News

By Huw Jones

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will be among the first countries to apply corporate sustainability disclosure standards from a new global board to be unveiled soon, a government minister said on Tuesday.

The London-based IFRS Foundation is set to unveil a new International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) in the run up to next month’s COP26 UN conference on climate change in Glasgow.

Backed by leading nations, it seeks to replace a patchwork of standards on climate-related company disclosures with a single set of global rules that investors say would make it easier to compare companies from different countries.

“The government strongly supports this development and aspires to be among the first countries to adopt them for use by domestic companies,” business minister Martin Callanan told an event organised by the ICAEW, an accounting industry body.

Officials at the IFRS Foundation, which already oversees the IASB, a global accounting rules-setting body, expect the ISSB to issue its first set of disclosure standards next year.

Callanan said the business ministry is developing proposals for endorsement and adoption of ISSB disclosure standards and will consult on them next year.

He said Britain would make a “fantastic home” for the ISSB, adding that UK finance minister Rishi Sunak has said the UK would support the new body wherever it is located.

Germany, Switzerland, Japan and Canada have also offered to host the ISSB.

Separately, Britain is due to set out next month how it will shake up the UK audit market and corporate governance after a series of company collapses.

Callanan said a public consultation showed broad support for a mandatory annual “resilience statement” detailing why companies believe they can meet challenges to the business over the short, medium and long term.

The ministry has also proposed tough U.S. style accountability for directors regarding the financial information they provide to markets, but Britain’s accounting watchdog on Monday signalled this could be watered down due to compliance costs.

“With regard to larger companies, I think it’s reasonable that directors should take a little bit more responsibility for the quality of the information produced by the company for the accounts,” Callanan said, declining to elaborate ahead of the formal announcement.

(Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

By Leigh Thomas and Benoit Van Overstraeten

PARIS (Reuters) -France wants to be a leader in green hydrogen by 2030 and build low-carbon planes and small nuclear reactors as part of a 30 billion euro ($35 billion) investment plan, President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday.

Macron said the road map, dubbed “France 2030”, would ensure France decarbonises its industry and brings innovation and production in key areas, from cars and biomedicine to semi-conductors, closer to home by the end of the decade.

The long-term plan, outlined six months before the presidential election, was swiftly criticised by the opposition as electoral campaigning, but Macron said those targets were key to ensure France’s rank in the world.

Pointing to a shortage of face masks when the COVID-19 pandemic first erupted, Macron said the crisis had exposed real vulnerabilities and the crucial need for France to have innovation and industrial production at home.

“We must rebuild the framework for productive independence for France and Europe,” he said, adding that innovation would be key amid global competition for leadership and access to raw materials. “The winner takes all,” he added.

Setting out some of the plan’s targets, Macron said France would by 2030 build a low-carbon plane, a small modular reactor as well as two megafactories for the production of green hydrogen. It would also produce large numbers of electric vehicles.

“We must wage the battle of innovation and industrialisation at the same time,” Macron said as he outlined the plan to a group of entrepreneurs, adding: “We need a country that produces more.”

Macron said the plan will give a key role to small, agile start-ups in building France’s industrial future alongside well-established corporate giants.

CRITICISM

Other 2030 objectives include investing in semi-conductors and beefing up innovation in the French health sector, including biomedicine.

On top of the 30 billion euros in fresh public investment, some of which will already be included in the 2022 budget, French public investment bank Bpifrance will invest 4 billion euros in startups and innovative firms.

This all comes in addition to a 100 billion euro recovery plan announced last year to help France weather the coronavirus pandemic, a large share of which went to promoting greener energy policies.

The plan was harshly criticised by the opposition and environmental groups.

“A few months from the end of his mandate, the outgoing president commits French money to restore his electoral image with promises which only bind his successor,” far-right leader Marine Le Pen said on Twitter.

“It’s ‘whatever the cost, I want to be re-elected!’,” she said.

Matthieu Orphelin, a lawmaker who left Macron’s party two years ago said this was Macron’s “first campaign speech for 2022”, while environmental group Greenpeace called it “a festival of false solutions and wishful thinking”.

“All these false solutions follow the same logic: constantly postpone the real (energy) transition and continue to produce as if the planet’s resources were unlimited,” said Greenpeace France director Jean-François Julliard.

