AJACCIO, CORSICA // The sparkling Mediterranean waters and rugged mountain backdrop provide an idyllic setting for the Corsican capital, but stark nationalist graffiti daubed on walls in the town centre shows that tensions over the island's status as part of France continue.
Ruled from Italy for hundreds of years, the birthplace of French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte has long had an uneasy relationship with its rulers in Paris since it became part of France in 1769.
This friction manifests itself today in occasional bombings targeting French-owned holiday homes, banks or military barracks. Mostly, however, the push for autonomy or independence has been carried out by peaceful means.
According to Gerard Dykstra, a spokesman for Corsica Libera, a political party formed from a variety of pro-independence organisations early last year, separating from France is about giving Corsicans their "national rights".
"Our history, our language, our vision of the world - we are a nation," he said.
"We are the lonely people in Europe. We are a nation in Europe that does not have its rights.
"We have not got official autonomy,`' he said.
"Our parliament does not have power to make law. We want the same rights as Scotland, for example."
Results earlier this year for the Corsican assembly may have significance, despite the body's limited powers, with nationalists gaining their best-ever results, taking 15 of the 51 seats. The pro-autonomy Femu Corsica party, secured 11 and Corsica Libera four.
Even the separatist Corsica Libera does not call for an immediate breakaway from France, instead advocating "a road map" to independence.
"We want a process," Mr Dykstra said. "Not immediately, to have time to change our economy, to have a more strong economy."
Indeed, economic factors loom large in the views of the those Corsicans - and they make up the vast majority of residents - who are opposed to independence or any form of autonomy.
The island's residents rely heavily on the state for employment, and without ties to mainland France, many feel the island could struggle.
"Pure independence for an island - it's very difficult," said Jo Bocognano, an Ajaccio shopkeeper who relies on tourists for much of his business and estimates just one in 20 islanders want to go it alone.
The separtists fear that remaining part of France risks excessive development on the lightly industrialised island and could lead to much of the coast becoming, as they see it, spoiled in the way of parts of mainland France.
Attempts in the past decade towards extending autonomy have faltered. Key proposals of the Matignon Process championed by the former French prime minister Lionel Jospin to expand the legislative powers of the island's assembly were thrown out in 2002 as unconstitutional.
The following year, a referendum that would have given the island a single administrative body to replace its two regional departments was narrowly defeated amid concern among nationalists the proposals did not genuinely increase greater local powers.
Nationalists have nonetheless achieved increased status for the Corsican language, an Italian dialect spoken by about two-thirds of the island's population of 260,000. It is now more commonly taught in schools, although it has yet to become compulsory. The use of French remains contentious, with French place names often painted over on road signs.
Despite the island's status remaining a source of contention, violence will dwindle, as with Basque separatists in Spain and republicans in Northern Ireland, with the political "normalisation" of Corsica's nationalists, believes Helen Hintjens, a senior lecturer in development and social justice at the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University, in Rotterdam.
The militant campaign for independence was most visible in the 1970s, partly because many French people from the country's former colonies in North Africa moved to Corsica.
Groups such as the National Liberation Front of Corsica remain active through occasional bombings, some on the French mainland.In 1998, France's chief representative on the island, Claude Erignac, was shot dead in the capital.
"Maybe there's always a faction that will continue with armed resistance, but they won't be as many and it won't be as easy for them be cause they're not representative of the dominant independence movement," she said.
The separatist movement will "retain a core of support and continue to attract the younger generation", believes Farimah Daftary, a researcher who has published extensively on Corsican constitutional issues.
"However, due to waves of arrests, internal infighting and assassinations and simple ageing, as well as corruption, the level of professionalism and commitment to ideals is at a much lower level than in the 1970s," she said.
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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.”
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
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Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
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Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
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Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
