No stopping Vucinic and Al Jazira, Al Wahda stay close and Al Dhafra gain

Al Jazira ensured they retained top spot in the Arabian Gulf League on Wednesday, although the Abu Dhabi club had to come from a goal down to defeat Ajman 3-1.

The league leaders, who resumed the campaign ahead of second-placed Al Ain because they hold a superior head-to-head record, once again relied on Mirko Vucinic to fire them to the points.

Ajman had taken a surprise lead just before half-time at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium through a tap-in from debutant Rafael Crivellaro, the recent signing from Brazil.

However, Vucinic struck five minutes after the break to restore parity, and moments later notched his 18th league goal of his inaugural season in UAE football to give the hosts the advantage.

The strike of the night came from Manuel Lanzini, though, when the Argentine curled home direct from a corner on 71 minutes to make safe the match for Jazira.

Eric Gerets’s side still sit at the summit, having gleaned 30 points from 14 rounds played.

Elsewhere, Al Wahda maintained their improbable push for the title with a 1-0 victory at bottom club Kalba.

Jose Peseiro’s men led for most of the encounter, when Sebastian Tagliabue converted a Damian Diaz cross on seven minutes.

With the win, Wahda moved temporarily into second, yet by the close of the night’s play had slipped back one place. Kalba, meanwhile, are rooted to the base of the table, eight points from safety.

Fujairah boosted their chances of survival with a 2-1 triumph at Emirates, securing an opening victory for new coach Ivan Hasek.

Hassan Maatouk scored a goal either side of Rodrigo Souza’s 20-minute equaliser.

There was more agony for Emirates late on, when Luiz Henrique was shown a straight red card in a melee prompted by the official ruling out a second equaliser for the hosts. Fujairah leapfrogged their opponents into 10th.

Al Dhafra sit one place above the east coast club following a 3-1 victory against eighth-placed Al Wasl, while Al Nasr and Baniyas played out a goalless draw at Al Maktoum Stadium. The pair rank sixth and seven, respectively.

jmcauley@thenational.ae

'The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window'

Director:Michael Lehmann

Stars:Kristen Bell

Rating: 1/5

The Brutalist

Director: Brady Corbet

Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn

Rating: 3.5/5

Emergency phone numbers in the UAE

Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing

Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111

Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre

Emirates airline – 600555555

Etihad Airways – 600555666

Ambulance – 998

Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries

The Written World: How Literature Shaped History
Martin Puchner
Granta

RESULTS

Lightweight (female)
Sara El Bakkali bt Anisha Kadka
Bantamweight
Mohammed Adil Al Debi bt Moaz Abdelgawad
Welterweight
Amir Boureslan bt Mahmoud Zanouny
Featherweight
Mohammed Al Katheeri bt Abrorbek Madaminbekov
Super featherweight
Ibrahem Bilal bt Emad Arafa
Middleweight
Ahmed Abdolaziz bt Imad Essassi
Bantamweight (female)
Ilham Bourakkadi bt Milena Martinou
Welterweight
Mohamed Mardi bt Noureddine El Agouti
Middleweight
Nabil Ouach bt Ymad Atrous
Welterweight
Nouredine Samir bt Marlon Ribeiro
Super welterweight
Brad Stanton bt Mohamed El Boukhari

The full list of 2020 Brit Award nominees (winners in bold):

British group

Coldplay

Foals

Bring me the Horizon

D-Block Europe

Bastille

British Female

Mabel

Freya Ridings

FKA Twigs

Charli xcx

Mahalia

British male

Harry Styles

Lewis Capaldi

Dave

Michael Kiwanuka

Stormzy

Best new artist

Aitch

Lewis Capaldi

Dave

Mabel

Sam Fender

Best song

Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber - I Don’t Care

Mabel - Don’t Call Me Up

Calvin Harrison and Rag’n’Bone Man - Giant

Dave - Location

Mark Ronson feat. Miley Cyrus - Nothing Breaks Like A Heart

AJ Tracey - Ladbroke Grove

Lewis Capaldi - Someone you Loved

Tom Walker - Just You and I

Sam Smith and Normani - Dancing with a Stranger

Stormzy - Vossi Bop

International female

Ariana Grande

Billie Eilish

Camila Cabello

Lana Del Rey

Lizzo

International male

Bruce Springsteen

Burna Boy

Tyler, The Creator

Dermot Kennedy

Post Malone

Best album

Stormzy - Heavy is the Head

Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka

Lewis Capaldi - Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent

Dave - Psychodrama

Harry Styles - Fine Line

Rising star

Celeste

Joy Crookes

beabadoobee

Analysis

Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more

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.”

Where to buy art books in the UAE

There are a number of speciality art bookshops in the UAE.

In Dubai, The Lighthouse at Dubai Design District has a wonderfully curated selection of art and design books. Alserkal Avenue runs a pop-up shop at their A4 space, and host the art-book fair Fully Booked during Art Week in March. The Third Line, also in Alserkal Avenue, has a strong book-publishing arm and sells copies at its gallery. Kinokuniya, at Dubai Mall, has some good offerings within its broad selection, and you never know what you will find at the House of Prose in Jumeirah. Finally, all of Gulf Photo Plus’s photo books are available for sale at their show.

In Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi has a beautiful selection of catalogues and art books, and Magrudy’s – across the Emirates, but particularly at their NYU Abu Dhabi site – has a great selection in art, fiction and cultural theory.

In Sharjah, the Sharjah Art Museum sells catalogues and art books at its museum shop, and the Sharjah Art Foundation has a bookshop that offers reads on art, theory and cultural history.

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