A wacky conspiracy theory about devil-worshipping cannibals running a child-sex ring has hitherto been confined to the dark fringes of the web. But new research from an anti-racism group shows that it is becoming worryingly mainstream.
A survey by HOPE not Hate, a UK-based campaign group, has found that as many as 1 in 10 Americans at least in part subscribe to the so-called "QAnon" theory – a big enough group to impact voting in the November 3 presidential election.
This vexes many in the United States, as QAnon fans often back President Donald Trump and include folks who distrust the political system enough to launch deadly attacks on perceived enemies.
"The conspiracy theories of the movement, and its support for Trump against a shadow government, have already inspired individuals to commit acts of violence, including murder," Don Haider-Markel, an expert on QAnon at Kansas University, told The National.
"The beliefs of QAnon followers are likely to lead some to engage in voter intimidation, disruption at the polls, and perhaps violence. The threat will be heightened if the outcome of the election is not clear within a few days of November 3."
Using 8chan and other web forums, QAnon fans discuss how Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, other Democrats and Hollywood and business chiefs are running a global child sex trafficking ring and plotting Mr Trump's downfall.
The theory centres on "Q", a supposed government insider with high-level security access who started posting elusive clues online in 2017. Enthusiasts study these "Q drops" as a roadmap for busting the "deep state" masterminds.
In QAnon posts, Mr Trump is presented as a hero against the child-traffickers, who will be rounded up and sent to Guantanamo Bay in an event called "The Storm". Posts are often tagged with #SaveTheChildren or #WWG1WGA, meaning "Where We Go One, We Go All".
An FBI bulletin in May 2019 mentioned QAnon and said conspiracy theory-driven extremists had become a domestic terrorism threat and were "very likely" to commit violent crimes. QAnon was already linked to real-world violence, including the killing of a reputed crime family boss.
The group made headlines after a campaign event in Florida on October 15, when Mr Trump was quizzed about QAnon and asked to disavow the belief that he is a "saviour" against liberals running a "satanic paedophile ring".
Mr Trump initially dodged the question, saying he did not know about the group. Then, he added: "What I do hear about it is they are very strongly against paedophilia. I agree with that. I do agree with that."
Mr Trump's purported lack of awareness has been queried, as folks wearing QAnon shirts and hats are commonplace at his rallies in Pennsylvania, Florida and other battleground states he must win to keep the White House.
The apocalyptic conspiracy theory is gaining traction in Republican circles. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican candidate for a congressional seat in Georgia, promotes QAnon, as does Jo Rae Perkins, a long-shot Republican Senate candidate in Oregon.
Some 59 per cent of firm QAnon believers back Mr Trump, compared to 29 per cent who support his Democratic rival Joe Biden, according to HOPE not Hate's survey of 15,000 people, which involved statistical adjustments.
QAnon followers are prone to violence, support authoritarian rule and often believe the US is headed for another civil war. A quarter of adherents say it would be "perfectly acceptable" for Mr Trump to reject the results of a close-call election on November 3, the study says.
"The fact that one in 10 Americans – roughly equating to 30 million adults – identify with a conspiracy that the FBI has identified as a domestic terrorist threat is pretty amazing," said the study's author Nick Lowles.
"The fact that they perceive Trump as their leader and saviour means some might resort to violence if he is ousted and contests the election's legitimacy."
QAnon believers can be found across the US, though they are more prevalent in southern states such as Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana and Virginia than in places like Hawaii, New Hampshire and New Mexico, the study says.
Fans are not a monolith. Counter-intuitively, blacks are bigger believers in QAnon than whites, and college-educated professionals are more likely to subscribe to the theory than those who left school lacking qualifications, researchers said.
In recent months, QAnon has faced setbacks with the shuttering of accounts and pages on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. In response, QAnon spreaders have shifted to posts about Covid-19 and "Save the Children" that slip under the radar.
Vegas Tenold, a researcher at the Anti-Defamation League, an anti-Semitism watchdog, and author of Everything You Love Will Burn, a book about far-right groups, said QAnon has started staging "public, real-world events" and forging ties to the Proud Boys and other neo-fascist gangs.
"There's crossover with the anti-lockdown and reopen protests that have brought thousands of people onto the streets," Mr Tenold told The National.
