The people have spoken. In November last year, Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey floated the idea of running for governor of Texas, telling radio host Hugh Hewitt, “It would be up to the people.”
Now, a new poll shows the people want the Texas native to make the leap into politics. In a poll of registered voters conducted by The Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler released Sunday, McConaughey received more votes than incumbent governor Greg Abbott, who is seeking a third term in office.
When asked who they were more likely to vote for in a hypothetical contest, 45 per cent of voters picked McConaughey while 33 per cent chose Abbott, who is in the Republican Party. The rest of the voters said they would vote for neither.
The next Texas governor elections will be held in November 2022.
The 51-year-old actor has been outspoken about his interest in politics. Last month, he told The Balanced Voice podcast he was "seriously considering" a run for governor.
“I’m looking into now again, what is my leadership role?” he said. “Because I do think I have some things to teach and share, and what is my role? What’s my category in my next chapter of life that I’m going into?”
Political stance
If he were to run for office against Abbott, it's still unclear which of the two major US political parties – Republican or Democratic – McConaughey would join. The actor, who won a Best Actor Oscar for the 2013 film Dallas Buyers Club, has never publicly supported a single party, and has often taken a middle ground when it comes to hot-button political issues.
"The two sides got to talk," he said on the press tour for the 2018 film White Boy Rick.
At the same tour, he called gun violence in the US an "epidemic" but raised concerns that March for Our Lives, organised after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, could be "hijacked" by the anti-gun movement.
"March for Our Lives was for rightful, just, responsible gun ownership — but against assault rifles, against unlimited magazines, and for following up on the regulations," he said.
Last year, at the start of the coronavirus pandemic McConaughey was outspoken about the use of masks – another divisive issue – and even filmed a video encouraging people to wear them.
The actor, who was arrested in 1999 for marijuana possession, is also for legalisation of the drug, another hot topic in Texas politics.
A true son of Texas
Regardless of his political stands, McConaughey, who lives in Austin with his wife Camila Alves and three children, has pulled his weight when it comes to stepping in to help his state. In February, when Texas was hit with a severe winter storm, he and Alves organised a virtual concert on YouTube through their Just Keep Livin’ Foundation to help those in need.
During the lockdowns in April last year, McConaughey hosted a virtual Bingo Night for residents of The Enclave, an assisted living community in Texas.
He has also worked actively with the Texas government, and filmed a number of public service announcements, from urging people to help stop human trafficking to staying home during the pandemic.
McConaughey, who broke through with his role as a lawyer in the 1996 film A Time to Kill, has had a storied career in Hollywood with films such as How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003), Magic Mike (2012), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), Mud (2013) and Interstellar (2014). He was last seen in the action comedy The Gentleman, which released in 2019, and will next voice a character in Sing 2, a sequel to the 2016 hit animated musical.
Last year, McConaughey released a memoir called Greenlights, which instantly became a New York Times bestseller. The book includes stories and insights from his life in chronological order and includes aphorisms, poems and advice.
Actor politicians
If he does enter politics, he will join a long list of actors and celebrities who've made the transition. Ronald Reagan was a Hollywood star before he became governor of California and went on to serve two terms as US president. Donald Trump was a reality TV star and businessman before becoming president in 2016, and Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger was the governor of California between 2003 and 2011.
Last week, Fast & Furious star Dwayne Johnson – one of the highest-paid and most popular actors in the US – said he would run for US president if he felt he had enough support from Americans.
"I do have that goal to unite our country and I also feel that if this is what the people want, then I will do that," Johnson said on the Today show.
As far as his political goals are concerned, in an interview with Men's Journal last year, McConaughey said he was not interested in "putting a bunch of band-aids on things".
“When facing any crisis, I’ve found that a good plan is to first recognise the problem, then stabilise the situation, organise the response, then respond,” he said.
Ordinary Virtues: Moral Order in a Divided World by Michael Ignatieff
Harvard University Press
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
match info
Southampton 2 (Ings 32' & pen 89') Tottenham Hotspur 5 (Son 45', 47', 64', & 73', Kane 82')
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
Day 3 stumps
New Zealand 153 & 249
Pakistan 227 & 37-0 (target 176)
Pakistan require another 139 runs with 10 wickets remaining
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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.”
Pakistan squad
Sarfraz (c), Zaman, Imam, Masood, Azam, Malik, Asif, Sohail, Shadab, Nawaz, Ashraf, Hasan, Amir, Junaid, Shinwari and Afridi
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
The stats
Ship name: MSC Bellissima
Ship class: Meraviglia Class
Delivery date: February 27, 2019
Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT
Passenger capacity: 5,686
Crew members: 1,536
Number of cabins: 2,217
Length: 315.3 metres
Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
Selected fixtures
All times UAE
Wednesday
Poland v Portugal 10.45pm
Russia v Sweden 10.45pm
Friday
Belgium v Switzerland 10.45pm
Croatia v England 10.45pm
Saturday
Netherlands v Germany 10.45pm
Rep of Ireland v Denmark 10.45pm
Sunday
Poland v Italy 10.45pm
Monday
Spain v England 10.45pm
Tuesday
France v Germany 10.45pm
Rep of Ireland v Wales 10.45pm
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
