FRACKING

U.K. Looks Again at Shale Gas in Push Toward Energy Security

Alex Morales, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng commissioned a geological report into the science of shale gas fracking, as the U.K. government tries to boost energy self-sufficiency in the wake of the Ukraine war.

Kwarteng wrote Tuesday to the British Geological requesting a report in three months’ time on the modeling of seismic activity in shale rocks in the U.K. The letter, which was posted on the government’s website, will add to speculation that the U.K. is preparing to reverse tack on fracking for gas.

The move comes with the government due to publish a new energy supply strategy on Thursday that aims to increase domestic energy production and reduce reliance on imports from Russia. The U.K. wants other nations to follow suit, depriving Vladimir Putin of funds for his invasion of Ukraine.

Fracking has been on pause in Britain since 2019 when a small earthquake were registered at Cuadrilla Resources Ltd.’s Preston New Road site near Blackpool. Officials last month withdrew the requirement for the company to concrete over three wells, giving it a one-year reprieve in which to prove the drilling technique is safe. 

Britain’s Failed Frackers Hope for Reprieve Due to Russia Crisis

Kwarteng’s letter indicates the government is still far from convinced about the case for fracking. The reasons for the pause in fracking “have not gone away and to date we have not identified any new, compelling evidence that would support a reassessment of the current position,” he wrote.

In a separate statement, Kwarteng also pointed out that fracking would not solve price issues in the short-term, and that it would take “years of exploration and development before commercial quantities of gas could be produced for the market.”

The new study will be desk-based and not involve the drilling of any more test wells or any extra seismic monitoring, Kwarteng’s department said.

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

Ministers launch UK fracking study, paving

way to end moratorium


Conservatives seek to examine latest techniques, citing

 rising energy costs

Cuadrilla’s hydraulic fracturing at Preston New Road shale gas exploration site in Lancashire. 

Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images


Aubrey Allegretti

THE GUARDIAN
@breeallegretti

Tue 5 Apr 2022 

Ministers have paved the way for a reconsideration of the moratorium on fracking by announcing they have commissioned a study to look at fresh evidence about the controversial practice.

In an effort to decrease Britain’s reliance on imported energy given spiralling energy costs – caused partly by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, insisted it was “absolutely right that we explore all possible domestic energy sources”.

The Conservatives promised in their 2019 manifesto that they would not support shale gas extraction “unless the science shows categorically that it can be done safely”.

Some senior Tory MPs have pushed for fracking to be part of the government’s long-delayed energy security strategy, expected to be published on Thursday. The strategy has been mooted to contain more ambitious targets for onshore and offshore wind.

Kwarteng suggested it would also explore expanding fracking – a move he has so far appeared to resist. He said on Tuesday that the government would be “guided by the science on shale gas” and that it “remains the case that fracking in England would take years of exploration and development before commercial quantities of gas could be produced for the market, and would certainly have no effect on prices in the near term. However, there will continue to be an ongoing demand for oil and gas over the coming decades as we transition to cheap renewable energy and new nuclear power.”

He continued: “In light of Putin’s criminal invasion of Ukraine, it is absolutely right that we explore all possible domestic energy sources. However, unless the latest scientific evidence demonstrates that shale gas extraction is safe, sustainable and of minimal disturbance to those living and working nearby, the pause in England will remain in place.”

The British Geological Survey has been asked to investigate if there are any new fracking techniques that scientists believe would be suitable for use in the UK, and how the size of tremors caused by extracting shale gas compares with other forms of underground energy production.

The study will also look at whether there are other sites outside those identified in Lancashire that could be at a lower risk of tremors.

Fracking is potentially polluting and disruptive to communities and many experts say it would take up to a decade to reap any benefits, and the amount of gas would not make a dent in global prices.

Its return appeared to be hampered even more given the lack of support from Tory MPs, revealed by the Guardian. Just five Conservative MPs out of a pool of 138 asked whose constituencies have exploration licences said they supported the measure in their area. A total of 41 said they were against it, while the rest declined to comment or did not reply.

Where fracking has been trialled, there has been major local opposition and anger due to earthquakes.

Boris Johnson has resisted the permanent closure of two shale gas wells in Lancashire, which were due to be closed on 30 June. Last month Kwarteng said the prime minister had told him it did “not make sense” for the wells to be concreted in.

Top South Africa Coal Miner Extends Rally as EU Eyes Russia Ban

Felix Njini and John Viljoen, Bloomberg News

BC-Top-South-Africa-Coal-Miner-Extends-Rally-as-EU-Eyes-Russia-Ban , Felix Njini and John Viljoen

(Bloomberg) -- Thungela Resources Ltd., South Africa’s largest exporter of coal burned in power stations, extended its share-price rally after a report that the European Union is working to end imports of the fuel from Russia.

