DUBAI // Police used Twitter to broadcast basic safety rules for driving in fog yesterday when speeding drivers caused a 32-car pile-up.
Sixteen people were hurt, two cars were gutted by fire and 10 others were severely damaged when vehicles ploughed into each other at up to 120kph in 10-metre visibility on the Dubai Bypass Road just before the Al Ain highway interchange.
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Dubai Police traffic department's dispatch centre began receiving calls about the crash at 7.15am. A witness described the scene as horrific.
Mohammed Mujahed Mursi, 30, an Egyptian magazine distribution manager who suffered moderate injuries, said visibility was down to 10 metres on that stretch of road yesterday morning.
"I was driving slowly with my flashers on when I saw a car and truck on fire up ahead," he said.
"I immediately stopped, but just when I started thinking that maybe someone could hit me from the back, I was hit.
"The driver who hit me must have been driving at 120kph or more. How can someone drive so fast when he can't see in front of him?"
Mr Mursi suffered bruised ribs from his vehicle's airbag, and the force of the collision wrenched his back.
"I don't know what I could have done except maybe pull over off the highway until the fog cleared up," he said.
Ganesh Akula, 26, an Indian mason whose left leg was broken in the pile-up, was travelling with colleagues in a minibus.
"I was sitting behind the driver, and in the last second I saw traffic was stopped in front of us," he said.
"The driver tried to stop, but it was too late. The minibus hit a car in front of us and then we were hit from the back. I was nervous because I had never seen fog like that before.
Brig Omar Abdul Aziz Al Shamsi of Dubai Police said that from 5 to 8am, when the fog was heaviest, the command and control centre had received 418 phone calls. On Monday, when there was also heavy fog, the centre received 391 phone calls during the same time period, and five serious, two moderate, and 47 minor accidents occurred. No major accidents were reported elsewhere in the UAE.
Brig Gen Al Shamsi said drivers should never use their hazard lights unless there was an accident, and advised them to check the weather forecast before going out.
"While on the road, if drivers feel that the conditions are not safe enough to drive, then they should pull over on the sand next to the highway and wait for conditions to improve," he said.
"Drivers should also ensure that their windshield wipers and tyres are in good condition, that the brakes are operating properly and that the windshield is clean. Drivers should also drive with their headlights on low beam."
Drivers are being cautioned about taking to the roads today: thick fog is expected from Abu Dhabi city to the Northern Emirates between 2am and 8.30am.
The temperature is expected to drop by up to four degrees Celsius on Thursday, and although no heavy weather is expected on land, sailors have been warned to stay in port from Thursday to Sunday because of high seas.
Waves will be two to four feet on Thursday morning, between five to seven feet in the afternoon and up to eight feet by Thursday night, the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology said.
Seas are expected to be at their worst on Friday, with waves from six to eight feet. Waters are expected to be calm on Saturday and Sunday.
No rain, lightning or thunder are expected over the weekend.
"On Thursday the weather will be partly cloudy, and the north will have more clouds, but in general it will be fair to partly cloudy," said Mohammed Qureshi, a senior forecaster at the centre.
ealghalib@thenational.ae
* With additional reporting by Anna Zacharias
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Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
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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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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
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Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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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)
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- Kirill Shamalov, Russia's youngest billionaire and previously married to Putin's daughter Katarina
- Petr Fradkov, head of recently sanctioned Promsvyazbank and son of former head of Russian Foreign Intelligence, the FSB.
- Denis Bortnikov, Deputy President of Russia's largest bank VTB. He is the son of Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB which was responsible for the poisoning of political activist Alexey Navalny in August 2020 with banned chemical agent novichok.
- Yury Slyusar, director of United Aircraft Corporation, a major aircraft manufacturer for the Russian military.
- Elena Aleksandrovna Georgieva, chair of the board of Novikombank, a state-owned defence conglomerate.
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
CREW
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Directed by:Tom Beard
Narrated by: Sir David Attenborough
Stars: 4
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
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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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