"Ahead of this election, we see groups that never worked together joining forces. They all care very deeply about what's going on right now. It's concerning."
For some, QAnon is a flashy repackaging of old ideas. It followed the 2016 "Pizzagate" theory about Democrats trafficking children at a Washington pizzeria, and the decades-old New World Order theory about global puppet-masters.
For others, the QAnon-bashing of Jewish philanthropist George Soros is plain old anti-Semitism. Its roots can also be traced to the conservative Tea Party movement, the "Satanic panic" of the 1980s and anti-communist paranoia in the McCarthyist 1950s.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EGrowdash%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJuly%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESean%20Trevaskis%20and%20Enver%20Sorkun%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%2C%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERestaurant%20technology%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24750%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Plus%20VC%2C%20Judah%20VC%2C%20TPN%20Investments%20and%20angel%20investors%2C%20including%20former%20Talabat%20chief%20executive%20Abdulhamid%20Alomar%2C%20and%20entrepreneur%20Zeid%20Husban%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Third Test
Day 3, stumps
India 443-7 (d) & 54-5 (27 ov)
Australia 151
India lead by 346 runs with 5 wickets remaining
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Yabi%20by%20Souqalmal%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMay%202022%2C%20launched%20June%202023%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAmbareen%20Musa%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20u%3C%2Fstrong%3Endisclosed%20but%20soon%20to%20be%20announced%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E12%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eseed%C2%A0%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EShuaa%20Capital%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
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Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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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.”
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
ENGLAND SQUAD
Joe Root (c), Moeen Ali, Jimmy Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Ollie Pope, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes
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WHY%20AAYAN%20IS%20'PERFECT%20EXAMPLE'
%3Cp%3EDavid%20White%20might%20be%20new%20to%20the%20country%2C%20but%20he%20has%20clearly%20already%20built%20up%20an%20affinity%20with%20the%20place.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EAfter%20the%20UAE%20shocked%20Pakistan%20in%20the%20semi-final%20of%20the%20Under%2019%20Asia%20Cup%20last%20month%2C%20White%20was%20hugged%20on%20the%20field%20by%20Aayan%20Khan%2C%20the%20team%E2%80%99s%20captain.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EWhite%20suggests%20that%20was%20more%20a%20sign%20of%20Aayan%E2%80%99s%20amiability%20than%20anything%20else.%20But%20he%20believes%20the%20young%20all-rounder%2C%20who%20was%20part%20of%20the%20winning%20Gulf%20Giants%20team%20last%20year%2C%20is%20just%20the%20sort%20of%20player%20the%20country%20should%20be%20seeking%20to%20produce%20via%20the%20ILT20.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%9CHe%20is%20a%20delightful%20young%20man%2C%E2%80%9D%20White%20said.%20%E2%80%9CHe%20played%20in%20the%20competition%20last%20year%20at%2017%2C%20and%20look%20at%20his%20development%20from%20there%20till%20now%2C%20and%20where%20he%20is%20representing%20the%20UAE.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%9CHe%20was%20influential%20in%20the%20U19%20team%20which%20beat%20Pakistan.%20He%20is%20the%20perfect%20example%20of%20what%20we%20are%20all%20trying%20to%20achieve%20here.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%9CIt%20is%20about%20the%20development%20of%20players%20who%20are%20going%20to%20represent%20the%20UAE%20and%20go%20on%20to%20help%20make%20UAE%20a%20force%20in%20world%20cricket.%E2%80%9D%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The UN General Assembly President in quotes:
YEMEN: “The developments we have seen are promising. We really hope that the parties are going to respect the agreed ceasefire. I think that the sense of really having the political will to have a peace process is vital. There is a little bit of hope and the role that the UN has played is very important.”
PALESTINE: “There is no easy fix. We need to find the political will and comply with the resolutions that we have agreed upon.”
OMAN: “It is a very important country in our system. They have a very important role to play in terms of the balance and peace process of that particular part of the world, in that their position is neutral. That is why it is very important to have a dialogue with the Omani authorities.”
REFORM OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL: “This is complicated and it requires time. It is dependent on the effort that members want to put into the process. It is a process that has been going on for 25 years. That process is slow but the issue is huge. I really hope we will see some progress during my tenure.”