The EU plans to propose a mandatory phaseout of Russian coal supplies in response to reports that Russian forces committed apparent war crimes in Ukraine, Bloomberg News reported. Thungela could benefit as nations scramble to arrange alternative sources of thermal coal.

Its shares jumped as much as 9.6% to a record in Johannesburg, taking their winning streak to a fifth day. Thungela, carved out of global mining giant Anglo American Plc last year, has advanced more than 90% since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

“If the demand for coal within the energy complex remains high and if the EU decides to ban imports from Russia, other players with some kind of optionality to be able to fill that gap, players like Thungela, will benefit,” said Lester Davids, an analyst at Unum Capital Ltd.  

Shortcomings in South Africa’s rail network may hobble Thungela’s ability to move additional coal abroad. Last year, more than $2 billion in potential coal, iron ore and chrome exports were lost because contracted volumes couldn’t reach ports, according to the Minerals Council South Africa.

“It would be very challenging to replace the coal flows from Russia to Europe,” said Ben Davis, a mining analyst at Liberum Capital Ltd. in London. “South Africa could in theory contribute, but no one is expecting any miracles given the logistical constraints on rail.”

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

 

LA Has Money But Lacks Focus for Homeless Help, Mayor Candidate De Leon Says

John Gittelsohn and Brian Eckhouse, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- Los Angeles mayoral candidate Kevin de Leon, the city councilmember whose district spans Skid Row and has by far the city’s biggest homeless population, said money is available to provide shelter to the unhoused but that implementation has been lacking.

Los Angeles had more than 41,000 homeless in 2020, one of the biggest populations of any U.S. city and a number that likely increased during the pandemic. Public frustration and insecurity has mounted as the garbage-strewn encampments foster a sense of lawlessness, according to voter surveys in the nation’s second-largest city, where a dozen candidates are vying to replace outgoing Mayor Eric Garcetti. 

De Leon’s rivals, including U.S. Representative Karen Bass and Rick Caruso, a billionaire real estate developer, have said a state of emergency is needed to address the blight.  

“A state of emergency won’t give you nothing,” de Leon said in an interview at Bloomberg’s Los Angeles bureau on Monday. “It just sounds good politically.”  

Last year, the city council adopted de Leon’s goal to create at least 25,000 housing units for the homeless by 2025, a plan he said is possible by deploying available funding from federal, state and local sources outside the city’s general fund. The cost of housing can be slashed by converting vacant hotel rooms or building small units on unused government land, he said. In 2016, Los Angeles voters approved a $1.2 billion bond to build 10,000 supportive housing units. The program has been beset by slow progress and soaring costs, with the average price per unit running at almost $600,000.

De Leon cited a tiny home community with 226 beds in his district and the clearance of an encampment in the Little Tokyo area last month as examples of his personal success in battling the problem. 

“What I’ve been doing in my district is what I want to do for the rest of the city of LA,” he said.

On public safety, he criticized rivals who want to add as many as 1,500 police officers to the LAPD, arguing they’d need to raise taxes or drastically cut city services such as librarians to pay the bills. He proposed using social service workers rather than uniformed officers to deal with mental health issues and other disturbances that take up police time. 

He proposed creating a city health agency to better serve the heavily immigrant and minority population, whose needs he said have been overlooked by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. The current system failed during the Covid-19 pandemic to protect Angelenos who couldn’t work remotely and live in multi-generational households with higher infection and death rates, he said.

“As someone who has that shared experience when it comes to poverty, someone who has that shared experience when it comes to having an immigrant mother -- I don’t have that blind spot,” he said.

The son of Guatemalan immigrants, de Leon is courting minority voters in his quest for the mayor’s job. Hispanics comprise 47% of the 4 million residents of the city of Los Angeles, followed by 29% White, 12% Asian and 8.6% Black, according to 2020 U.S. Census data.

He was “statistically tied” with Bass in a February survey by Loyola Marymount University that was released before Caruso officially entered the race. It also showed more than 40% of voters were undecided. Hispanic voters often decide late in the race and are likely to turn out at a higher rate this year compared with past mayoral campaigns, when voting was held separately from general elections, trends that could help de Leon, according Fernando Guerra, director of Loyola Marymount’s Center for the Study of Los Angeles, which conducted the poll. 

“There’s a path for him to win,” Guerra said.  

De Leon grew up in Southern California and Mexico and was the first member of his family to graduate from high school. He worked as an organizer for immigrant and labor groups before being elected to the California Assembly in 2006. He served as a state lawmaker until 2018, the last four years as president pro tempore of the state senate. 

In 2018, he lost to to Dianne Feinstein, a fellow Democrat, in the race for senator. He was elected to the city council in 2020, replacing Jose Huizar, who faces federal corruption charges.

De Leon lined up endorsements from several Latino political leaders. A notable exception: Antonio Villaraigosa, who in 2005 was elected as the city’s first Latino mayor in 130 years, has announced his support for Bass.

