Shockwaves from Gaza war

Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up here.Turkey halts trade with Israel, te [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up [here](. Turkey halts trade with Israel, tensions are stirring in Saudi Arabia, and in the US, pro-Palestinian protests are [spreading across campuses]( and deep into campaign politics. Seven months in, the ripple effects [of the Israel-Hamas war]( are showing no signs of abating. After upending assumptions about Middle East security and disrupting Red Sea trade, a conflict which claimed the lives of tens of thousands of civilians and has put Israel and Iran in direct confrontation is now reshaping events further afield. In Turkey, where a [halt on all trade]( went into effect yesterday, officials said the policy would continue until Israel allows uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza. The move adds to already high-running tensions between the once-close allies as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan steps up criticism to try to consolidate his conservative base. That’s in part because the war has [boosted the profile]( of one of his opponents: Islamist politician Fatih Erbakan. This week Erbakan added his voice to those demanding the shutdown of the Kurecik radar installation, a NATO defense system he says is used to support Israel’s defenses. In Saudi Arabia, where the war in Gaza has resurfaced debate over tentative ties with Israel and the Palestinian cause, authorities have stepped up the arrest of citizens for social-media posts related to it. And yesterday, US President Joe Biden broke his silence [over the campus rallies](, saying that “there’s the right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos” and no room for antisemitism or Islamophobia. Biden faces a challenge in mobilizing young voters and progressives dismayed by his support for Israel to bolster his chances in November’s presidential election. The unrest has led to nearly 2,000 arrests at dozens of academic institutions and has put a faraway war on the US political agenda.  Biden’s only comfort is that he is not alone in feeling the heat. — [Sylvia Westall]( Palestinians transport a water container in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on April 26. Photographer: Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg Global Must Reads UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives suffered a heavy defeat to the Labour opposition in a special election, compounding what looks to have been a [bad outcome for the governing party]( in local voting across England. With results still coming in from yesterday’s balloting, the 26% swing from the Tories to Labour in the Blackpool South parliamentary seat would, if replicated nationally, put its leader Keir Starmer on course for victory in the general election due by January. The “Squad” is the nickname Pentagon officials have given to an emerging regional group that includes the US, Australia, Japan and the Philippines and aims to [contain China’s assertiveness]( in Asia. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with his counterparts from those nations yesterday in Hawaii and said they would look at undertaking more maritime exercises and providing greater security assistance to the Philippines. South Africa is enjoying a rare streak of uninterrupted electricity weeks before elections, [drawing more suspicion than praise]( in a nation that’s become accustomed to daily power cuts. The recovery coincides with political parties ramping up their campaigns for the May 29 vote and after a survey last year found that almost two-thirds of respondents would consider not voting for the ruling African National Congress because of power outages. WATCH: South Africa is preparing for its most important elections since the ANC took power in 1994. Source: Bloomberg Mexico’s armed forces splurged well beyond their original budget allotment last year, with much of the spending used for President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s [pet projects](, such as the Maya Train and the state-owned airline he created, Mexicana. AMLO, as he is known, has used the military to build infrastructure that he views as his legacy, increasing its budget by 150% since he took office in 2018. Serbia’s parliament approved a new cabinet that includes two ministers under US sanctions. The move highlights President Aleksandar Vucic’s increasingly [fraught balancing act]( between seeking to join the European Union and maintaining ties with Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appealed to UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron during the latter’s visit to Kyiv today for weapons included in a recent aid package [to be delivered as soon]( as possible. The jury in Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial heard a secret recording in which the former president [discussed a payment]( with his then-lawyer Michael Cohen months before the 2016 election. Mexico’s state oil company sold nearly $400 million in crude and fuel to Cuba in the second half of 2023 to help [alleviate the energy and humanitarian crisis]( on the island. Washington Dispatch Biden will allow a group of undocumented US residents access to health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, a change that comes as the president’s campaign tries to make inroads with Latino communities. The Department of Health and Human Services announced today it would publish a final rule [extending Obamacare access to people]( under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which provides work permits and deportation prevention for people who came to the US as undocumented children. About a third of DACA recipients, known as “Dreamers,” don’t have health insurance, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said. The administration expects 100,000 people to sign up for heath-care plans. Advocates for participants in the DACA program have for years tried to persuade Congress to provide them with permanent status and a process to become US citizens. But the issue of their tenuous position has been caught up in the larger clash over immigration policy. Biden’s move comes as polls suggest he has lost ground among Latino voters. While DACA recipients can’t vote, Latinos make up more than 90% of the program. One thing to watch today: The jobs report for April will be released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. [Sign up for the Washington Edition newsletter]( for more from the US capital and watch Balance of Power at 1 and 5 p.m. ET weekdays on Bloomberg Television. Chart of the Day Beijing’s special envoy for climate change, Liu Zhenmin, told Bloomberg Television that US and European efforts to stem China’s dominance in green technologies risk [stalling the fight]( against global warming. Relying on technology made outside China could lift global energy transition costs by as much as $6 trillion, or 20%, Liu said, citing a Wood Mackenzie analysis. And Finally As displaced Palestinian civilians try to survive amid the destruction caused by Israel’s near seven-month military campaign against Hamas, they face another deadly threat: rising temperatures. A heat spike in April raised the specter of what the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies calls the [“invisible killer” of climate change](. In refugees’ makeshift plastic tents, the group said, “it’s like living in a greenhouse.” Displaced Palestinian children wait for a water tank to fill their containers in Rafah. Photographer: Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images Pop quiz (no cheating!) Which country’s prime minister said he would continue in office after withdrawing from the public eye to consider his future in response to a judge opening a case alleging influence-peddling against his wife? 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