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas, Benoit Van Overstraten, GV De Clercq, Myriam Rivet, Gilles Guillaume, Elizabeth Pineau; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Raissa Kasolowsky)

By Forrest Crellin

PARIS (Reuters) – Soaring European wholesale gas prices are encouraging more utilities to switch to carbon-heavy coal to generate electricity just as the region tries to wean nations off the polluting fuel.

Although European coal and carbon prices have also jumped in recent months, they have lagged the spike in gas prices, causing short-term marginal costs to shift in favour of using coal to generate electricity.

Benchmark carbon permit prices under the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) have almost doubled since the start of the year while European coal futures are more than twice as high. Wholesale Dutch gas prices, however, are almost four times higher than at the start of 2021.

Graphic: Gas, CO2 and Coal rebased to the start of the year, showing percentage gains: https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/egpbkmyoovq/Gas%20CO2%20and%20coal%20rebased%20to%20the%20start%20of%20the%20year.jpeg

Ahead of the next round of United Nations climate talks in Scotland in November, the EU has been encouraging other big polluters to commit to more ambitious climate targets and move away from coal-fired power.

The EU’s ETS, the main tool for curbing greenhouse gas emissions, charges power plants and factories for each tonne of carbon dioxide they emit.

Gas-fired power plants had been cheaper to operate than their coal-burning equivalents for more than two years due to the added cost of carbon emissions, but that changed in around July this year.

“While European coal generation was handcuffed by record carbon prices in the early parts of the summer, soaring TTF (Dutch gas) prices have now unlocked the gas-to-coal switching lever,” said analysts at Bank of America.

High gas prices have also prompted a switch to oil in Britain, where coal accounts for just 2% of the power mix, with the country facing tight electricity supplies this winter.

In Germany, July’s reversal in the difference between the “clean dark” and “clean spark” year-ahead spreads – which measure the value of operating coal-fired and gas-fired plants after accounting for carbon emissions – prompted greater use of brown coal, or lignite, a traditionally cheaper fuel source which was being driven out of the market by rising carbon permit prices.

Graphic: Clean-dark and clean-spark spreads diverge as gas rises: https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/zjpqkekblpx/Clean%20dark-spark%20spread%20with%20gas.jpeg

“The electricity transition is happening but not with the urgency required: emissions are going in the wrong direction,” said climate thinktank Ember’s global lead Dave Jones.

In the third quarter, lignite and hard coal in Germany accounted for 35.1 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity generation combined, compared to 28 TWh in the second quarter and 29.3 TWh in the third quarter of 2020, data from Germany’s ISE Fraunhofer Institute showed.

Looking at the next couple of quarters, coal and lignite are expected to remain more convenient in the fuel mix than gas, said Silvia Messa, analyst at energy consultancy Volue.

Forward electricity prices in Germany and France have more than doubled since January, rising with fuel and carbon prices, and prompting talks of intervention in the market to stabilise prices for consumers.

Graphic: French and German year-ahead prices in 2021: https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/mopanjnggva/DEFRCO2.jpeg

Some critics blame the EU ETS for the spike in fuel prices, and are calling for regulations to curb the effect of the emissions scheme on the energy market.

However, the current fuel-switch environment should be seen as a short-term flexibility problem and should not be blamed on the scheme, THEMA analyst Marcus Ferdinand said.

(Reporting by Forrest Crellin; editing by Nina Chestney and Kirsten Donovan)

• Upside and Tribe Mobile partner to improve access to mobile phone contracts for 9 million people overlooked by traditional mobile networks
• 20% of people are turned away from mobile phone contracts because credit checks weren’t sufficient
• By harnessing Open Banking, the new partnership will cut credit checks from the mobile contract decision process and help users earn cashback towards paying for their phone contract.

LONDON, October 2021: Tribe Mobile has partnered with Upside to offer a fairer approach to mobile phone contracts for the 9 million UK adults who are overlooked by traditional mobile networks. 

Currently, 20% of people are turned away from mobile phone contracts because credit checks weren’t sufficient. Together, the partnership aims to regain control of the decision-making process behind who is awarded mobile phone contracts, using unique insights gathered from first-party consented spend data. 