Garcetti, who has declined to endorse a candidate, has been nominated as U.S. ambassador to India and he’s ineligible to run because of term limits. The primary election for the non-partisan seat is June 7 and the general election Nov. 8. 

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

Young Black Americans Wary of the Stock Market Are Turning to Crypto

Kelsey Butler, Bloomberg News

A cryptocurrency ATM in San Francisco. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Young Black Americans are embracing cryptocurrency to counter a distrust in stock markets and financial institutions.

About 38% of Black investors under 40 years old own digital tokens, compared with 29% for their White counterparts, according to a survey by Ariel Investments and Charles Schwab Corp. issued Tuesday. Overall, twice as many Black respondents than those who are White ranked crypto as the best investment choice overall.

The embrace of crypto shows the growing influence of social media and the popularity of risky investments among Black investors -- and a need for more financial education, the companies said. It also reflects a finding in the survey that Black Americans are more likely to see the stock market as riskier and less than fair than White investors.

“It’s just very worrisome,” said John Rogers, founder and co-chief executive officer of Ariel Investments. “People are just interested in getting rich quickly through this hot, exciting, dynamic new area.”

The risk is that Black investors sacrifice their financial goals, he said. “The worst thing is if you get started and your first investment doesn’t work out well, it’ll take a long time to get comfortable in the markets again,” Rogers said.

Crypto is so popular among Black investors that 23% of those surveyed cited excitement for the asset class as the reason they started investing, Ariel and Schwab said. 

Read more: Black Americans Are Embracing Stocks and Bitcoin to Make Up for Stolen Time

Among the other findings:

• ESG investing is more attractive to Black investors than White. Forty-four percent of Black respondents said it was “very important” to align their investments with their personal beliefs versus 29% of White respondents
• Black investors are more than twice as likely to expect annual returns of more than 20% as White investors
• Black Americans are investing and saving significantly more than they did in 2020 -- about $650 per month. That figure was almost $400 in 2020. White investors are now saving about $850 a month

Ariel and Schwab surveyed about 2,000 people age 18 and older, half of whom identified as Black. The average household income of Black and White participants was $99,000 and $106,000, respectively. The survey was conducted from Jan. 4-13 and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

 

Slim majority of Turks say Erdoğan will not win re-election in 2023: survey

By

 Turkish Minute

 -

 April 5, 2022 

Close to 48 percent of Turks believe that incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will not win the next presidential election scheduled for 2023, while some 46 percent say he will be re-elected, according to the results of a survey.

The “Turkey’s Pulse” survey, conducted by Metropoll in March, indicated that 45.7 percent of respondents think Erdoğan will win yet another presidential election, while 47.6 percent said they don’t believe Erdoğan will be elected to a third term.

Erdoğan was first elected president for a five-year renewable term in 2014 by a direct vote under the parliamentary system. Turkey switched to presidential system of governance with a referendum in 2017 and held snap presidential and parliamentary polls in 2018, when Erdoğan was elected president again.

To the same question asked in the company’s survey in February, 42.6 percent said they believed Erdoğan would win the next presidential election.

According to the survey, Erdoğan’s role of mediator in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine helped him to earn several more points in March.

Turkey, which did not take part in international sanctions against Russia, hosted two rounds of peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators in March.

A total of 31.1 percent of respondents of the survey said Erdoğan would not be able to win the presidential election if it were held next Sunday, while 30.2 percent said he would, which was 2.6 points higher than the figure in February.

Metropoll has been asking people regularly since August 2020 about their views concerning Erdoğan’s chances of winning the next presidential election.

While the percentage of people who believed he could win the next presidential election was 55.4 percent in August 2020, there has been a 9.7 point fall in this figure over the past one-and-a-half years. In the meantime, there has been an 8.5 point increase in the percentage of people who think Erdoğan cannot win the next election in the same period.

Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have been losing public support in the public surveys at a time when staggeringly high cost of living has become the new normal in Turkey, where recent increases in food and utility prices are pushing up inflation, further crippling the purchasing power of citizens

In March consumer prices accelerated to 61.14 percent at an annual rate, up from 54.4 percent in February.

USA

This Black Maternal Health Week, Let’s Expand Access to Midwifery Care

APRIL 05, 2022

ANNA BERNSTEIN

FELLOW

April 11 marks the beginning of this year’s Black Maternal Health Week—a week of action, awareness-raising, and advocacy to combat the United States’ maternal health crisis, one which puts Black women and birthing people at alarming risk. It is unacceptable that our maternal health outcomes continue to worsen, and it is beyond time that we devote adequate attention and resources to reversing this trend.

