A last-ditch battle to avert a looming US government shutdown moved to the senate on Friday, where Democrats angered by the collapse of immigration talks have vowed to block a stop-gap funding bill.
With the federal government set to run out of money on Friday at midnight - the eve of the one-year anniversary of president Donald Trump's inauguration - the bill cleared the House of Representatives with a 230-197 vote.
But prospects appeared gloomy in the senate, where Democrats eager for leverage on budget and immigration deals were intent on shooting it down.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said that if agreement was not reached by Friday night, there should be an even shorter-term funding measure of a few days that would "give the president a few days to come to the table."
Mitch McConnell, the senate Republican majority leader, said the House bill provides for four weeks of funding, enough to allow talks to continue "without throwing the government into disarray for no reason".
Mr Schumer wants to "hold the entire country hostage", he said.
"The leader is looking to deflect blame, but it just won't work," said Mr Schumer.
House speaker Paul Ryan called on Mr Schumer to avoid a government shutdown, saying: "It is risky. It is reckless. And it is wrong."
Mr Trump, who Mr Schumer said was "like a Sphinx on this issue", on Thursday added to the chaos gripping Washington, weighing in on the intense Republican manoeuvring aimed at avoiding a politically embarrassing funding debacle.
After a burst of tweets he second-guessed top Republican legislators and slapped down his own chief of staff, who had been leading a White House push on Capitol Hill for a budget compromise.
Arriving at the Pentagon for a visit, Mr Trump told reporters the government "could very well" shut down on Friday.
In the event the funding dries up, federal employees for agencies considered non-essential are ordered to stay home until a budget deal is struck, at which point they are paid retroactively.
The most recent shutdowns - in 1995, 1996 and 2013 - saw about 800,000 workers furloughed per day.
Key government bodies such as the White House, Congress, State Department and Pentagon would remain operational, but would likely furlough some staff.
The military would still report for duty, but troops - including those in combat - would potentially not be paid.
Each side is blaming the other for a failure to reach a budget compromise after three previous funding extensions.
"A government shutdown will be devastating to our military ... something the Dems care very little about!" Mr Trump tweeted in the morning.
And yet in another tweet, Mr Trump criticised the Republican short-term funding measure, opposing an offer intended to make it hard for Democrats to vote against it.
The sweetener is a six-year extension of CHIP, a popular children's health insurance programme which Democrats have worked hard to protect.
Up against a similar deadline last month, legislators passed a short-term resolution to keep the federal government funded until January 20.
If the Republican-led measure fails, Democrats will gain greater leverage to insist on a funding compromise that includes protection from deportation for the so-called "Dreamers", the estimated 700,000 immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children.
Negotiations on a bipartisan compromise that includes a solution for the Dreamers programme collapsed in acrimony at a White House meeting last week.
Mr Trump's reported reference to African nations and Haiti as "s***hole countries" at that meeting ignited a still-smouldering political firestorm.
White House chief of staff John Kelly met on Wednesday with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to make the case that Mr Trump had "evolved" on his signature campaign promise to build a wall the length of the US border with Mexico.
Funding for border security, but not a full-blown wall, was part of the bipartisan budget compromise presented at last week's contentious White House talks.
Participants at the meeting with Mr Kelly quoted the retired general and former head of the Department of Homeland Security as saying Mr Trump was not "fully informed" when he made the wall promise.
But Mr Trump hit back on Twitter on Thursday: "The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it," he wrote.
"If there is no Wall, there is no Deal!" the president said in another tweet that described Mexico as "now rated the most dangerous country in the world".
The mixed messages from the White House prompted a rebuke on Wednesday from a frustrated Mr McConnell.
"I'm looking for something that President Trump supports, and he's not yet indicated what measure he's willing to sign," Mr McConnell told reporters.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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Charlie Preston (captain) – goal shooter/ goalkeeper (Dubai College)
Arushi Holt (vice-captain) – wing defence / centre (Jumeriah English Speaking School)
Olivia Petricola (vice-captain) – centre / wing attack (Dubai English Speaking College)
Isabel Affley – goalkeeper / goal defence (Dubai English Speaking College)
Jemma Eley – goal attack / wing attack (Dubai College)
Alana Farrell-Morton – centre / wing / defence / wing attack (Nord Anglia International School)
Molly Fuller – goal attack / wing attack (Dubai College)
Caitlin Gowdy – goal defence / wing defence (Dubai English Speaking College)
Noorulain Hussain – goal defence / wing defence (Dubai College)
Zahra Hussain-Gillani – goal defence / goalkeeper (British School Al Khubairat)
Claire Janssen – goal shooter / goal attack (Jumeriah English Speaking School)
Eliza Petricola – wing attack / centre (Dubai English Speaking College)
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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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Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Stan%20Lee
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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
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (3), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Game is on BeIN Sports
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