The collaboration with Upside will allow Tribe Mobile to view and understand their customer’s ability to hold a mobile phone contract in an entirely unique way that doesn’t require credit checks. It also enables customers to earn cashback on their shopping across 60 retail brands that will contribute to their mobile phone contract bill. Crucially, Tribe can actually help rebuild and boost a customer’s credit by using their SIM plans.

The new partnership builds on Upside’s growing client and retail partner base which already includes well-known brands such as Footlocker, Boohoo, Jojo Maman Bebe, and Seetickets. 

With the continued rise of fintech advancements benefitting the retail sector and a growing demand from customers for frictionless and personalised experiences, this new partnership comes at an exciting time in Upside’s journey. 

Since its launch in 2020, Upside has rapidly grown to help retailers reach consumers in a new way. Upside enables retailers to understand customer value for each brand and spend category. Retailers wouldn’t want to spend the same amount on marketing to acquire a one-off customer vs a future VIP. Upside enables them to differentiate.

Upside’s artificial intelligence platform, Minerva© optimises the offers for users to maximise the upside for both the end user (maximum cashback) and the retailer (maximum share of wallet).

Rob Leslie, CEO of Tribe Mobile, commented: “We’re excited to partner with such a progressive, unique company as Upside. Tribe members can now take advantage of a wide range of savings and discounts and is a great addition to our financial and Eco led member benefits.”

Andries Smit, CEO and Founder of Upside Saving, said “I am thrilled to announce this partnership with Tribe Mobile. Using our technology to help frequently overlooked customers, is what Upside is all about.”

• City unveils ‘Greenprint for Investment’ prospectus spanning £30bn of investments and place-based development opportunities as it invites international investment in the run up to COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference.
• Mix of market-ready opportunities for private capital and radical “unlock and scale” projects developed to appeal to activist investors seeking co-design and longer-term economic partnerships.
• Prospectus key to the city’s 2030 target for a Net-Zero Economy, Climate Resilience and a Just Transition for the Glasgow City Region.
• Projects include scaling up the Clyde Climate Forest by 9,000 hectares, a Glasgow Metro connecting the city region, a city-wide retrofit programme to make all homes energy efficient and provide new clean energy sources, and a proposal to power district heating systems using the River Clyde – all of which will contribute to Scotland’s target reduction targets.

The City of Glasgow today launched its ‘Greenprint for Investment’, a £30bn portfolio of investment projects designed to give a significant boost to the city’s target to reach Net-Zero by 2030. In June, the city announced that it had reduced its carbon emissions by 41% since 2006, surpassing the 30% target Glasgow set for 2020.

The scale and diversity of the projects reflects and supports Glasgow’s global sustainability ambitions and provides international and activist investors with a mix of decarbonising and transformative development opportunities as well as more traditional robust, investor-ready propositions.

Cllr Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council said:

“Glasgow is ready to meet the challenges of the climate emergency head on, addressing long-standing social, economic and environmental challenges around fuel poverty, poor connectivity and community blight whilst meeting our climate targets. Our Net-Zero future is about safer communities, warm and efficient homes, sustainable jobs and a prosperous economy. Transition has to be about the social and economic well-being of Glasgow and its people.

“This will require levels of investment never seen before in local government and adaptation plans which will be vital in delivering a modern, resilient and inclusive city economy. As a core element of Glasgow’s Green Deal, our ‘Greenprint’ brings together transformational, investable and shovel-ready projects. From an entire new transport system better connecting citizens to opportunities, generating renewable energy from the River Clyde and upgrading hundreds of thousands of homes across our city region, the Greenprint projects will deliver the infrastructure necessary for a low carbon, climate-resilient future.

“All cities face huge change. Glasgow’s challenges are typical of those of so many of our global peers. As cities rebuild to decarbonise, we can be the demonstrator in shaping those solutions. The success of COP26 will be measured by how cities can take the practical steps necessary to secure the future of our planet. Our Greenprint provides a major part of our roadmap to doing just that.”

The portfolio of projects outlined within the prospectus relate to four umbrella United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): 8) Decent Work and Economic Growth; 11) Sustainable Cities and Communities; 13) Climate Action; and 17) Partnerships for the Goals. The SDGs are a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.

