US President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden have relied heavily on political advertising before the election next Tuesday.
From television to social media, their campaigns have spent millions of dollars to win over voters.
Mr Biden had raised $177 million in campaign funds at the start of October, compared to Mr Trump's $63.1m, The New York Times reported.
The Trump campaign cut millions from its national budget as contributions dwindled, while Mr Biden added tens of millions to his war chest.
As the election draws near, recent advertisements released by the Trump campaign have relied on misinformation and scare tactics to sway voters.
A two-day Google advertisement by the Trump campaign erroneously claimed Mr Biden would raise taxes on 82 per cent of all Americans.
Mr Biden has said tax increases would only affect those who earn $400,000 or more a year.
The Trump campaign also promoted an unusual attack advertisement on YouTube this week that compared Mr Biden to a zombie.
The video, How to Prevent a Zombie Uprising, featured images of Mr Biden.
“Look for someone who has a corpse-like appearance, exhibits aggressive behaviour, craves human flesh and utters incoherent moans and groans,” its narrator says.
It has been viewed more than 6.9 million times.
Mr Trump spent about $90m on Facebook advertisements since July 1, $18.8m more than Mr Biden, research from the New York University Ad Observatory found.
The group interviewed 6,500 respondents during a survey to track political spending on the social media site. It found that 27 per cent of Mr Trump’s advertisements on Facebook since July 1 were used to attack the media.
The study also found that the Trump and Biden campaigns applied highly specific filters to reach out to Facebook users.
The filters provided an insight into the types of voters the campaigns hoped to win over as both focused heavily on swing states and minorities.
The Trump campaign went for the African-American vote by using filters to reach voters interested in "hip hop music, African-American music, African-American culture and/or Vibe [magazine]".
It also reached out to fans of sports clubs in swing states, including the Green Bay Packers American football team in Wisconsin and Detroit Red Wings ice hockey team in Michigan.
The Biden campaign sought to win over the LGBTQ community by homing in on Facebook users interested in "LGBT community, Out [magazine], Pride and/or RuPaul's Drag Race".
Mr Biden also zeroed in on National Public Radio listeners, Oprah fans and Facebook users interested in Lin-Manuel Miranda, The Avengers film series and Star Trek.
The Biden campaign received a significant cash boost from billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who announced this week that he would finance an advertising blitz for the Democratic presidential nominee in the final week of the campaign.
Mr Bloomberg, who unsuccessfully ran for the presidential nomination, will spend $15m on advertising in Texas and Ohio.
The money will pay for state-wide advertisements in English and Spanish. The move bolsters the Biden campaign as it focuses on traditionally Republican states.
The former vice president has focused on red states to appeal to voters, often suburban, whose opinion of Mr Trump has changed owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
He has also trained his sights on young voters and people of colour in his quest to turn red states blue. While Texas is home to a large Republican population, polling has shown that Ohio remains evenly split.
Until now, Mr Bloomberg had focused on boosting the Democratic ticket in Florida after he pledged $100m to support Mr Biden in the southern swing state.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg news agency reported that Mr Trump had withdrawn most of the advertising funds for Florida to focus on four battleground states: Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The Trump campaign denied the report, saying it was spending more than a million on TV advertising in Florida.
However, his campaign suffered a blow as fundraising slowed and the economic gains he hoped to tout were undone by the coronavirus pandemic.
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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)
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
The%20specs
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Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
About%20My%20Father
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ELaura%20Terruso%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERobert%20De%20Niro%2C%20Sebastian%20Maniscalco%2C%20Kim%20Cattrall%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202%2F5%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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.”
Tips to avoid getting scammed
1) Beware of cheques presented late on Thursday
2) Visit an RTA centre to change registration only after receiving payment
3) Be aware of people asking to test drive the car alone
4) Try not to close the sale at night
5) Don't be rushed into a sale
6) Call 901 if you see any suspicious behaviour
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Origin
Dan Brown
Doubleday
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