Despite the demonstrated benefits of midwifery care, and its historical importance in the care of Black women in particular, midwives have been excluded from the U.S. health care system. In order to reduce inequities in maternal health outcomes—caused by a legacy of structural racism and ongoing discrimination—Black birthing people must have access to community-based care, and midwifery care in particular. This commentary will briefly outline the importance and history of midwifery care in the United States, and recommend policies that would increase equity in access.
Midwifery Care and Its Benefits

The Black maternal health crisis cannot be solved without access to quality, patient-centered, and affirming care—including midwifery care. Midwives, the vast majority of whom in the United States are either certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) or certified midwives (CMs), provide a range of services for women and birthing people throughout the reproductive life course. Notably, midwives are the traditional care providers for pregnant individuals, providing support throughout pregnancies, during birth, and into the postpartum period (and playing a critical role in the global reproductive health workforce). Depending on their level of training, midwives may be trained to attend births in hospital settings alongside physicians, or may provide care in birthing centers or home births, without physicians present.

The midwifery model of care uses a client-centered approach that aims to support individuals before, during, and after birth. Using a holistic framework that takes into account the physical, psychological, and social well-being of the birthing individual, midwives offer hands-on care and seek to reduce unnecessary medical interventions.


When compared to other models of care, midwifery care is associated with higher levels of satisfaction and fewer interventions. In particular, patients associate midwifery care with personalized care, trust, and empowerment.

When compared to other models of care, midwifery care is associated with higher levels of satisfaction and fewer interventions. In particular, patients associate midwifery care with personalized care, trust, and empowerment. Giving birth with the assistance of a midwife can also decrease the odds of cesarean sections, which can improve outcomes for subsequent births; the procedures are associated with increased risks to fertility and adverse birth outcomes for later pregnancies. This is particularly important for Black women, who are at higher risk for receiving cesarean sections, even with low-risk births. Additional research has demonstrated that integration of midwifery care into health systems is associated with positive maternal health outcomes. Furthermore, costs of midwife-assisted births are, on average, lower than obstetric-led care.

These benefits that midwifery care offer are crucial for communities that suffer disproportionately from the burden of maternal mortality and morbidity, particularly Black and Native birthing people.
A History of Exclusion in the United States

The practice of midwifery dates back to the beginning of recorded history, has roots across cultures, and, as it’s practiced in the United States, also has origins in West African traditions brought to the country by enslaved people. Black midwives—including the grand midwives who helped establish the practice in this country—were historically critical in supporting women through childbirth and beyond. Yet Black providers are not well represented in the current midwifery workforce: today, over 90 percent of nurse-midwives in the United States are white. This shift in demographics did not happen by accident: rather, it was the result of systematic exclusion and the medicalization of childbirth.

From the end of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth, the influence of the American Medical Association (AMA)—a professional association and lobbying organization for physicians—grew. The AMA pursued “professional homogenization and increased standards for medical education;” as the field of obstetrics emerged and childbirth was increasingly medicalized, midwives were pushed out from practicing. (It is worth noting, too, that the field of obstetrics and gynecology was built in part on the exploitation of and experimentation on enslaved women.) The medical establishment’s narratives often used racist, sexist, and classist language to discredit the largely Black midwifery workforce. This discriminatory rhetoric accused Black midwives of being dangerous, unprofessional, and unhygenic. To this day, racism persists within the field of midwifery, and highlights the need for diversification of the workforce.

Access to Midwifery Care Today

As a result of this medicalization of maternal care and the move towards hospital-based births, midwifery care has become less common in the United States: today, midwives only attend 10 percent of births nationwide. Given the obstacles that many individuals face in receiving any pregnancy-related care at all, midwifery offers an underutilized model that deserves expanded access. Currently, 2.2 million women of reproductive age in the United States live in maternity deserts (areas without a maternal health provider). Midwives are already meeting some of these needs outside of urban centers: in rural areas—which have been particularly plagued by hospital closures—midwives attend around one-third of all births.

Insurance coverage of midwifery care can be a barrier for potential patients. Despite the benefits of midwifery care, it is often inaccessible to the people who need it most—including Medicaid enrollees. Addressing access within Medicaid is particularly important to eliminating maternal health disparities, because the program finances two-thirds of births to Black women.

Improving access to midwifery care means also improving access to freestanding birth centers: even though midwifery care can be offered in any setting, it is always offered in birth centers. Birth centers offer a holistic approach to care using a midwifery model, and have been shown to have positive outcomes and high levels of patient satisfaction. Medicaid enrollees, however, have less access to birth centers than do privately insured individuals. Inclusion of birth centers and home births in Medicaid programs are both dependent on states, and only half of states cover home deliveries (which may be attended by midwives). Low Medicaid reimbursement rates for birth centers may also limit the number of Medicaid enrollees that centers can accept—these reimbursement rates vary by state and fall well below Medicare rates. In addition, onerous scope of practice and licensing laws can restrict the care that midwives can provide or require physician supervision.

