Stephen Bannon, ex-chief strategist to former president Donald Trump, was indicted by a grand jury on Friday for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena issued by a committee investigating the January 6 insurrection.
Mr Bannon was charged with one count for his refusal to appear for a deposition and another for failure to provide documents related to the investigation, a statement released by the US Department of Justice said.
“Since my first day in office, I have promised Justice Department employees that together we would show the American people by word and deed that the department adheres to the rule of law, follows the facts and the law and pursues equal justice under the law,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said.
“Today’s charges reflect the department’s steadfast commitment to these principles.”
The US House Select Committee believes Mr Bannon possesses relevant information on events related to the January 6 insurrection on the Capitol.
The House of Representatives voted last month to hold Mr Bannon in criminal contempt. Mr Bannon has previously claimed that Mr Trump instructed him not to appear before the committee due to “executive privilege”, which permits presidents to keep certain communication with aides confidential.
Mr Bannon left his post as a senior adviser to Mr Trump in 2017.
Adam Kinzinger, one of two Republicans on the select committee, said Mr Bannon's indictment should send a “chilling message” to other witnesses.
“You cannot ignore Congress,” Mr Kinzinger told CNN. “You're not going to be able to avoid it.”
The indictment comes on the same day that Mark Meadows, former chief of staff under Mr Trump, refused to show up for his scheduled hearing before the committee.
Mr Meadows's lawyer argued it would be inappropriate for him to speak before the committee until a court delivers a ruling on Mr Trump's claim of executive privilege over materials related to the insurrection.
“It would be irresponsible for Mr Meadows to prematurely resolve that dispute by voluntarily waiving privileges that are at the heart of those legal issues,” a statement from Mr Meadows's lawyer reads.
It is unclear whether the committee will seek a contempt referral for Mr Meadows.
An appellate court judge temporarily granted Mr Trump's last-ditch bid to halt the release of his White House records related to January 6. Those records included hundreds of pages of documents, video clips and other materials.
The court set a hearing for November 30 to hear arguments in the case.
The committee this week subpoenaed another 10 former Trump allies in their investigation.
Six of those associates, including former senior adviser Stephen Miller and former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, were subpoenaed for reportedly scheming to overturn Mr Trump's electoral defeat at a luxury Washington hotel on the evening of the insurrection.
The other targets, including disgraced former national security adviser Mike Flynn, were aids or members of Mr Trump's re-election campaign whom the select committee says were involved in promoting his baseless election fraud theories.
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New schools in Dubai
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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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
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