The 10 featured projects in the Greenprint are:

• Clyde Climate Forest: The Clyde Climate Forest aims to plant 18 million trees in Glasgow City Region over the next decade. That represents over 9,000 hectares (or 17,000 football fields) of new woodlands – increasing forest and woodland cover by 3% and will significantly increase the extent of atmospheric carbon sequestration through tree growth in the region.
• Glasgow City Region Home Energy Retrofit Programme: A ten-year £10 billion programme to upgrade the insulation of all homes in the Glasgow City Region to achieve net zero carbon emissions, give greater energy security, lower household energy bills, warmer homes and better health outcomes through reduced fuel poverty. The project explores the use of innovative renewable technologies to deliver clean energy.
• Glasgow’s District Heating Network: Glasgow is focused on transforming its energy production and consumption, scaling up the achievements of the £154 million Glasgow Recycling and Renewable Energy Centre (GRREC) to kick-start a wider district heating network. Two key projects in Polmadie and Gorbals Districts act as testbeds and a unique and innovative proposal to harness the power of the River Clyde for the city’s heat demands is underway.
• Climate Neutral Innovation District: The University of Strathclyde is leading an innovative and ambitious project to make the Glasgow City Innovation District 100% climate neutral and climate resilient. The collaboration between the University, Glasgow City Council and a range of other city stakeholders, will integrate 100% renewable heat, power, transport, climate adaptation and wellbeing solutions that will benefit citizens, businesses and organisations within the district, creating a unique ecosystem within the UK that drives carbon-neutral innovation.
• Charing Cross M8 Green Infrastructure Cap: Plans for this new, connected urban environment will revitalise and re-green the city’s public realm including a cap over a major interchange of the M8, the busiest motorway in Scotland.
• Glasgow Metrois a new transport provision that will improve connectivity within Glasgow and the wider City Region encompassing a population of 1.8 million by providing accessible and affordable connectivity for a wider skilled labour workforce, businesses and visitors.
• Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland: Scotland’s new home of advanced manufacturing with ambitions to drive the wider UK’s low carbon transition. With outline planning permission and on-site enabling works, this emerging centre of excellence and innovation is crucial to national and international carbon reduction efforts and is part of Scotland’s answer to balancing manufacturing requirements while meeting net zero commitments.
• Scottish Event Campus (SEC) Expansion: Expansion plans including an ambitious energy concept aim to turn the SEC into one of the world’s most sustainable campuses and includes several globally competitive and cutting-edge conference and exhibition innovations. Investment will drive organisational targets to achieve net zero by 2035 with significant reductions by 2031.
• Green Regeneration and Innovation District: As Scotland’s first Green Regeneration and Innovation District, Clyde Gateway is working to decarbonise travel and energy for homes and businesses while providing the local community a place to live and work in a low carbon and resilient neighbourhood. Investment opportunities in this regeneration areas across all sectors including commercial, residential and hotel, will encourage circularity in the built environment.

By Ludwig Burger, Yadarisa Shabong and Sachin Ravikumar

(Reuters) -AstraZeneca’s antibody cocktail against COVID-19, which has proven to work as a preventative shot in the non-infected, was also shown to save lives and prevent severe disease when given as treatment within a week of first symptoms.

The drug, a combination of two antibodies called AZD7442, reduced the risk of severe COVID-19 or death by 50% in non-hospitalised patients who have had symptoms for seven days or less, the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker said on Monday.

The risk reduction was even better in patients who started therapy within just five days of initial symptoms, but AstraZeneca joins an already crowded field of medicines that were shown to prevent deterioration in patients with mild disease when given soon after diagnosis.

AstraZeneca executive Mene Pangalos said in a media call that the treatment results would mainly underscore the potential future use as a non-vaccine prevention.[FWN2R716N]

“If and when this is approved it will be used in the treatment setting as well. But the real differentiator for this antibody is going to be in the prophylactic setting,” he said.

Similar therapies made with a class of drugs called monoclonal antibodies are being developed by Regeneron, Eli Lilly and GlaxoSmithKline with partner Vir. These therapies are approved for emergency use in the United States for treating mild-to-moderate COVID-19.

Regeneron’s therapy showed 72% protection against symptomatic infection in the first week, and 93% after that.