An equitable approach to midwifery care is one in which Medicaid enrollees have access to midwives to the same degree as pregnant people with private insurance, and one in which midwives themselves are reimbursed at a rate that is comparable to other providers.
How We Can Improve Access to Midwives through Policy

This Black Maternal Health Week, there are a number of existing policy proposals to uplift that could address these obstacles to midwifery care. Several legislative proposals would promote equity for both Medicaid enrollees and midwives with Medicaid-financed patients. For instance, the Mama’s First Act, introduced in the 116th Congress by Representative Gwen Moore (D-WI-4), requires Medicaid coverage of not only midwifery services but also doula care.

To ensure that Medicaid enrollees are able to access birth centers and the midwifery care they offer, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) should also enforce its earlier guidance to states that at least one birth center is included in each Medicaid managed care plan. Senator Lujan (D-NM) and Representative Katherine Clark (D-MA-5) also introduced the Birth Access Benefiting Improved Essential Facility Services Act (BABIES) Act, which would require CMS to establish a demonstration project to improve freestanding birth center services. In addition, even without further action from Congress, the CMS Innovation Center (CMMI) could use its existing authority to test models that include midwifery care.

Federal policy efforts can also address the expansion and diversification of the perinatal workforce, including midwives. The Midwives for MOMS Act of 2021, introduced by Senator Lujan and Representative Roybal-Allard (D-CA-40), would create grants within the Health Resources and Services Administration to establish or expand midwifery programs. The Perinatal Workforce Act, led by Representative Moore and Senator Baldwin (D-WI)—and part of the Black Maternal Health Momnibus—seeks to grow and diversify the perinatal workforce. Its provisions that were included in the House version of the Build Back Better Act specifically devote funding for training of CNMs; TCF analyses found that these investments would provide tens of thousands maternal health professionals with educational support.

In considering funding, community-based organizations should also be prioritized. These groups, often Black women-led, are already leading efforts to provide Black women and birthing people with patient-centered care. Legislation like the Kira Johnson Act, led by Representative Alma Adams (D-NC-12) and included in the Momnibus, would make important investments in these organizations. Maternal health funding investments, including those from the Perinatal Workforce Act and the Kira Johnson Act, must be included in the final iteration of the social spending package passed through budget reconciliation.

Of course, ensuring access to care also means providing people with health coverage throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period. Regardless of whether a Medicaid enrollee chooses midwifery care, coverage must be provided for a full year postpartum. Extension to one year of Medicaid postpartum coverage must be made mandatory and permanent, building on the important progress of the state option included in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

Increasing access to high-quality, personalized, and holistic care—as offered by the midwifery model of care—is crucial to eliminating disparities in maternal health outcomes. However, midwives, and Black midwives in particular, have been historically excluded from the U.S. health care system. In order to improve Black maternal health outcomes, access to midwifery care must be made widely accessible and affordable for all pregnant people, and this Black Maternal Health Week should serve as a call to action.

TAGS: WOMEN'S HEALTH, MATERNAL HEALTH, BLACK MATERNAL HEALTH

COMMENTARY HEALTH CARE

The Worsening U.S. Maternal Health Crisis in Three Graphs

MARCH 2, 2022 BY JAMILA TAYLOR, ANNA BERNSTEIN, THOMAS WALDROP AND VINA SMITH-RAMAKRISHNAN

DATA HEALTH CARE

Tracking Progress of the Black Maternal Health Momnibus

JANUARY 24, 2022 BY JAMILA TAYLOR AND ANNA BERNSTEIN

COMMENTARY HEALTH CARE
Four Ways the Build Back Better Act Could Improve Black Maternal Health

OCTOBER 20, 2021BY JAMILA TAYLOR AND ANNA BERNSTEIN

COMMENTARY HEALTH CARE
Structural Racism as a Root Cause of America’s Black Maternal Health CrisisMAY 6, 2021BY JAMILA TAYLOR



Anna Bernstein, Fellow
Anna Bernstein is a health care policy fellow at The Century Foundation, where she works on issues related to maternal and reproductive health.

Kuwait's government resigns in latest standoff with parliament

Apr 05 2022 

Kuwait’s government submitted its resignation on Tuesday, state news agency KUNA reported, ahead of a no-confidence vote against the prime minister in parliament, amid a lengthy political feud that has hindered fiscal reform in the Gulf oil producer.



Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah, who took over most of the ruling emir’s duties late last year, received the government’s letter of resignation from Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid, KUNA reported.

Sheikh Sabah, a member of the ruling al-Sabah family and premier since late 2019, has faced a combative legislature as the head of successive cabinets, with opposition MPs bent on questioning him over issues including perceived corruption.

The vote in parliament, called a non-cooperation motion, was scheduled for Wednesday. The current government was appointed in December, the third in 2021 as the standoff with the elected parliament dragged on.

Kuwait has given its assembly more influence than similar bodies in other Gulf states, including the power to pass and block laws, question ministers and submit no-confidence motions against senior government officials.

