Thomas Watkins is Washington bureau chief at The National
January 22, 2024
When Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ended his presidential bid at the weekend, he released a four-minute video in which he tried to sound upbeat while channelling the inspirational stoicism of Winston Churchill.
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts,” Mr DeSantis said, attributing the quote to the former British prime minister.
The only problem? Churchill never said it.
According to the Churchill Project at Hillsdale College, the phrase is one of several fabricated Churchill quotes that does the rounds on social media.
It's hardly the most egregious of slips – many of us have misquoted the cigar-chomping leader at some point.
But Mr DeSantis's parting gaffe feels like a fitting end to a campaign that was marred from the get-go by missteps and unforced errors.
Political analysts will no doubt analyse the failings of his presidential bid for weeks to come. To see where it all went wrong, it's worth starting at the beginning.
The Republican establishment had soured on Donald Trump after a poor showing at the 2022 midterms and many conservative media outlets – including those owned by Rupert Murdoch – were keen to anoint the newly re-elected Florida Governor as their standard bearer.
Instead of seizing on that early momentum and a lead in polls over Mr Trump, who had announced his own candidacy in late 2022, Mr DeSantis hemmed and hawed and played coy as to whether he was actually going to run.
By the time Mr DeSantis did announce on May 24, the former president had spent months attacking him and he was trailing Mr Trump by at least 30 points in Republican polls.
Despite criminal investigations, it was clear that the Trump Train had gathered more than enough steam to smash past any challengers.
And, bizarrely, when he did declare his candidacy, Mr DeSantis chose the cloistered world of Twitter Spaces to do so instead of seeking national exposure.
It was a disaster. The platform now known as X failed for 25 excruciating minutes while Mr DeSantis waited to make his big announcement, and a chat with owner Elon Musk all but guaranteed the attention would be on the billionaire rather than the presidential wannabe.
Once he had belatedly declared, Mr DeSantis then focused on the divisive cultural issues that had helped him retain the governorship in Florida but were less palatable to a national audience.
His “anti-woke” rhetoric appealed to some Republicans but ultimately he came across as a mean-spirited bully as he bragged about banning books, mocked gay people and supported a law that said black people had benefitted from slavery because it taught them useful skills.
Mr Trump's nickname for his opponent, Ron DeSanctimonious, stuck.
Then came the personal attacks on Mr DeSantis, who at various points in the campaign was accused of eating pudding with his fingers, being unable to smile authentically, and of wearing lifts in his already well-heeled cowboy boots to appear even taller.
The candidate appeared stiff, charmless and uncomfortable throughout the campaign, unable to connect with voters in a way Mr Trump can.
Mr DeSantis's campaign was also widely reported to be mired in internal conflicts. He hired too many staff to begin with, burning through cash, and frequently changed aides as his campaign floundered.
His campaign slogan was “Never Back Down”, but when he announced he was leaving the race, Mr DeSantis meekly endorsed Mr Trump, the man who had spent more than a year comparing his “no personality” opponent to a “wounded falling bird from the skies.”
Mr DeSantis could have endorsed Nikki Haley, the only opponent to Mr Trump still in the race, and helped propel her to victory in some states while keeping much-needed debate going within the Republican Party.
Instead, Mr Trump's coronation as Republican nominee is now all but assured.
And what does Mr DeSantis get for bending the knee? Apparently nothing.
Mr Trump on Monday said it was “highly unlikely” he would appoint Mr DeSantis to his cabinet if he returns to the White House.
Match info
Wolves 0
Arsenal 2 (Saka 43', Lacazette 85')
Man of the match: Shkodran Mustafi (Arsenal)
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11 What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time. TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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.”
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Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
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ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
Fixtures and results:
Wed, Aug 29:
Malaysia bt Hong Kong by 3 wickets
Oman bt Nepal by 7 wickets
UAE bt Singapore by 215 runs
Thu, Aug 30:
UAE bt Nepal by 78 runs
Hong Kong bt Singapore by 5 wickets
Oman bt Malaysia by 2 wickets
Sat, Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong; Oman v Singapore; Malaysia v Nepal
Sun, Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman; Malaysia v UAE; Nepal v Singapore
Tue, Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore; UAE v Oman; Nepal v Hong Kong
Thu, Sep 6: Final
Avengers: Endgame
Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Josh Brolin
4/5 stars
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
Travel distance: Limited
Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
Duration: Can linger for days
Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
Source: Can be carried from distant regions
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available. Price: Dh4,229
iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus. Price: Dh4,649
iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel. Price: Dh3,179
Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.
