Steam red snapper with light soy sauce by Chef Sonthaya Sinphoothon at Cho Gao
Ingredients
350g red snapper fillet, deboned
30g spring onions, shredded
20g fresh ginger juliennes
5g fresh red chili juliennes
1 tbsp cooking oil
For the sauce
10ml light soy sauce
1 pinch grain sugar
10ml oyster sauce
Salt, to taste
1 pinch white pepper powder
1 tbsp sesame oil
100ml water
Method
Clean the red snapper fillet and marinate with salt, pepper and half the ginger.
Put the fillet on a stainless steel platter or tray skin side down and steam for 7 minutes
In another cooking pot, simmer soy sauce, oyster, salt, pepper and water for 2 minutes. Finish off this sauce with sesame oil.
In a hot wok or pan, add in some oil and follow with juliennes of spring onion, remainder of the ginger and red chilli. Sauté lightly and place on top of the fish.
Gently place the fillet on a serving plate and pour the hot soy sauce and oyster sauce over the fish. Serve hot.
Steamed black cod fish with homemade sauce by Chef Jeff Tan at Shang Palace
Ingredients
600g black cod fish
1 pack enoki mushroom
100g shiitake mushroom
30g ginger
10 pcs red dates
50g dark soy sauce
100g light soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
50g oyster sauce
50ml sesame oil
50g seasoning
50g cooking oil
30g spring onion
30g coriander leaves
Deep-fried glutinous rice cake, yam and sweet potato by Chef Jeff Tan at Shang Palace
Ingredients
600g sugar
700ml water
100g pandan leaves
500g glutinous flour
100g wheat starch
100g corn flour
300g coconut cream
50g cooking oil
500g taro
500g sweet potato
Method
Place all the sticky rice ingredients to a mixing bowl and mix well. Steam for four hours, keep cold overnight and cut into squares.
Slice into pieces the taro and sweet potato. Coat the sticky rice squares in flour.
Pour cooking oil into a wok — enough for deep fry — and heat. Slowly add the sticky rice, taro and sweet potato together and deep-fry around five minutes until golden brown.
Raw papaya salad by Chef Sonthaya Sinphooton at Cho Gao
Ingredients
1 lime, juiced
3 tbsp fish sauce
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp palm sugar
500g green papaya
150g tomatoes, cut into bite-size pieces
80g green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
50g peanuts, crushed
15g dried shrimp (optional)
7g coriander, leaves plucked
Thai bird chillies (to taste)
Method
Put the fish sauce, lime juice, chillies, garlic and palm sugar in a blender or small food processor. Purée the mixture coarsely. You can also mince the chillies and grate the garlic and whisk the dressing together (a better option).
Peel the papaya and slice it in half. Use a spoon to scoop out the white seeds and pith from the centre.
Shred the papaya using a mandolin or a papaya shredder into a large bowl.
Pound the green beans and dried shrimp with a mallet to tenderise.
Mix all the dressing along with the shredded papaya, beans and dried shrimp.
Serve chilled and garnish with a sprig of coriander.
Grilled prawns with mixed fruit salad by Chef Sonthaya Sinphoothon at Cho Gao
Ingredients
2 pcs white grapes cut in half
2 pcs black grapes cut in half
4 pcs orange wedges, deskinned
25g mango dices
1 tsp corn oil
25g pineapple dices
50g dragon fruit dices
2 pcs kaffir lime leaves
4 pcs small shrimps
2 pcs cherry tomato halves
5g shredded Chinese cabbage
5g shredded carrots
2g endives
Method
Wash, remove shells and devein the shrimp. Marinate with a paste of lemon grass, lime leaves, coriander, salt, pepper and oil. Keep aside in a bowl separately.
In a hot pan, add in a teaspoon of cooking oil and grill the shrimps until cooked. Ensure the shrimps are not over cooked.
Separately in a mixing bowl, dress all the fruits with a dressing made from lime juice, crushed garlic and fish sauce. Gently combine well with all the fruits.
In a hollow plate, place the fruits on the base. Assemble the shrimps on top and garnish with finely shredded juliennes of Chinese cabbage, carrots and endives.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
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
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
OPINIONS ON PALESTINE & ISRAEL
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
'O'
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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.”
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