Fitch Ratings downgraded Kuwait in January to ‘AA-’ from ‘AA’, citing “ongoing political constraints” hindering its ability to pass a debt law and address a heavy reliance on oil, a lavish welfare system and a bloated public sector.

The octogenarian emir, before delegating duties to his designated successor, also in his 80s, tried to end the impasse by pardoning dissidents in an amnesty sought by opposition lawmakers. Kuwait does not allow political parties.

Kuwaiti political analyst Nasser al-Abdali said some ruling family members were using parliament to push their agenda as they jostle for power, worsening hostilities.

“There is a generational struggle inside the ruling family,” he told Reuters. “It is expected that the resignation will be accepted and a new prime minister appointed.”

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has taken palliative measures to temporarily boost finances while more structural reforms remain deadlocked, including the debt law.

While higher oil prices have offered some relief, Kuwait has been unable to issue international debt since 2017.

Perennial feuding has led to frequent cabinet reshuffles or dissolution of parliament holding up investment and reform.

France elections 2022: With a late surge, can socialist Jean-Luc Mélenchon revive the French left?

In-depth
Days ahead of the first round of voting in the French elections, Moroccan-born leftist candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon has surged in polls. Can his radical socialist campaign secure him a seat in the run-off for president?

Basma El Atti
05 April, 2022

A survivor of the fall of the French left has emerged from the ruins to have a shot at the upcoming presidential election: Jean-Luc Mélenchon has become France’s leading left-wing candidate after steadily rising in the polls and is now eyeing the Elysée.

Likening himself to a tortoise, the veteran leftist and leader of the France Unbowed party hopes that his third candidacy will see his slow and steady rise to win the presidential race.

A recent surge in the polls means Mélenchon is currently in third place, just a handful of points behind far-right Le Pen while centrist incumbent Macron leads the bid. If Mélenchon can make it through, he would end the decade-long absence of leftist candidates from the second round of the French election.

Known as France’s Bernie Sanders, the 70-year-old politician shares many factors with his American counterpart. Both are willingly impulsive, sanguine and do not shy away from debating his competitors. Both also find their dominant support base among younger voters.

Mélenchon’s confidence as an orator, erudition and dry sense of humour are seen by his supporters as a display of his authenticity.

"Born in Tangier, the veteran politician witnessed in his early childhood Morocco’s struggle towards independence from French colonisation - a struggle he said inspired his political journey"

Unlike the far-right candidate Eric Zemmour, who dismisses his Algerian roots, Mélonchon is very proud of the years he spent in the Maghreb. Born in Tangier, the veteran politician witnessed in his early childhood Morocco’s struggle towards independence from French colonisation - a struggle he said inspired his political journey.

“My first demonstration was when I was 5 years old. I had come across a demonstration with my father and my uncle, which demanded the return of Mohammed V [the king of Morocco who was exiled at the time]. I went home and was very happy to have seen those brave men, I started to go around the table shouting ‘Return to us, Mohammed Ben Youssef’. My first demonstration was for the independence of Morocco and the return of the King of Morocco to his kingdom,” said Mélenchon during his campaign in March 2022.

Mélenchon says that his time in Tangier as well as his travels to Latin America have inspired him to embrace the diversity of races and religions in one country. “I have never suffered from the panic fears and racist anxieties that overwhelm others,” he said.

Mélenchon began his political career with the National Union of Students of France before joining the Socialist Party in the 1970s until 2008, when he left after accusing it of leaning towards the centre.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon attends a presidential march with members of his party La France Insoumise on March 20, 2022. [Getty]

In 2016, Mélenchon launched his eco-socialist party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), combining radical left-wing ideas, such as jobs for all and increasing taxes on the rich, with green-tinged proposals, including investing in green energy and banning pesticides.

His progressive campaign has proved successful with young people across the country before: Mélenchon won more 18-25 year-old votes in 2017 than either of the candidates ahead of him. He hopes to make a similar case to French youth this year.

Rap performances before his speeches, a video game of Mélenchon fighting corruption, and a Twitch channel to stream his ideas to the gaming community are bringing his perspective of “another world is possible” closer to his Gen Z voting base, particularly those from immigrant, particularly African, backgrounds.

“Honest” and “fair” is how Youssef, a Moroccan-French university student, describes the candidate’s programme.

“Taxing the rich, ensuring free higher education, unlike Macron, sound to me like the most honest and logical ideas we need in France right now. This is why I support Mélenchon,” Youssef, who at the age of 20 is navigating his first election as a voter, told The New Arab.

The racist conspiracy theory gripping French elections

In-depth

Florence Massena

Mélenchon has vowed to lower the legal retirement age from 62 to 60, introduce a monthly minimum wage of 1,400 euros, and reintroduce a wealth tax as well as raise taxes on the rich.

For the young, Mélenchon wants to lower the voting age to 16, grant 1000 euros to students per month to prevent debt and introduce a form of paid civic service for people under 25-year-old.

