Rafael Nadal breezed past Michael Berrer of Germany in 67 minutes with a 6-2, 6-1 win.
Rafael Nadal breezed past Michael Berrer of Germany in 67 minutes with a 6-2, 6-1 win.

Nadal and Djokovic through to third round



The world No 1 Rafael Nadal and the defending champion Novak Djokovic cruised into the third round at the BNP Paribas Open after recording straight sets win in Indian Wells. The Spaniard Nadal, 22, breezed past Germany's Michael Berrer 6-2 6-1 in just 67 minutes and will face Dmitry Tursunov for a place in the quarter-finals after the Russian edged past the American qualifier Michael Russell 7-6 (7/5) 4-6 6-3. Despite connecting on just 48 per cent of his first serve, the Australian Open champion did not face a break of serve and was able to convert five of 14 chances of his own to advance.

Nadal has reached the Indian Wells semi-finals at least in the last three years after winning the crown in 2007 by beating Djokovic before losing to the Serb 12 months ago in the last four. The third seeded Serbian Djokovic, meanwhile, secured a 7-5 6-4 victory over unseeded Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina to set up a third round meeting with Tommy Haas, who beat Rainer Schuettler 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-4. The Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships winner Djokovic, 21, did have his serve broken on two occasions, but grabbed four of his own in the one hour and 44 minute contest.

Last year's beaten finalist Mardy Fish lost 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-1) to the Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, but the sixth seed Juan Martin Del Potro recovered from dropping the first set to American wild card Ryan Sweeting to prevail 6-7 (6/8) 6-3 6-1. He will next face Austrian Jurgen Melzer, who beat American wild card Taylor Dent 7-5 6-2. Seventh seeded American Andy Roddick also advanced after recording a 6-1 7-6 (7-3) triumph over qualifier Daniel Koellerer. While seeds David Ferrer, David Nalbandian, Stanislas Wawrinka, and Nicolas Kiefer progressed, the world number nine Gael Monfils lost 6-7 (5/7) 6-1 6-4 to American wild card John Isner, the world number 147. Isner did not face a break point and broke Monfils three times to wrap up the win in just under two hours. The American Sam Querrey advanced in straight sets at the expense of 18th seed Radek Stepanek, while Tomas Berdych also lost in two to Viktor Troicki, who will next face Nalbandian. *PA Sport

Business Insights
  • As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses. 
  • SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income. 
  • Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
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  • US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
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If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.

When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.

How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Bullet%20Train
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Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Rating: 2/5
 
The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

From Zero

Artist: Linkin Park

Label: Warner Records

Number of tracks: 11

Rating: 4/5

Pakistan v New Zealand Test series

Pakistan: Sarfraz (c), Hafeez, Imam, Azhar, Sohail, Shafiq, Azam, Saad, Yasir, Asif, Abbas, Hassan, Afridi, Ashraf, Hamza

New Zealand: Williamson (c), Blundell, Boult, De Grandhomme, Henry, Latham, Nicholls, Ajaz, Raval, Sodhi, Somerville, Southee, Taylor, Wagner

Umpires: Bruce Oxerford (AUS) and Ian Gould (ENG); TV umpire: Paul Reiffel (AUS); Match referee: David Boon (AUS)

Tickets and schedule: Entry is free for all spectators. Gates open at 9am. Play commences at 10am

The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre turbo

Power: 181hp

Torque: 230Nm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Starting price: Dh79,000

On sale: Now

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Our legal consultant

Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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.”

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Lamsa

Founder: Badr Ward

Launched: 2014

Employees: 60

Based: Abu Dhabi

Sector: EdTech

Funding to date: $15 million

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SPECS
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Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode

Directors: Raj & DK

Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon

Rating: 4/5