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JD Vance is the US vice president-elect and will take office on Monday alongside president-elect Donald Trump.
The announcement caps Mr Vance's journey from anti-Trump Republican to fierce advocate of the Make America Great Again, or Maga, movement.
How did JD Vance gain notoriety?
Ohio elected James David Vance, 39, a venture capitalist and law school graduate, to the Senate in the 2022 midterm elections.
Mr Vance's platform was partly based on his best-selling book about his childhood, Hillbilly Elegy, which is also a Netflix film.
US media treated Mr Vance as the default voice for a disillusioned white working class after Mr Trump's surprise victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016.
“I’m a never-Trump guy, I never liked him,” Mr Vance said during an October 2016 interview, calling the former president a “terrible candidate”.
According to reports, in texts to a former roommate, Mr Vance asked whether Mr Trump was more of “a cynical [expletive] like Nixon” or “America’s Hitler”.
But as he moved into politics, Mr Vance cosied up to far-right “culture warriors” such as representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz, eventually joining the Maga movement.
That has included a loyalty to some of Mr Trump's most controversial positions, like suggesting the former president should purge civil servants from the federal government if re-elected, a tenet of the far-right “Project 2025" platform.
What are his views on the Middle East?
Mr Vance, a former marine and veteran of the Iraq War, has criticised Washington's regional posture in opposition to many of his party's more hawkish leadership.
“America is not good at micromanaging wars in the Middle East,” he said in a recent interview with CNN.
“That's been a bipartisan failure. By the way, it's one of the reasons why I think Donald Trump was a good foreign policy president – he departed from that wisdom.”
He also has acknowledged on the Senate floor the plight of Chaldeans in Iraq: “Before we invaded, there were 1.5 million Christians in Iraq.
“Now, nearly every single one of those historical Christian communities is gone. That is the fruit of American labour in Iraq: a regional ally of Iran and the eradication and decimation of one of the oldest Christian communities in the world.”
The senator has been a fierce advocate for Israel in its war against Gaza, saying that Washington should “let them prosecute this war the way they see fit”.
He has also advocated expanding the Abraham Accords, saying that “there is no way that we can do that unless the Israelis finished the job with Hamas”.
Despite that advocacy, Mr Vance was among the senators to hold up the passage of billions of dollars in funding when Congress attempted to lump together monies for both Israel and Ukraine, advocating against “endless funding” for Kyiv.
What did he do in the Senate?
Mr Vance served on committees related to banking, commerce, economics and ageing since joining the Senate in January 2023.
He has been described by right-wing conservatives like Heritage Foundation president Kevin Robert as a leading voice for conservatives and “American culture writ large”.
Importantly, he has said that he would not have certified the 2020 election results immediately if he had been the vice president at that time.
While he was campaigning for the Senate, Mr Vance signalled support for a national 15-week abortion ban, before later softening that stance once Ohio voters overwhelmingly backed a 2023 abortion rights amendment.
Mr Vance has also demonstrated a capacity to promote bipartisan legislation in the Senate.
Along with Sherrod Brown, the senior Ohio senator and a Democrat, he co-sponsored a railway safety bill following a disastrous train derailment and ensuing environmental crisis in the village of East Palestine.
In the aftermath of this weekend's assassination attempt against Mr Trump, he was among the first to give a partisan and polarising response, blaming President Joe Biden and the Democrats.
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES
All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT) unless stated
Tuesday
Sevilla v Maribor
Spartak Moscow v Liverpool
Manchester City v Shakhtar Donetsk
Napoli v Feyenoord
Besiktas v RB Leipzig
Monaco v Porto
Apoel Nicosia v Tottenham Hotspur
Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid
Wednesday
Basel v Benfica
CSKA Moscow Manchester United
Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich
Anderlecht v Celtic
Qarabag v Roma (8pm)
Atletico Madrid v Chelsea
Juventus v Olympiakos
Sporting Lisbon v Barcelona
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.”
Basquiat in Abu Dhabi
One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.
It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.
“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
The%20specs
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What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations
Edited by Sarah Cleave, Comma Press
MATCH INFO
Osasuna 1 Real Madrid 4
Osasuna: García (14')
Real Madrid: Isco (33'), Ramos (38'), Vázquez (84'), Jovic (90' 2)
Persuasion
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Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