Estimated at 3 million people, about 5-6% of the total electorate, more than a third of French people from an African background intend to vote for Mélenchon, while a quarter plan to vote for president Macron for a second term. The rest of the candidates have failed to garner support.

“It's traditional. Families from African roots or mixed families tend to support the left wing in the presidential elections, considering their pr0gressive programs towards diversity. But the division of the left camp is what divides these votes,” explained the Morocco-based political expert Olivier Deaux to The New Arab.

"Estimated at 3 million people, about 5-6% of the total electorate, more than a third of French people from an African background intend to vote for Mélenchon"

“It is time to put an end to imperialism, neocolonialism, paternalism,” Mélenchon said during his visit to Burkina Faso in 2021, emphasising that his goal as president would be "building a relationship with Africa based on the sovereignty of the peoples”.

Mélenchon has vowed to facilitate access to visas, regularise workers and institute a ten-year residence permit, and believes that minority groups are an integral component of France’s future.

The candidate has proposed that the African countries of the Franc zone be exclusively in control of their currency. He also advocates for the cancellation of debts of certain African countries which, according to him, are contracted by dictatorships to enrich their camp clinging to power.

“His opinions regarding Africa are well-established. He sounds like the only candidate who does not picture Africa as a source of danger as the other candidates do," said Ibragih, a Ghanaian student living in France.

Mélenchon is also determined to replace the country’s constitution, which gives the president a strong upper hand, with a new parliamentary system. He has promised also to fight against sexism and violence against women and to overhaul France’s police force.

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War in Ukraine takes centre stage in French elections

In-depth

Florence Massena

Yet, he remains a dividing figure even among left-wing supporters. Pushing to exit NATO and end the nuclear programme in France are seen as an aggressive approach for many of the admirers of his socially-minded policies.

In addition, his aggressive remarks towards Kyiv in the past are casting a shadow on the candidate’s progressive campaign amid international empathy with Ukraine following the Russian invasion.

Mélenchon, who once supported the annexation of Crimea as legitimate, voiced his change of heart towards Ukraine after Putin’s offensive in February, as he hammered the slogan "No to war! No to Putin’s war!” in his 2022 campaign in an attempt to reverse the past position that may cost him dearly.

Just a few days away from the first round of voting on April 10, Mélenchon third-place position seems secure with 15% of the vote, but securing a final victory still seems far-off.

However, reaching the run-off against Macron and becoming the first leftist candidate to reach the second round since 2021 looks increasingly like a highly possible scenario, explained French election expert Charles Deau.

"Just a few days away from the first round of voting on April 10, Mélenchon third-place position seems secure with 15% of the vote, but securing a final victory still seems far-off"

“I believe that Mélenchon will make it to the second tour. Considering the trauma of the French presidential election in 2002, I think the leftist supporters will rally behind Mélenchon, opting for the ‘useful vote’,” Deau told The New Arab.

In the first round of the 2002 presidential election, the Prime Minister and socialist candidate Lionel Jospin was eliminated to everyone's surprise and deprived of a confrontation in the second round against the outgoing right-president Jacques Chirac.

Jospin’s elimination, which was due to a crowded and fractured left movement where votes were split among several candidates, serves as a traumatic memory that forced French voters to choose between two right candidates. Left-leaning voters will be determined to vote strategically to avoid a repeat of this scenario.

“In a two-round election, where only two candidates are selected for the second round, the useful vote consists of not wasting your vote on a candidate who one imagines has no chance of winning or reaching the second round, even if it is the one they prefer. And in this case that is Jean-Luc Mélenchon,” explained Deau.

Still, Deau believes that socially-minded voters will most likely overcome their divisions and rally behind Mélenchon, as he is the only leftist in the camp who is capable of going “tête-à-tête” against his right-wing competitors and Macron.

Basma El Atti is The New Arab's Morocco correspondent.

Follow her on Twitter: @elattibasma

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/04/frances-melenchon-looks-to-magic-up.html

Ahead of the rally, Mélenchon also launched a "pocket hologram" filter of himself on Instagram and Snapchat, allowing anyone to conjure the ambitious far-leftist wherever they like. On Twitter, some posted their personal, portable Mélenchons into their back gardens, inside a refrigerator door hovering among their sauces, alongside their pets or even at Ireland's parliament, all with the campaign-provided hashtag #HologrammeDePoche.

The candidate, for his part, tweeted a video of himself with a mini-Mélenchon "teleported" onto his own shoulder urging supporters to go vote on April 10.

Macron seeks to revive lackluster campaign and fend off Le Pen comback

Author of the article
Stephane Mahe and Ingrid Melander
Publishing date: Apr 05, 2022 •

SPEZET — Strolling around a small town in northwestern France, beaming to crowds shouting “Macron President!,” Emmanuel Macron sought to revive a lackluster campaign whose increasingly uncertain outcome rattled markets on Tuesday.