GSK-Vir’s showed a 79% reduction in the risk of hospitalisation or death due to any cause, while Eli Lilly’s therapy showed a 70% reduction in viral load at day seven compared to a placebo.

Merck & Co Inc, in turn, is emphasising the convenience of use of its anti-COVID-19 tablet, which cut the risk of having to got to hospital or of dying by 50% in a trial of early-stage patients who had at least one risk factor.

Merck, collaborating with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, on Monday applied for U.S. emergency clearance for the oral drug.

AstraZeneca, whose COVID-19 vaccine has been widely used across the globe, asked U.S. regulators last week to grant emergency use authorisation for AZD7442 as a preventative shot.

As such, it is designed to protect people who do not have a strong enough immune response to vaccines, primarily those who have received organ transplants or who are in cancer care.

If full market clearance is obtained after any emergency approval the market could widen, for instance, to include crew and passengers of a cruise ship, said Pangalos.

“You can say the same for people who don’t want to be vaccinated but want an antibody,” he added.

AstraZeneca said it is submitting the new treatment data on AZD7442 to global health regulators.

The trial took place across 13 countries and involved more than 900 adult participants, 90% of whom suffered from conditions that made the particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, such as cancer and diabetes. One half receiving AZD7442 and the rest a placebo.

Full trial results will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, AstraZeneca said.

AZD7442 contains laboratory-made antibodies designed to linger in the body for months to contain the virus in case of an infection. A vaccine, in contrast, relies on an intact immune system to develop targeted antibodies and infection-fighting cells.

While Monday’s results cover the use of AZD7442 in non-hospitalised patients, a separate trial is also studying its use as a treatment for hospitalised COVID-19 patients.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt, Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty, Kirsten Donovan and Alexander Smith)

By Renju Jose and Jonathan Barrett

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Sydney’s cafes, gyms and restaurants welcomed back fully vaccinated customers on Monday after nearly four months of lockdown, as Australia aims to begin living with the coronavirus and gradually reopen with high rates of inoculation.

Some pubs in Sydney, Australia’s largest city, opened at 12:01 a.m. (1301 GMT Sunday) and friends and families huddled together for a midnight beer, television footage and social media images showed.

“I see it as a day of freedom, it’s a freedom day,” New South Wales (NSW) state Premier Dominic Perrottet told reporters in Sydney, the state capital. “We are leading the nation out of this pandemic but this will be a challenge.”

Perrottet warned that infections would rise after reopening, and virus-free states such as Western Australia and Queensland are watching what living with COVID-19 is going to look like amid concerns health systems could be overwhelmed.

While NSW’s dual-dose vaccination rate in people above 16 hit 74%, in neighbouring Queensland, whose borders remain closed to Sydney-siders, the rate is only 52% and the state government is following an elimination strategy with rapid lockdowns to control any outbreak.

Perrottet has declared an end to lockdowns in NSW and has strong support for reopening in Sydney, whose more than 5 million residents endured severe restrictions from mid-June following an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant.

The outbreak has since spread to Melbourne and Canberra, forcing lockdowns in those cities, even as case numbers dwindle in NSW.

New South Wales on Monday reported 496 new locally acquired cases, well down from their peak last month, while Victoria logged 1,612 new infections, the lowest in five days.

Under the relaxed rules for NSW, retail stores and restaurants reopened with reduced capacity, and more vaccinated people were allowed to gather in homes and attend weddings and funerals.

The state aims to hit an 80% vaccine rate around late October, when more curbs will be relaxed. But the unvaccinated must remain at home until Dec. 1.

Steven Speed, the publican at Sydney’s oldest pub, Fortune of War, told Reuters he hoped it was the last lockdown after 18 months of restrictions.

“Just the costs of closing down and opening up, closing down and opening up – they’re huge,” said Speed, whose most loyal customers returned from 9:00 a.m. on Monday for the first post-lockdown beers with friends https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-sydney/sydney-emerges-from-pandemic-lockdown-beer-in-hand-idUSL4N2R30ZI.

Kyl Raggio, owner of the KR Performance gym in the Sydney suburb of Randwick, said Australia could no longer afford to rely on rolling lockdowns to combat the virus.

“I hope that we can deal with whatever happens now moving forward, looking at the rest of the world hopefully we can stay open and do our thing,” said Raggio, who welcomed his clients back into his training facility early Monday morning.

