US President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen told a Congress hearing on Wednesday that federal prosecutors in New York were investigating criminal claims against Mr Trump.
Cohen, who pleaded guilty last summer and will serve three years in jail starting in May, said the last time he and Mr Trump or an agent of the US President communicated was about last autumn.
He said he could not comment further because it was part of an investigation.
Cohen was then asked if there was any other wrongdoing or illegal act involving Mr Trump that he had not discussed with the committee.
"Yes," he answered. "And again, those are part of the investigation that's being looked at by the Southern District of New York."
The hearing shed light on Mr Trump's world before he become president.
Cohen worked for Mr Trump for 10 years and offered details into the hush money paid for adult film star Stormy Daniels and the "Moscow Project" that he was seeking in Russia.
He also revealed that Mr Trump knew and welcomed the WikLeaks' email dump in 2016 to hurt his rival Hillary Clinton.
In his testimony, Cohen accused the US President of lies, covering up private dealings with Russia and being “a racist and a conman”.
He said Mr Trump told him to pay hush money to adult movie actress Stephanie Clifford, also known by her stage name Stormy Daniels, to cover up an affair.
One of the cheques Mr Trump gave to Cohen, which he included in documents for the committee, was for $35,000 (Dh128,560) and signed in August 2017 after the new president took office.
The hearing immediately became heated after a failed attempt by Republican members to delay it.
"I am ashamed that I chose to take part in concealing Mr Trump’s illicit acts rather than listening to my own conscience," Cohen said.
"I am ashamed because I know what Mr Trump is. He is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat.”
Cohen said Mr Trump knew of the WikiLeaks email dump before it happened.
He said that in 2016, Roger Stone, another confidant of Mr Trump, called him while Cohen was in the room and the president put him on speakerphone.
"Mr Stone told Mr Trump that he had just got off the phone with Julian Assange and that Mr Assange told Mr Stone that, within a couple of days, there would be a massive dump of emails that would damage Hillary Clinton's campaign,” Cohen said.
He said Mr Trump responded: "Wouldn't that be great."
Asked by former head of the Democratic National Committee Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz if Mr Trump "explicitly or implicitly authorised Mr Stone to make contact with WikiLeaks”, Mr Cohen said he was not aware of it.
He said Mr Trump was “happily taking Mr Stone’s calls”, which were frequently.
Cohen avoided using the word “collusion” in referring to Mr Trump’s dealings with the Russians and his knowledge of WikiLeaks.
But he said Mr Trump had knowledge of every significant meeting his campaign officers had, including those by his eldest son Donald Jr, who met a Russian who was reportedly offering dirt on Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Cohen said Mr Trump did not have much confidence in Donald Jr's judgment.
He said there was something odd about Mr Trump's "back and forth praise with Russian President Vladimir Putin".
"I'm not really sure that I can answer that question in terms of collusion," Cohen said.
Ahead of the election on July 22, 2016, whistleblower website WikiLeaks released more than 19,000 emails and 8,000 attachments from the Democratic National Committee's email servers.
The details of the emails spread sparked conspiracy theories and became decisive in the campaign.
Among other allegations, Cohen said Mr Trump asked him to lie at least half a dozen times about his business with Russia, and in covering up the Stormy Daniels affair.
He said the US President asked him to lie to the first lady Melania Trump about it, something Cohen told the committee he now regretted.
Before the hearing, Mr Trump, who is in Hanoi meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, attacked his former lawyer.
“Michael Cohen was one of many lawyers who represented me (unfortunately)," he tweeted. "He had other clients also.
"He was just disbarred by the State Supreme Court for lying and fraud. He did bad things unrelated to Trump. He is lying to reduce his prison time.”
Republicans in Congress also criticised the hearing, with Senator Lindsey Graham calling it a new low.
"Holding hearings with Michael Cohen while President @realDonaldTrump negotiates with North Korea about giving up their nuclear arsenal," Mr Graham tweeted.
"Democrats' hatred of Trump is undercutting an important foreign policy effort and is way out of line.”
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.”
JAPANESE GRAND PRIX INFO
Schedule (All times UAE)
First practice: Friday, 5-6.30am
Second practice: Friday, 9-10.30am
Third practice: Saturday, 7-8am
Qualifying: Saturday, 10-11am
Race: Sunday, 9am-midday
Race venue: Suzuka International Racing Course
Circuit Length: 5.807km
Number of Laps: 53
Watch live: beIN Sports HD
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
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How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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