Macron is still ahead in opinion polls but his far-right, eurosceptic rival Marine Le Pen has been closing the gap, and a poll on Monday put victory within the margin of error, unnerving investors ahead of Sunday’s first round.

With Le Pen’s ratings boosted by months of canvassing small constituencies, the 44-year old president, who has only started campaigning, spent hours talking with voters in the Brittany town of Spezet’s main square, taking selfies amid cheers and a handful of boos.

“You can count on me … on my determination. I will, in the coming days and weeks seek out, one by one, the confidence of our compatriots, to (have the mandate to continue) to act in the years to come for our country, for Europe,” he said.

Macron easily beat Le Pen five years ago with two-thirds of the vote in the second round. But though polls https://graphics.reuters.com/FRANCE-ELECTION/POLLS/zjvqkomzlvx/index.html see both qualifying this time too for the April 24 runoff, they put Macron’s lead at just 3 to 6 points – the former being within the margin of error

France’s benchmark CAC-40 index abruptly lost ground on Tuesday, with traders citing election nerves, while the spread between French and German 10-year government bonds stood at its widest in two years.

“Markets woke up on Le Pen,” said Jerome Legras, head of research at Axiom Alternative Investments.

Since her 2017 defeat, Le Pen has patiently worked on softening her image, striving to appear as a potential leader rather than a radical anti-system opponent.

Polls show this has worked on a growing number of voters, with a survey saying the once vilified candidate has become the second most-liked politician in the country.

The candidacy of Eric Zemmour, who is even further to the right than Le Pen, has, by contrast, helped Le Pen appear more palatable to voters.

“I always try to have the most reasonable view possible, and one that defends the interest of France,” she told France Inter radio.

Le Pen has continued to improve on her pre-first round polling, at 23% versus Macron’s 27%, two polls showed on Tuesday.

However, some 59% of those surveyed expected Macron to win a second mandate, the poll by OpinionWay and Kéa Partners for the Les Echos daily and Radio Classique showed, still the most likely scenario, all polls show.

Macron focused a half-hour speech in Spezet on how crucial Europe was for France – stressing, without naming her, Le Pen’s lingering euroscepticsm.

“Projects that turn their backs on Europe are harmful and deadly … for our future,” he said, concluding with a resounding: “Vive la France, et vive l’Europe!”

While she has ditched plans to leave the euro, which had put off many voters in the past, Le Pen’s platform aims to hollow out the European Union by giving preeminence to French law, and replace the bloc with a “European Alliance of Nations.”

“A victory for Le Pen would almost certainly worsen the public finances and place a question mark over France’s place in Europe, unnerving investors,” Jessica Hinds of Capital Economics said in a note.


CAMPAIGN EARLY

Le Pen, who has taken great pains to stress her love of cats more than her anti-immigration views, has not changed the core of her far-right party’s program.

She would end a number of welfare benefits for foreigners, stop family reunification, give preference to the French for jobs and social housing, ban the hijab in public spaces and kick unemployed foreigners out of France.

She defended those views on Tuesday.

“Being French should give you more rights than being a foreigner,” she said.

But this is not what she has focused on in a campaign pegged on purchasing power, which has struck a chord with many voters.

“I have been campaigning seriously, I’ve been in the field for six months… Others chose not to campaign, including the president of the republic,” Le Pen told France Inter.

(Additional reporting by Julien Ponthus, Sudip Kar-Gupta; Writing by Ingrid Melander, editing by Ed Osmond, Hugh Lawson and Nick Macfie)

Musk Tells Spain to Invest in Solar, Premier Invites Him Over

Clara Hernanz Lizarraga and Alonso Soto, Bloomberg News

Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., speaks during a discussion at the Satellite 2020 Conference in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, March 9, 2020. The event comprises important topics facing both satellite industry and end-users, and brings together a diverse group of thought leaders to share their knowledge. 

Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez invited Elon Musk to visit his country after the world’s richest man tweeted that it could power all of Europe with solar energy. 

Musk should “come and see” that Spain is already investing heavily in solar, Sanchez tweeted Tuesday, in response to earlier posts from the billionaire entrepreneur. “We welcome investors in Spain.”

In a subsequent tweet, Musk acknowledged that Portugal could also develop large-scale solar projects. 

Musk’s tweets come as European governments scramble to come up with alternative energy options to cut the continent’s dependency on Russian gas. Sanchez is a big advocate of clean energy, and in December his government announced plans to invest as much as 16 billion euros ($17.5 billion) in the energy transition through 2026. Andalusia, a sunny region in southern Spain, provides the cheapest energy in all of Europe. 

Renewable energy firms were among the biggest gainers on the Spanish stock exchange on Tuesday, following Musk’s comments. 

Also on Tuesday, Twitter Inc. announced that Musk will join the company’s board, after he disclosed a 9.2% stake in the company this week. 

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.