ELECTION LOOMING

Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged Sydney residents to “enjoy the moment”.

“Today is a day so many have been looking forward to – a day when things we take for granted, we will celebrate,” he said.

Morrison, who must call an election before next May, has come under pressure to press all states to reopen borders to bolster the economy and allow families separated by state border closures to reunite by Christmas. Some states with few cases have not said when they will re-open their borders.

With the vaccine rollout gaining momentum, Australia is planning a staggered return to normal, letting fully vaccinated residents enter and leave the country freely from November, although New South Wales plans to bring forward those dates.

Australia shut its international borders in March 2020, helping keep its coronavirus numbers relatively low, with 130,000 cases and 1,448 deaths.

(Reporting by Renju Jose and Jonathan Barrett; additional reporting by Jill Gralow; editing by Stephen Coates)

By John Davison and Ahmed Rasheed

BAGHDAD (Reuters) -Initial turnout in Iraq’s parliamentary election on Sunday was 41%, the electoral commission said, in a sign of dwindling trust in political leaders although participation was not nearly as low as election officials had earlier feared.

The established, Shi’ite Islamist-dominated ruling elite, whose most powerful parties have armed wings, is expected to sweep the vote, with the movement led by populist Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who opposes all foreign interference and whose main rivals are Iran-allied Shi’ite groups, seen emerging as parliament’s biggest faction.

Such a result would not dramatically alter the balance of power in Iraq or the wider Middle East, say Iraqi officials, foreign diplomats and analysts, but for Iraqis it could mean that a former insurgency leader and conservative Islamist could increase his sway over the government.

Total turnout was 44.5% in the last election in 2018. The electoral commission said early on Monday the lowest turnout was in Baghdad, with between 31% and 34%.

Two electoral commission officials told Reuters on Sunday that nationwide turnout of eligible voters was 19% by midday and

participation was low at polling stations in several parts of the country visited by Reuters.

Commission official Muhammad Mustafa said turnout picked up in the final hours of voting.

Initial results are expected on Monday.

Iraqi elections are often followed by protracted talks over a president, a prime minister and a cabinet under the democratic system brought in by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

In Baghdad’s Sadr City, a polling station set up in a girls’ school saw a slow but steady trickle of voters.

Election volunteer Hamid Majid, 24, said he had voted for his old school teacher, a candidate for the Sadrists.

“She educated many of us in the area so all the young people are voting for her. It’s the time for the Sadrist Movement. The people are with them,” Majid said.

The election was held several months early under a new law designed to help independent candidates – a response to widespread anti-government protests two years ago.

“Jockeying and government formation will look the same – the same parties will come to either to share power and not provide the population with basic services and jobs and on top of that will continue to silence dissent. It’s very concerning,” said Renad Mansour of the Iraq Initiative at Chatham House.

FOREIGN INFLUENCE

The United States, Gulf Arabs and Israel on one side and Iran on the other compete to influence Iraq, which provides Tehran with a gateway to back armed allies in Syria and Lebanon.

The 2003 invasion toppled Saddam Hussein, a Sunni Muslim, and catapulted to power majority Shi’ites and the Kurds, who were oppressed under the autocrat. It unleashed years of sectarian violence, including the takeover of a third of the country by Islamic State between 2014 and 2017.

High school teacher Abdul Ameer Hassan al-Saadi said he boycotted the election, the first parliamentary polls since the 2019 protests and subsequent crackdown. The demonstrations were brutally suppressed and some 600 people were killed over several months.

“I lost my 17-year-old son Hussain after he got killed by a tear gas canister fired by police during Baghdad protests,” said al-Saadi, whose house is close to a polling station in the mainly Shi’ite Baghdad district of Karrada.

“I will not vote for killers and corrupt politicians because the wound inside me and his mother we suffered after losing our boy is still bleeding.”

The chief Iraq election observer of the European Union, Viola von Cramon, said the relatively low turnout was significant.

“This is a clear, of course a political signal and one can only hope that it will be heard by the politicians and by the political elite of Iraq,” she told reporters.

