Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump on Tuesday refuted claims that Wendi Deng Murdoch had used their longstanding friendship "to further the interests of the Chinese government".
The former wife of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch lobbied the couple over a garden project in Washington that was funded by Beijing, leading US intelligence officials to advise Mr Kushner that it could amount to espionage, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The claim concerns a $100 million Chinese garden at the National Arboretum, which includes a 21-metre tall white tower. Fearing that the tower would be used for surveillance at a location close to both the Capitol and the White House, US counter intelligence agencies have stopped the project.
While confirming the meeting between Mr Kushner, son-in-law of President Donald Trump, and US intelligence officials early in 2017, a representative denied the Journal's report, insisting the relationship with Mr Murdoch's ex-wife is years old, more personal than political, and has nothing to do with China.
The couple had "been friends with Rupert and Wendi Murdoch for a decade before coming to Washington and their relationship is neither political nor about China," Mr Kushner's representative said, describing the contact with US intelligence officials as a "routine senior staff security briefing." Mr Kushner, he added, "has complied with all ethics and disclosure recommendations and has played a helpful role in strengthening the US-China relationship so as to help bring about a better resolution to the many issues the countries have."
Ms. Murdoch and the news mogul divorced in 2013 after 14 years of marriage. On social media, Ms Murdoch - who kept her married name - posted photos from Jared Kushner's birthday party in 2016 and President Trump's inauguration.
January 2016 and January 2017
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAXaS8RKVX-/?taken-by=wendimurdoch
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAXZ8KnqVXO/?taken-by=wendimurdoch
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A spokesman for Ms. Murdoch said she "has no knowledge of any FBI concerns or other intelligence agency concerns relating to her or her associations" or "of any garden projects funded by the Chinese government."
But speculation that Ms Murdoch could be a spy for the Chinese government only grew after the report. Michael Wolff, author of the bestseller Fire and Fury about the Trump presidency, tweeted after the Journal report appeared : "Since their divorce, [Rupert] Murdoch has been telling anybody who would listen that Wendi is a Chinese spy -- and had been throughout the marriage."
https://twitter.com/MichaelWolffNYC/status/953054474532261888
An alleged affair between Ms Murdoch and former British prime minister Tony Blair triggered the divorce. Later, rumours surfaced about another affair between Ms Murdoch, now 49, and Russian president Vladimir Putin. Mr Blair and Ms Murdoch have denied any misconduct.
In his book, Mr Wolff details relations between the Kushners and the Murdochs, and how Jared helped his father-in-law, Mr Trump, improve his rapport with the news titan after winning the White House in 2016.
US intelligence agencies regularly brief American officials about ties to foreign companies and entities, on account of potential threats to national security.
According to the Journal, the 12-acre project that Ms. Murdoch was lobbying for, would "feature a lake and multiple gardens and structures that could be used to host cultural programs." In October 2016 then president Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping finalised the agreement in a groundbreaking ceremony." But it "has since been shelved because of the counterintelligence concerns, according to people familiar with the national-security issues" the report added.
Both Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have worked on improving US relations with China, and their six-year-old daughter Arabella Rose speaks Mandarin. The Kushner family real estate company also has business in China, "holding advanced talks with Anbang Insurance Group Co. for an investment of as much as $1.25 billion in a New York real-estate project" as reported in the Journal. The talks broke off in March 2017.
Mr Kushner was last seen with Ms Murdoch in November, during the US president's trip to Asia.
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
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.”
Company profile: buybackbazaar.com
Name: buybackbazaar.com
Started: January 2018
Founder(s): Pishu Ganglani and Ricky Husaini
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech, micro finance
Initial investment: $1 million
Company%20profile
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