The resignation of Nancy Pelosi, from the post of Speaker of the House of Representatives, second in line to the presidency, marks the end of an era in US politics. Ms Pelosi led House Democrats for almost 20 years, and as she said in her farewell remarks, scored significant accomplishments with Republican president George W Bush and Democrats Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Missing from her list was Donald Trump. She achieved nothing with him, and the only noteworthy legislation passed during his tenure was a major tax cut for corporations and the wealthiest. Ms Pelosi will be remembered for confronting Mr Trump in a televised meeting about his efforts to shut down the government to coerce funding for his border wall, and tearing up the text of his 2000 "state of the union" speech to Congress, which she called a "manifesto of mistruths".
She will be handing leadership of House Democrats to her deputy, Hakeem Jeffries, who she has prepared for several years. His capacity to take over her effective leadership role remains untested but promising.
That cannot be said for the presumptive incoming Republican Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, who has apparently kowtowed to extreme party elements to gain the position, even including notorious Georgia radical Marjorie Taylor Greene. Ms Greene was removed from committee assignments after she seemed to threaten the lives of Democrats, along with numerous violent, racist and anti-Semitic tirades. Mr McCarthy says he will respond by excluding from committees several leading Democrats, including the Somali-American congresswoman Ilhan Omar, along with Eric Swalwell and Adam Schiff.
While Ms Omar and Mr Swalwell have made provocative comments, none are remotely comparable to the explicitly violent rhetoric of Ms Greene. But the incoming narrow Republican House majority appears driven by payback, whether or not it makes any sense.
Although extreme Republicans were defeated in the midterms, and those who won promised to focus on "kitchen table" issues like inflation and crime, incoming House Republican leaders have vowed to focus on investigating Mr Biden's son, Hunter, who has never been a government official, along with the Department of Justice and FBI investigations of Mr Trump.
There are legitimate oversight issues, including the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and shambles at the border. Republicans often include these legitimate issues on their list of grievances, but they seem more interested in attacking Mr Biden's family and defending Mr Trump than actually interrogating flawed policies or execution.
This may well play into the hands of Democrats. They insist they have developed a sophisticated and robust set of counterattack strategies, and they will control the Senate, most likely with an additional seat after the Georgia runoff in December. Mr Biden, as I noted in these pages in November 2021, can use the House Republican majority as a foil against which to run for reelection in 2024. His chances look extremely good under current circumstances.
The best news for him arguably was the announcement last week that Mr Trump is officially, once again, a candidate for president. This historically unprecedentedly early announcement was unmistakably an effort to seek political protection against likely forthcoming major criminal charges from the Justice Department.
Attorney General Merrick Garland immediately responded by appointing a special counsel, career prosecutor Jack Smith, to lead two vital investigations into Mr Trump over pilfered government documents as well as the wide-ranging effort to overturn the 2020 election.
While Mr Smith may require some time to get up to speed with the documents case, and the criminal probe into the attempted coup and January 6 attack on Congress probably needs significant additional investigation, he seems well-positioned to hit the ground running. He's known as a hard-charging, highly experienced prosecutor who has recently been heading Kosovo war crimes trials at The Hague.
Indeed, the special counsel may eventually actually speed up the apparently inevitable filing of criminal charges against Mr Trump in the documents scandal, because he inherits such a thoroughly investigated and straightforward case and will be free of many normal bureaucratic impediments.
Ms Pelosi has voluntarily handed leadership to Mr Jeffries, and Mr McCarthy will probably finally get the Speaker's gavel, though his tenure may be turned into a brief nightmare by the extremists surrounding him. And Mr Trump, who looked elderly, listless and wearied – though not, perhaps, as bored as the audience, which was physically prevented from exiting by security personnel when too many tried to leave – is facing major criminal charges and serious leadership challenges.
It is Mr Biden, who turned 80 over the weekend, who seems both distinctly elderly and also profoundly in control. His first two years as president yielded significant and far-ranging legislative accomplishments, probably the most since Lyndon B Johnson's administration in 1964-65. And he just presided over the best Democratic performance in a first presidential midterm since John F Kennedy's administration in 1962.
Mr Biden has not announced his official candidacy, but he says it is his intention to run again, meaning he will be asking Americans to give him another six years in the White House. But, since he says he decided to run in 2020 mainly to deny Mr Trump a second term, his mission will not be complete until 2024 passes without producing a second Trump administration.
There is no doubt Democrats will coalesce around him if he runs. He is a proven winner with a remarkable track record, especially since he was elected president. And he knows how to beat Mr Trump, which he may be called upon to do again.
Republican leaders realise the midterms conclusively demonstrated that Mr Trump and his politics are toxic in a general election. But they also have every reason to fear that he remains unbeatable in Republican primaries, especially when facing more than one candidate, as seems inevitable.
As Democrats are changing the generational guard, except for Mr Biden, many Republicans would like to do so as well. But there is an ageing, angry old man in Florida, who claims to be both the only person who can solve things and also "a victim," who will look at Ms Pelosi's surrender of power, or anyone else's, with total incomprehension and utter disdain. He is not going anywhere. Republicans are going to have to proactively dump Mr Trump, or, yet again, surrender to him with total abjection.
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.”
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
Types of bank fraud
1) Phishing
Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
2) Smishing
The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
3) Vishing
The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
4) SIM swap
Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
5) Identity theft
Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
6) Prize scams
Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
Film: Raid
Dir: Rajkumar Gupta
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Ileana D'cruz and Saurabh Shukla
Verdict: Three stars
Kibsons%20Cares
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERecycling%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fstrong%3EAny%20time%20you%20receive%20a%20Kibsons%20order%2C%20you%20can%20return%20your%20cardboard%20box%20to%20the%20drivers.%20They%E2%80%99ll%20be%20happy%20to%20take%20it%20off%20your%20hands%20and%20ensure%20it%20gets%20reused%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EKind%20to%20health%20and%20planet%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3ESolar%20%E2%80%93%2025-50%25%20of%20electricity%20saved%3Cbr%3EWater%20%E2%80%93%2075%25%20of%20water%20reused%3Cbr%3EBiofuel%20%E2%80%93%20Kibsons%20fleet%20to%20get%2020%25%20more%20mileage%20per%20litre%20with%20biofuel%20additives%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ESustainable%20grocery%20shopping%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3ENo%20antibiotics%3Cbr%3ENo%20added%20hormones%3Cbr%3ENo%20GMO%3Cbr%3ENo%20preservatives%3Cbr%3EMSG%20free%3Cbr%3E100%25%20natural%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Overall standings
1. Christopher Froome (GBR/Sky) 68hr 18min 36sec,
2. Fabio Aru (ITA/AST) at 0:18.
3. Romain Bardet (FRA/ALM) 0:23.
4. Rigoberto Uran (COL/CAN) 0:29.
5. Mikel Landa (ESP/SKY) 1:17.
Bert van Marwijk factfile
Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder
Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia
Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands
The studios taking part (so far)
- Punch
- Vogue Fitness
- Sweat
- Bodytree Studio
- The Hot House
- The Room
- Inspire Sports (Ladies Only)
- Cryo
