Eleven police officers have been injured in protests in Paris, after three people were killed by a gunman in the centre of the capital on Friday morning.
The suspected gunman was identified in French media as 69-year-old "William M". He was arrested in the city's 10th district shortly after the three people were killed. The victims were later confirmed to be members of the Kurdish community.
Officials condemned the “heinous attack” that targeted a Kurdish cultural centre, restaurant and hair salon in the bustling neighbourhood near the Gare du Nord railway station.
A young woman and a musician were among the victims, the Kurdish Institute of Paris said in a statement.
The Kurdish Democratic Council of France held a minute of silence for the victims and said the head of the Kurdish Women's Movement in France is among the dead.
The alleged gunman was released from prison in recent weeks and had previously been convicted of racially motivated attacks, including attempted murder in a knife attack on a migrant camp last December.
His elderly father said he had been living at his parents' home in the capital since his release on December 12 and was "withdrawn."
"He didn't live like everyone else," he told AFP. "He said nothing when he left this morning."
Their home is now being searched by police.
The Kurdish community has been shaken by the attack, the institute said ahead of a press conference.
Crowds gathered at the Rue d'Enghien on Friday afternoon, clashing with police, who fired tear gas at demonstrators.
Confrontations broke out after Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin visited the scene of the attack.
The minister said the gunman "clearly wanted to kill foreigners" but said it was uncertain if he targeted Kurds in particular.
Despite his past, the alleged gunman was not known to intelligence services and was not previously known as a member of the far-right, Mr Darmanin said.
He is also a member of shooting club and had a number of declared weapons, the minister said.
The nearby Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis was “drowning” in tear gas as protesters hurled rocks at police, Le Monde reported on Friday evening.
Video footage posted to social media showed riot police running away as people threw traffic cones and bar stools in their direction. Bins were also set alight and barricades erected, Le Monde reported.
In the southern city of Marseille, mounted police took to the streets after crowds gathered with Kurdish flags in the city centre.
French President Emmanuel Macron denounced Friday's attack.
"The Kurds of France have been targeted in a hateful attack in the heart of Paris," Mr Macron said on Twitter.
"Thoughts to the victims and those fighting for their lives."
It came just weeks before the 10th anniversary of the murder of three Kurdish activists in the same district.
Three women were shot to death in broad daylight in January 2013, shocking France. One of the victims was a co-founder of the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), a Kurdish group which has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish government.
Police have said they will investigate racial motivations behind Friday's attack but said the gunman's motives remain unclear.
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.”
Men’s singles
Group A: Son Wan-ho (Kor), Lee Chong Wei (Mas), Ng Long Angus (HK), Chen Long (Chn)
Group B: Kidambi Srikanth (Ind), Shi Yugi (Chn), Chou Tien Chen (Tpe), Viktor Axelsen (Den)
Women’s Singles
Group A: Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn), Pusarla Sindhu (Ind), Sayaka Sato (Jpn), He Bingjiao (Chn)
Group B: Tai Tzu Ying (Tpe), Sung Hi-hyun (Kor), Ratchanok Intanon (Tha), Chen Yufei (Chn)
