Live updates: follow the latest news on Covid-19 variant Omicron
US President Joe Biden has tested negative for Covid-19 after close contact with a staffer tested positive for the virus, the White House said on Monday, as the country is dealing with a surge fuelled by the highly contagious Omicron variant.
"On Monday morning, a mid-level staff member, who does not regularly have contact with the President, received a positive result for a Covid-19 test," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.
"Three days earlier, on Friday, that staff member had spent approximately 30 minutes in proximity to the President on Air Force One...
"This staff member is fully vaccinated and boosted, and tested negative prior to boarding Air Force One, as is required for everyone traveling with the President."
Mr Biden tested negative with an antigen and PCR test in the days following, and will be tested again on Wednesday, Ms Psaki said.
On Tuesday, he is scheduled to address the country on the current surge, where Omicron has become the dominant strain in the US.
Vice President Kamala Harris also tested negative after being in close contact with a staffer who tested positive for Covid, her office said on Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, some US leaders are testing positive for Covid-19 as the country faces a winter surge in coronavirus cases fuelled by the Delta strain and the highly contagious Omicron variant of concern.
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts tweeted that she tested positive for Covid-19, crediting her mild symptoms to the protection of three vaccination doses.
"I regularly test for Covid and while I tested negative earlier this week, today I tested positive with a breakthrough case," she posted on Sunday.
Ms Warren has a personal connection to the virus as her older brother died from Covid-19 when the pandemic hit the US in the early spring of 2020.
"It just feels like something that didn’t have to happen," she told The Atlantic.
Representative Jason Crow of Colorado tweeted that he had arrived from an overseas trip and received a positive Covid-19 test.
Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, who is also vaccinated and boosted against the virus, shared similar news over the weekend.
While the leaders are well protected, the concern is that an uncontrolled spread will mean more unnecessary illness and deaths.
Vaccination is proven to largely protect against severe illness and death from Covid-19.
Washington state senator Doug Ericksen died on Saturday, weeks after he said he had tested positive for the coronavirus while in El Salvador, though his cause of death wasn’t immediately released.
Ericksen was a former leader of Donald Trump’s campaign in Washington. He also was an outspoken critic of Democratic Governor Jay Inslee’s Covid-19 emergency orders, and had introduced legislation aimed at protecting the rights of people who do not wish to get vaccinated.
Ms Warren was working at the US Capitol last week before the Senate adjourned for the year, CNN reported.
Southwest chief executive Gary Kelly was on Capitol Hill for a Senate hearing on Wednesday last week and tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday.
Mr Kelly testified at the time that he believed face masks were unnecessary, although science shows they cut down the spread and infection of the virus.
Republicans are less likely to get vaccinated against Covid-19, but on Sunday former president Donald Trump said he received a booster dose, in an event with former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly on Sunday.
"Both the president and I are vaxxed and did you get the booster?” Mr O’Reilly asked.
Mr Trump responded with a "yes".
Some people in the audience started to boo and he said, "Don't, don't, no."
It is a stark change from when Mr Trump said in August that he thought booster doses were not necessary.
"The whole thing is just crazy," he told Fox News. "You wouldn’t think you would need a booster. You know, when these first came out, they were good for life.”
Ms Psaki was asked about a potential partnering with Mr Trump in an effort to get more Americans to take the jab. Though she doesn’t see that happening, she said that it is a good thing that the former president is communicating accurate information, as opposed to telling people that drinking bleach can kill the virus.
“I think we believe that, you know, the former President being out there and stating what is factually accurate about the efficacy of vaccines, of getting boosted — which he recently did, of course — is a good thing,” said Ms Psaki.
“But certainly, we would applaud — and have — the former President’s comments.”
Senator Chris Coons said on Thursday that he tested positive for Covid-19, making him the 10th member of Congress to contract the virus in December.
This month alone seven House of Representatives members have tested positive for Covid-19.
New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman tweeted a letter she received from Mr Trump on his comments over the weekend, where he wrote "must tell the truth... millions of lives worldwide saved".
About Tenderd
Started: May 2018
Founder: Arjun Mohan
Based: Dubai
Size: 23 employees
Funding: Raised $5.8m in a seed fund round in December 2018. Backers include Y Combinator, Beco Capital, Venturesouq, Paul Graham, Peter Thiel, Paul Buchheit, Justin Mateen, Matt Mickiewicz, SOMA, Dynamo and Global Founders Capital
Nancy 9 (Hassa Beek)
Nancy Ajram
(In2Musica)
The finalists
Player of the Century, 2001-2020: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Ronaldinho
Coach of the Century, 2001-2020: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Jose Mourinho (Tottenham Hotspur), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid), Sir Alex Ferguson
Club of the Century, 2001-2020: Al Ahly (Egypt), Bayern Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Real Madrid (Spain)
Player of the Year: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Club of the Year: Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Real Madrid
Coach of the Year: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta), Hans-Dieter Flick (Bayern Munich), Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Agent of the Century, 2001-2020: Giovanni Branchini, Jorge Mendes, Mino Raiola
One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 3 (Silva 8' &15, Foden 33')
Birmginahm City 0
Man of the match Bernado Silva (Manchester City)
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.”
The years Ramadan fell in May
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Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
It
Director: Andres Muschietti
Starring: Bill Skarsgard, Jaeden Lieberher, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor
Three stars