Nonetheless, some Iraqis were keen to vote in Iraq’s fifth parliamentary vote since 2003 – and are hopeful of change. In the northern city of Kirkuk, Abu Abdullah said he arrived to vote an hour before polling stations opened.

“We expect the situation to improve significantly.” he said.

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi is not running for election but the negotiations after the vote could yet see him get a second term. Kadhimi, who is viewed as Western-friendly, has no party to back him.

The Kurds have two main parties that rule the autonomous Kurdistan region, and Sunnis this time have two main blocs.

Iraq is safer than it has been for years and violent sectarianism is less common since Iraq vanquished the Sunni ultra-hardline Islamic State in 2017 with the help of an international military coalition and Iran. But corruption and mismanagement have meant many of Iraq’s 40 million people lack jobs, healthcare, education and electricity.

Baghdad-based political analyst Ahmed Younis said many Iraqis see the post-Saddam Hussein system of government – based on sectarian power-sharing – as a failure. And entrenched corruption and the growing power of unchecked militias deepened disillusionment.

“Boycotting eventually would be inevitable and that’s what happened in today’s election,” said Younis.

At least 167 parties and more than 3,200 candidates are competing for parliament’s 329 seats, according to the election commission.

(Reporting by John Davison and Ahmed Rasheed; Additional reporting by Mustafa Mahmoud in Kirkuk, Aref Mohammed and Mohammed Aty in Basra, Maher Nazeh in BaghdadWriting by John Davison and Michael Georgy; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky, William Maclean and Frances Kerry)

LONDON (7 October 2021) — The November issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK) is out now. The cover story this month casts new light on Rome, one of Europe’s most alluring cities. History is etched deep into the marble bones of the Eternal City, but this is still a living, breathing capital, with its feet in the present and its eyes on the future. Set off into its distinctive neighbourhoods and see once-forgotten districts now revitalised, age-old recipes carefully maintained and ancient landmarks restored for the modern age.

Also in this issue, National Geographic Traveller announces the winners of its prestigious Photography Competition 2021, sponsored by Nikon. We reveal the stellar shots that most impressed our expert judges across six categories.

ALSO INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Alaska: With polar bears and austere Arctic landscapes, ‘the roof of America’ offers a truly wild escape.
Burgundy: Spiritual tales meet world-class wines on a drive through France’s verdant heart.
Tajikistan: Green initiatives are bringing new opportunities to the wild and remote Pamir Mountains.
Buenos Aires: The hot-blooded Argentine capital is reinventing itself, while preserving its historic glamour.
Jersey: Discover surf spots, markets and Portuguese culture in the biggest of the Channel Islands.
Cambodia: Revived Khmer dishes and vibrant street eats in the new star of Southeast Asian cuisine.
Maldives: From private villas to honeymoon escapes, the ultimate hotel guide to the archipelago.

Smart Traveller: New openings in Glasgow as it gears up for COP26; the best experiences in the Swiss Alps; Cornwall’s 150-mile West Kernow Way cycle route; UK experiences for children featuring some of fiction’s most beloved characters; the best hotel options in Tampa, Florida; a taste of Gujarat with author Vina Patel; what not to miss in Ghent; and a guide to St Davids, Britain’s smallest city.

Notes from an author: Patrick Nunn on Fiji.
Meet the adventurer: Pilot and aerial photographer Garrett Fisher on shooting the Alps.

Travel Geeks: Ask the Experts has advice on where to head for a small group ski trip this season; truffle-hunting courses in the UK; discovering a different side to Lanzarote in the winter; and what to look for when booking travel Covid-19 tests. Meanwhile, the infographic charts firework celebrations across the world, and Hot Topic asks whether we should tax frequent flyers to reduce emissions.

PLUS: Win a two-night stay at Pennyhill Park hotel and spa, courtesy of Exclusive Collection. nationalgeographic.co.uk/competitions

For a 26-page digital sample of our November 2021 issue, visit: magazine.natgeotraveller.co.uk/nov21

National Geographic Traveller (UK) has a cover price of £4.95, is available via subscription and on newsstands, and is published 10 times a year. Visit nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel for more information.

Current subscription offer: Receive three issues of National Geographic Traveller and one issue of National Geographic Traveller Food for just £12 — a 38% saving on the cover price. natgeotraveller.imbmsubscriptions.com/autsale21

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