It’s possible to be shocked by the attempted assassination of Donald Trump without being truly surprised. Gun violence and toxic politics have become not the exception but the rule in the US in the 21st century. No surprise there.
Even so, this is the most astonishingly lucky escape for the former president. If the bullet that hit his ear had been an inch to one side, the presumed Republican nominee for November’s presidential election would have been killed. The assassination attempt at a political rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, however is indeed shocking, even by the standards of nastiness and hatred that have eroded civility in American public life.
Investigations about the shooter continue, but we do know that Pennsylvania is a vital 50-50 state between Mr Trump and President Joe Biden. Mr Trump has been campaigning hard while Mr Biden – beset by questions about his age and fitness – was taking a weekend’s rest at his beach house in Delaware. He called Mr Trump and said “there’s no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick. It’s sick”.
But this sickness is itself not new. This may be one of the strangest, and nastiest, campaigns in American political history, but American public life has always been tinged by violence. It was summed up in an old piece of American doggerel: “How the West was won / Through the barrel of a gun.”
'The right to bear arms' remains constitutional even if also highly controversial
Nowadays the variety of military-style weaponry available to American civilians is truly astonishing. Statista Research suggests that the 350 million Americans (a figure that includes children) own between them about 400 million firearms. Since only about 43 per cent of the population do own guns, many of them must own an assortment, in some cases high-powered military-type weapons. “The right to bear arms” remains constitutional even if also highly controversial.
And of course, American political assassination has a long and difficult history. After defeating the Confederacy in the Civil War, then president Abraham Lincoln in his second inaugural address promised that “with malice towards none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right; let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds”.
Lincoln was then assassinated in a Washington theatre. In 1963, then president John F Kennedy was assassinated on a pre-1964 election trip to Dallas, Texas. The gunman was Lee Harvey Oswald, but the circumstances of the killing have given rise to endless conspiracy theories, more than even Hollywood could imagine.
These include the widespread, yet never substantiated, idea that there must have been a second gunman. The civil rights leader Malcolm X was murdered in 1965, then Mr Kennedy’s brother Robert Kennedy – a presidential hopeful – was assassinated in 1968. That same year, the great civil rights leader the Rev Dr Martin Luther King was also shot dead.
And so, as the facts begin to emerge about this most recent Trump assassination attempt, what we do know is that the presumed shooter was quickly shot dead by US law enforcement. He was identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, about an hour away from the rally location. He was also registered as a Republican voter, and at the time of writing there are few clues what any potential motive might be.
But what is clear is that in the run up to the November election, the maelstrom of American politics is becoming ever more divisive and turbulent.
There will be questions about how anyone with a rifle managed to get near to the Trump rally. Some witnesses claim that they saw a man with a gun and may have alerted police. And Mr Trump, wounded and bleeding, proved himself as a politician who seizes an opportunity on the political stage when he used the platform that presented itself before being hustled away for medical treatment.
“Wait, wait, wait, wait,” he yelled to the crowd and the TV cameras, pumping his fist to the crowd and appearing to shout: “Fight! Fight!” The crowd roared back and chanted “USA! USA!”
But what is also true is that attempts by former president Bill Clinton and others to limit the access of American civilians to military-style combat weapons have failed. Challenges in the US Supreme Court, with a majority of judges nominated by Republicans, have made the US an extraordinary outlier in the constitutional right to bear arms.
In Texas, for example, and elsewhere, no citizen can legally buy alcohol until aged 21, but they can legally own a gun at 18. And recently more Americans died of gun-related injuries – including suicides – than in any other year on record, according to statistics from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
For now, two TV clips from July 2024 appear to have transformed American politics. A former president defiant and bleeding; a current president lost for words. Just over three months to go before the vote. There could be plenty of surprises ahead.
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Abaya trends
The utilitarian robe held dear by Arab women is undergoing a change that reveals it as an elegant and graceful garment available in a range of colours and fabrics, while retaining its traditional appeal.
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
Match info
Liverpool 4
Salah (19'), Mane (45 2', 53'), Sturridge (87')
West Ham United 0
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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if you go
The flights
Emirates offer flights to Buenos Aires from Dubai, via Rio De Janeiro from around Dh6,300. emirates.com
Seeing the games
Tangol sell experiences across South America and generally have good access to tickets for most of the big teams in Buenos Aires: Boca Juniors, River Plate, and Independiente. Prices from Dh550 and include pick up and drop off from your hotel in the city. tangol.com
Staying there
Tangol will pick up tourists from any hotel in Buenos Aires, but after the intensity of the game, the Faena makes for tranquil, upmarket accommodation. Doubles from Dh1,110. faena.com
THE BIO
Family: I have three siblings, one older brother (age 25) and two younger sisters, 20 and 13
Favourite book: Asking for my favourite book has to be one of the hardest questions. However a current favourite would be Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier
Favourite place to travel to: Any walkable city. I also love nature and wildlife
What do you love eating or cooking: I’m constantly in the kitchen. Ever since I changed the way I eat I enjoy choosing and creating what goes into my body. However, nothing can top home cooked food from my parents.
Favorite place to go in the UAE: A quiet beach.
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
Essentials
The flights: You can fly from the UAE to Iceland with one stop in Europe with a variety of airlines. Return flights with Emirates from Dubai to Stockholm, then Icelandair to Reykjavik, cost from Dh4,153 return. The whole trip takes 11 hours. British Airways flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Reykjavik, via London, with return flights taking 12 hours and costing from Dh2,490 return, including taxes.
The activities: A half-day Silfra snorkelling trip costs 14,990 Icelandic kronur (Dh544) with Dive.is. Inside the Volcano also takes half a day and costs 42,000 kronur (Dh1,524). The Jokulsarlon small-boat cruise lasts about an hour and costs 9,800 kronur (Dh356). Into the Glacier costs 19,500 kronur (Dh708). It lasts three to four hours.
The tours: It’s often better to book a tailor-made trip through a specialist operator. UK-based Discover the World offers seven nights, self-driving, across the island from £892 (Dh4,505) per person. This includes three nights’ accommodation at Hotel Husafell near Into the Glacier, two nights at Hotel Ranga and two nights at the Icelandair Hotel Klaustur. It includes car rental, plus an iPad with itinerary and tourist information pre-loaded onto it, while activities can be booked as optional extras. More information inspiredbyiceland.com
