Bling book from Ferrari
Would you like a book on Ferrari or an actual Ferrari? You'd think the cheaper option would be the book, but maybe not if you opt for the Ferrari Opus Enzo Diamante Edition.
The tome, weighing in at 37kg and running to 852 pages, costs more than Dh1 million.
Each edition is encased in a black, holographic carbon fibre clamshell. On the cover is the yellow Ferrari racing shield accompanied by a country name; they are limited to just one edition per country, so you'd better act fast if you're interested.
Bound in leather - you choose the colour - the cover features a 16 x 12cm 32.3-carat diamond-encrusted silver Prancing Horse studded with approximately 1,500 stones.
Each Enzo Diamante edition is personally signed by Ferrari drivers, past and present, on an individually numbered, silver-foiled signature sheet. The centrefold is a 1961 250 GT California Spider photographed by Rankin. If that is not enough, each buyer is entered into a raffle to win one of only five F2005 replica single seaters ever built by Ferrari.
There are two other limited editions of the book and the classic version. Available from www.krakenopus.com.
Putin drives the hybrid Yo-mobile to meeting with Medvedev
The Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin drove Russia's first hybrid car to a meeting with the country's president, Dmitry Medvedev, last week.
The Yo-mobile was created by Yo-auto, a completely Russian joint venture project between truck manufacturer Yarovit and billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov's Onexim group. Prokhorov sat in the passenger seat as Putin drove the five kilometres between venues.
The car uses a rotary engine and ultra capacitators, an energy-storing device seen as an alternative to lithium-ion batteries. "Lithium-ion batteries are a mistake, a dead-end," the car's developer, Andrei Biryukov, told Reuters news agency.
Prokhorov, who believes the car could bring Russia a competitive edge in the global automotive industry, said the Yo-mobile will go into production in the second half of 2012, and expects to produce 10,000 cars a year. The car will burn 3.5L of fuel per 100 km and will cost about 450,000 roubles (Dh52,000), according to the company.
Stronach set to go electric
The Magna International founder and chairman, Frank Stronach, will step down after the company's annual meeting in May, and will focus on electric vehicles.
Stronach started the auto parts company as a one-man tool-and-die shop in a garage in Toronto, Canada, in 1957. It's now a firm with 96,000 employees that expects revenues of around US$27 billion (Dh99bn) this year.
"My own personal view is that Frank's taking all of those same features [that he brought to Magna] and he's going to apply them to the electric car," Dennis Mills, a former vice president of Magna and chief executive of the company's real estate arm, MI Developments, where he's now vice chairman, told the Reuters news agency.
"That's where his passion is. And when he has a focus, it's like a laser," Mills added.
Last year, Stronach traded his controlling shares of Magna for $300 million, new equity in the company, four years of lucrative consulting fees, and control of E-Car, in which he holds a 27 per cent stake (Magna holds the balance). Magna introduced an electric car last year designed to showcase the parts and technology it could offer; the company also helped Ford develop its Focus electric car.
German Green Party could force Porsche drivers to hit the brakes
The autobahns in the home state of car manufacturers Porsche and Daimler AG (DAI)'s Mercedes-Benz unit could be hit with a speed limit, according to Bloomberg, after the Green Party's election win in Baden-Wuerttemberg.
The Greens helped defeat Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition in a regional election last week on a platform that included 120kph speed limits to reduce emissions - about 65 per cent of the state's motorways have no speed limit.
"Traffic in Baden-Wuerttemberg contributes around 30 per cent to carbon dioxide emissions," Winfried Kretschmann, who is poised to become the Greens' first state premier, said on the party's website. "It's clear that the transportation sector has to make a contribution of its own to reduce this gas that's harmful to the environment."
The Greens also favour "more efficient engines," the development of cars that use less petrol, city tolls and tax breaks for environmentally friendly vehicles.
Stallone reunited with film car 17 years after theft from garage
The movie star Sylvester Stallone has been reunited with his car after it was reported stolen out of his garage 17 years ago.
The 1950 Mercury was allegedly stolen in 1994 and, TMZ.com reports, somehow got into the possession of a company that provides "on-camera vehicles" for movies.
Stallone found the vehicle by chance on an internet car auction and was shocked that someone had the "temerity" to try to sell the car in public, after he had reported it stolen back in the day.
In the lawsuit submitted to LA County Superior Court Stallone and his lawyer, Marty Singer, began with a quote from Cobra: "Crime is a disease. Meet the cure."
Stallone does not accuse the company of stealing the car, which he claims is worth US$250,000 (Dh918,250), but he wants it back, plus damages of $3m for using his name and image to promote the auction without his permission.
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Malcolm & Marie
Directed by: Sam Levinson
Starring: John David Washington and Zendaya
Three stars
Ipaf in numbers
Established: 2008
Prize money: $50,000 (Dh183,650) for winners and $10,000 for those on the shortlist.
Winning novels: 13
Shortlisted novels: 66
Longlisted novels: 111
Total number of novels submitted: 1,780
Novels translated internationally: 66
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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.”
8 traditional Jamaican dishes to try at Kingston 21
- Trench Town Rock: Jamaican-style curry goat served in a pastry basket with a carrot and potato garnish
- Rock Steady Jerk Chicken: chicken marinated for 24 hours and slow-cooked on the grill
- Mento Oxtail: flavoured oxtail stewed for five hours with herbs
- Ackee and salt fish: the national dish of Jamaica makes for a hearty breakfast
- Jamaican porridge: another breakfast favourite, can be made with peanut, cornmeal, banana and plantain
- Jamaican beef patty: a pastry with ground beef filling
- Hellshire Pon di Beach: Fresh fish with pickles
- Out of Many: traditional sweet potato pudding
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How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
The 12
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
North Pole stats
Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
Weight of equipment: 45kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 0
Terrain: Ice rock
South Pole stats
Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
Weight of equipment: 50kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300
Terrain: Flat ice
