Worshipers perform Isha prayer while keeping distance between them next to the Kaaba in Mekkah's Grand Mosque, Islam's holiest site on April 27, 2020. AFP
Worshipers perform Isha prayer while keeping distance between them next to the Kaaba in Mekkah's Grand Mosque, Islam's holiest site on April 27, 2020. AFP
Worshipers perform Isha prayer while keeping distance between them next to the Kaaba in Mekkah's Grand Mosque, Islam's holiest site on April 27, 2020. AFP
Worshipers perform Isha prayer while keeping distance between them next to the Kaaba in Mekkah's Grand Mosque, Islam's holiest site on April 27, 2020. AFP

Coronavirus: cases surpass 20,000 in Saudi Arabia


Mina Aldroubi
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Saudi Arabia's coronavirus cases exceeded 20,000 on Tuesday after the country released daily figures adding 1,266 individuals to the total. 
Eight people have died from causes related to the virus, bringing the total number of fatalities to 152, the health ministry said.
The country now has 20,077 cases of the disease.
Since April 17, the government has been announcing over 1,000 cases of the coronavirus daily, after screening one million people, the ministry said.

"The testing has helped detect certain areas that may have an increase number of cases, and these are targeted via mass testing depending on whether or not they test positive," a health ministry spokesperson said.
The spike in cases was seen after the health ministry started running tests two weeks ago.

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    Trains arrive and depart from Victoria Station near Battersea Power Station in London, England. TfL has announced that it has furloughed 7000 staff as it faces "massive financial challenges" due to the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who returned to Downing Street this week after recovering from Covid-19, said the country needed to continue its lockdown measures to avoid a second spike in infections. Getty
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    A man sleeps on a street outside shuttered shops in the Monastiraki district of Athens as lockdown measures continue to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. AP
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    A general view of Koninklijk Paleis or The Royal Palace on King's Day which has been muted amid Coronavirus Quarantine Measures in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The country is beginning to ease lockdown measures it adopted to curb Corona Virus / Covid-19 infections, but large public gatherings are still banned, such as the King's Day (Koningsdag) celebrations that typically mark King Willem-Alexander's birthday. Getty
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The health ministry said the 253 people have recovered during the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 2,784.
One million people in the country have been screened for the novel coronavirus, the ministry said.

Other GCC states also reported increases in cases.

Oman reported 82 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to 2,131, the health ministry said.

They include 40 Omani citizens and 42 foreigners, the ministry said.

One person died from the disease in Kuwait over the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 23 fatalities.

The 61-year-old Indian resident passed away in intensive care, the Health Ministry spokesperson Abdullah Al Sanad said.

Mr Al Sanad said that 152 new cases emerged in the last 24 hours, raising the total number to 3,440 cases.

Of those infected,128 came in contact with individuals who were carrying the disease and 15 others were linked to travel to the UK, Turkey and France, the official said.

The ministry said that 164 patients have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1,176.

Bahrain said on Tuesday that 87 new coronavirus were found during the last 24 hours.

The number now stand at 2,810. The health ministry said that of those infected were 72 expatriate workers, it was mostly due to having direct contact with those infected.

There were no new death cases announced on Tuesday, eight people have died since the outbreak was reported in the country.

The ministry said 28 patients have fully recovered, pushing the total number of recoveries to 1,218.

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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.”

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013