Marseille, France // France's otherwise low-key general election campaign has burst into life with a ferocious mini-battle between the two most prominent voices of political extremism.
Insults and threats of litigation dominate the duel between Marine Le Pen, the head of the far-right Front National (FN), which opposes immigration and the "Islamification" of France, and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the standard-bearer of the Left Front, whose supporters include communists.
The contest in the former coal-mining town of Hénin-Beaumont provides a fascinating sideshow to the new socialist head of state Francois Hollande's attempt to win control of parliament to underpin his presidential authority.
The town has an unemployment rate approaching 20 per cent as economic malaise, fuelled by the euro-zone debt crisis, affects daily life. And the Le Pen/Mélenchon confrontation carries echoes of the deep sense of discontent felt by many in France.
The mainstream parties, the centre-right Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and Mr Hollande's socialists, are involved too, but it is the battle of the extremes that has captured the imagination.
Hénin-Beaumont, for Ms Le Pen, became home territory when, in this electoral division, she beat both Mr Hollande and the outgoing president, Nicolas Sarkozy, into first place on April 22, the first round of the presidential elections. Mr Hollande went on to defeat Mr Sarkozy in the nationwide run-off on May 6.
As the legislative campaign approached, Mr Mélenchon deliberately chose Hénin-Beaumont so he could take on the woman he describes as "the most dangerous politician in France".
In the early stages of the contest, the pair avoided each other. More recently, notably in the television studios, there has been direct contact - and sparks have been flying.
Mr Mélenchon, who was born in Morocco to an expatriate French postal worker, was indignant to find FN supporters had produced a spoof campaign leaflet, appealing for votes in Arabic as well as French. It repeated a sentiment he had expressed in a speech on a Marseille beach: "There is no future for France without the Arabs and the Berbers of the Maghreb."
Ms Le Pen refused to distance herself from the tract. Her rival, whom she accuses of being the candidate of unrestrained immigration, is suing her. The FN has not accepted responsibility for two further leaflets, one depicting Mr Mélenchon as Hitler and the other suggesting he would permit unrestricted building of minarets.
In the presidential election, Ms Le Pen edged ahead of Mr Mélenchon nationally, taking third place and a 17.9 per cent share of the vote that many observers found a disturbing reflection of a large minority of public opinion.
She has fought a dogged but only partly successful battle to "de-demonise" the FN since becoming leader on the retirement of her father, Jean-Marie, whose views were often regarded as racist and antisemitic.
Ms Le Pen is sensitive about the way she and the FN are portrayed. This week, she threatened to sue Madonna if an image seen on screens at her concert in Israel, showing the FN leader with a swastika on her forehead, appeared when the tour reaches France next month. Ms Le Pen also promised legal action against the French philosopher, Bernard-Henry Lévy, after he said she encouraged her audiences to boo Jewish-sounding names.
FN voters, however, sometimes adopt the phrase "extreme right" when explaining their allegiance. Only last week, one of the party's city councillors in Toulon, Danièle Le Gac, told the Var-Matin newspaper that there were too many foreigners in the local football team. "There's no question of diversity," she said. "I bet they're all Muslims. In any case, they're all from Africa."
During France's 2012 election season, she has made ample use of the slogan Rassemblement Bleu Marine (the Navy Blue Union) and hinted that this could be considered as a new title to distance the party from associating it with fascist ideologies it claims to reject.
Mr Mélenchon briefly held third place in opinion polls before the presidential elections but had to content himself with 11 per cent of first-round votes. Nevertheless, the UMP insists the far left will treat the new president as its hostage, more so if socialist control of parliament depends on Left Front support.
During his Elysée campaign, Mr Mélenchon argued for public-spending increases and 100 per cent taxation of all income over €360,000 (Dh1.65 million) a year.
Such proposals attracted derision from the centre-right but the popular appeal of his exhortation translated as near four million votes.
Ms Le Pen did better still, with 6.4 million. But the latest polls suggest her remarkable local victory in Hénin-Beaumont will not be repeated when polling for parliamentary seats, which begins tomorrow, is completed on June 17.
One survey, carried out by the polling institute Ifop-Fiducial for the Voix du Nord newspaper, gives her a first-round lead, but with the left's vote split between Mr Mélenchon and the Socialist Party contender, Philippe Kemel. The second round, on voting intentions expressed in the opinion poll, would produce a socialist majority.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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.”
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
MATCH INFO
FA Cup fifth round
Chelsea v Manchester United, Monday, 11.30pm (UAE), BeIN Sports
More on Quran memorisation:
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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.
UAE cricketers abroad
Sid Jhurani is not the first cricketer from the UAE to go to the UK to try his luck.
Rameez Shahzad Played alongside Ben Stokes and Liam Plunkett in Durham while he was studying there. He also played club cricket as an overseas professional, but his time in the UK stunted his UAE career. The batsman went a decade without playing for the national team.
Yodhin Punja The seam bowler was named in the UAE’s extended World Cup squad in 2015 despite being just 15 at the time. He made his senior UAE debut aged 16, and subsequently took up a scholarship at Claremont High School in the south of England.
Six things you need to know about UAE Women’s Special Olympics football team
Several girls started playing football at age four
They describe sport as their passion
The girls don’t dwell on their condition
They just say they may need to work a little harder than others
When not in training, they play football with their brothers and sisters
The girls want to inspire others to join the UAE Special Olympics teams
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If you go
The Flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Johannesburg from Dubai and Abu Dhabi respectively. Economy return tickets cost from Dh2,650, including taxes.
The trip
Worldwide Motorhoming Holidays (worldwidemotorhomingholidays.co.uk) operates fly-drive motorhome holidays in eight destinations, including South Africa. Its 14-day Kruger and the Battlefields itinerary starts from Dh17,500, including campgrounds, excursions, unit hire and flights. Bobo Campers has a range of RVs for hire, including the 4-berth Discoverer 4 from Dh600 per day.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
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Torque: 175Nm
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Available: Now
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
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Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Power: 272hp at 6,400rpm
Torque: 331Nm from 5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.7L/100km
On sale: now
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
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.
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
