Roxboro, North Carolina //
First came the rumble of engines. Then the honking of horns invaded Main Street.
Then, as the Kalvacade (as the Klansmen call it) swept through the small North Carolina town of Roxboro, two black-shirted men leaned from the windows of their pickup cab, raised their arms in a Nazi salute and shouted above the roar of engines, "Hail victory."
This is what passes for the modern face of the Ku Klux Klan.
After 150 years of fighting for a white America, on Saturday some 30-odd vehicles drove through country roads and town streets to show their support for Donald Trump, the right-wing populist who has stunned the world by winning the US election on a ticket marked by prejudice, misogyny and bigotry.
News of the rally brought out hundreds of protesters at dozens of counter-demonstrations held elsewhere in the southern state, dwarfing the size of the KKK's event.
"No hate, no fear, the KKK's not welcome here," chanted protesters in the tiny village Pelham, rumoured at one time to be the site of the pro-Trump rally.
The movement's brazen display of triumphalism is a symptom of what many in this divided America fear: that Mr Trump's shock win has unleashed unstoppable forces of hatred.
Earlier in the day, Amanda Barker, one the organisers, said Mr Trump shared many of the values of the KKK.
"We actually kind of have the same views. A lot of white Americans felt the same way about the wall, immigration, terrorism," she said.
"Donald Trump is going to do some very good things and turn this country around."
Sending home Mexicans, she added, would help Americans find work more easily.
Mr Trump's win has already come at a cost, according to watchdogs, who report a surge in hate crimes since he claimed victory in the early hours of November 9.
The sensitivity of the issue meant KKK officers gave contradictory information about their plans, describing different locations and times for the drive-by.
Eventually they appeared in a convoy of pickups and cars flying Confederate flags, a symbol used by the far right for its historical associations with slavery and racism.
Many wore black shirts emblazoned with patches declaring their lifetime membership of the "Invisible Empire". They rode in vehicles sporting their insignia of a white cross on red background. The weather was too cold for a march, organisers said.
One woman leaned from her window, twisting her face into a shout. "White power," she screamed.
The display is a reminder that America remains a country divided by race, politics and power, despite electing its first black president in 2008.
The KKK has campaigned for a white and Christian America since it emerged from the defeated South after the Civil War. Its bloody history includes lynchings and racial violence.
Not far from the protest is a memorial to the day in 1979 when five anti-racist protesters were shot dead at a KKK and American Nazi Party rally.
In recent years, its activities have disappeared from public view. At times it has resembled a rump movement, splintered and moribund, with opponents suggesting only a small core of members were left, posting in online message boards and delivering flyers.
But the emergence of the so-called Alt-Right - a chaotic collection of internet trolls, white supremacists and fellow travellers - suggests a new era of confidence for the far right, according to Manzoor Cheema, the founder of Muslims for Justice who helped organise a counter demonstration in the North Carolina city of Raleigh.
"These are very dangerous times and this was exactly how fascism grew in Germany," he said.
For her part, Mrs Barker, who goes by the title Imperial Kommander, claimed to have seen a surge in membership of the North Carolina chapter, although she declined to give numbers.
"And now it seems like these people are kind of waking up, saying, 'I'm not held down and now I can actually feel privileged and feel proud to be white once more'."
She added that they planned to hold an awards dinner after the rally followed by a cross burning ceremony - if the wind died down to a safe level.
She brushed off accusations of racism, saying the group's aim was in line with mainstream policy from the recent past, such as Operation Wetback in the 1950s to deport Mexican illegal immigrants, a policy later condemned for civil rights violations.
She also raised concerns about the presence of Indians and Arabs in the US.
"We don't know who's here as sleeper cells," she said.
Her words follow an extraordinarily bitter election campaign, during which Mr Trump threatened to ban foreign Muslims from entering the country and said Syrian refugees represented a "great Trojan horse".
His rhetoric won the endorsement of David Duke, a former Grand Wizard of the KKK, as well as the group's newspaper,
The Crusader
.
As a result, many Muslims and immigrants in the nation fear a backlash.
Mr Trump has since made a number of calls for unity and said he wants to govern on behalf of the whole country.
"We condemn bigotry and prejudice in all of its forms. We denounce all of the hatred and we forcefully reject the language of exclusion and separation," he said during a victory rally in Cincinnati on Thursday.
But the words do not impress Mr Cheema who said urgent measures were needed to fight back.
"Our goal is to build a long-term movement to fight back against the racist policies, the policies that impact workers, that may impact immigrants, that may impact Muslims and that may cause more wars abroad," he said.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
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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.”
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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THE SPECS
2020 Toyota Corolla Hybrid LE
Engine: 1.8 litre combined with 16-volt electric motors
Transmission: Automatic with manual shifting mode
Power: 121hp
Torque: 142Nm
Price: Dh95,900
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
MATCH INFO
Inter Milan 2 (Vecino 65', Barella 83')
Verona 1 (Verre 19' pen)
PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTS
Bournemouth 1 Manchester City 2
Watford 0 Brighton and Hove Albion 0
Newcastle United 3 West Ham United 0
Huddersfield Town 0 Southampton 0
Crystal Palace 0 Swansea City 2
Manchester United 2 Leicester City 0
West Bromwich Albion 1 Stoke City 1
Chelsea 2 Everton 0
Tottenham Hotspur 1 Burnley 1
Liverpool 4 Arsenal 0
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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SECRET%20INVASION
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The biog
Name: Dhabia Khalifa AlQubaisi
Age: 23
How she spends spare time: Playing with cats at the clinic and feeding them
Inspiration: My father. He’s a hard working man who has been through a lot to provide us with everything we need
Favourite book: Attitude, emotions and the psychology of cats by Dr Nicholes Dodman
Favourit film: 101 Dalmatians - it remind me of my childhood and began my love of dogs
Word of advice: By being patient, good things will come and by staying positive you’ll have the will to continue to love what you're doing
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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.
