US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at a news conference at the State Department, in Washington, US, April 29, 2020. REUTERS
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at a news conference at the State Department, in Washington, US, April 29, 2020. REUTERS
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at a news conference at the State Department, in Washington, US, April 29, 2020. REUTERS
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at a news conference at the State Department, in Washington, US, April 29, 2020. REUTERS

The Americas

Pompeo urges countries to make airspace off-limits to Iran airline

US secretary of state says Mahan Air delivered "unknown support" to Venezuelan government

Reuters

April 29, 2020

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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday called on countries to make their airspace off-limits to Iranian airline Mahan Air.

Mr Pompeo said the airline, which is under US sanctions, recently delivered cargoes of “unknown support” to the Venezuelan government.

The US has imposed punishing sanctions on Iran aimed at containing its influence in the Middle East and has hit Venezuela with similiar measures to force socialist President Nicolas Maduro from power.

Mr Pompeo said aircraft from the privately owned Mahan Air, Iran’s largest airline, in the past few days delivered supplies to Mr Maduro’s government.

“This is the same terrorist airline that Iran used to move weapons and fighters around the Middle East,” he said.

Mr Pompeo said that the flights “must stop” and countries should deny Mahan Air airspace rights “just as many have already denied landing rights to this sanctioned airline".

The Trump administration has waged a campaign of sanctions and diplomatic measures against Venezuela to try to remove Mr Maduro, whose 2018 re-election was considered a sham by most western countries.

In January last year, the US and dozens of other governments recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president.

But Mr Maduro, who calls Mr Guaido a US puppet, remains in power, backed by Venezuela’s military, Russia, China and Cuba.

Some US officials have said this has been a growing source of frustration for President Donald Trump.

Last week, a Venezuelan official said the country received goods delivered by Iranian aircraft to help it start the catalytic cracking unit at the Cardon refinery, which is necessary to produce petrol.

Planes from Tehran landed at Las Piedras airport in western Venezuela, near Cardon, on April 21 and 22, data from flight tracker FlightRadar24 showed. The planes were operated by Mahan Air.

Iran and Venezuela are members of Opec.

In December and January, the US sanctioned Mahan Air for alleged roles in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and flying arms and fighters to Syria as part of Iran’s support of Damascus.

Those sanctions were on top of 2011 counter-terrorism sanctions imposed on Mahan Air over its support for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

While you're here
While you're here
Zakat definitions

Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.

Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.

Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.

Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.

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While you're here
MATCH INFO

Qalandars 112-4 (10 ovs)

Banton 53 no

Northern Warriors 46 all out (9 ovs)

Kumara 3-10, Garton 3-10, Jordan 2-2, Prasanna 2-7

Qalandars win by six wickets

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.”

Cinco in numbers

Dh3.7 million

The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown

46

The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.

1,000

The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]

50

How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday

3,000

The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

1.1 million

The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.

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