dream destination is the Maldives.
Favourite food: My mum’s Chinese cooking.
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Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
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.”
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Germany 2
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Promes 85', Van Dijk 90'
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The specs
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Power: 181hp
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THE BIO
Age: 30
Favourite book: The Power of Habit
Favourite quote: "The world is full of good people, if you cannot find one, be one"
Favourite exercise: The snatch
Favourite colour: Blue
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SCHEDULE
December 8: UAE v USA (Sharjah Cricket Stadium)
December 9: USA v Scotland (Sharjah Cricket Stadium)
December 11: UAE v Scotland (Sharjah Cricket Stadium)
December 12: UAE v USA (ICC Academy Oval 1)
December 14: USA v Scotland (ICC Academy Oval 1)
December 15: UAE v Scotland (ICC Academy Oval 1)
All matches start at 10am
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
