SAfrica

G20 grapples with splintering world order

conflict

Washington seeking to 'iron out' Trump proposal details with Ukrainians in Geneva

BY NINA LARSON AND AGNES PEDRERO

  • Before the Ukrainian delegation met with the Americans Sunday afternoon, President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed that "diplomacy has been reinvigorated", voicing hope "the conversation can be constructive".
  • US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was to meet Ukrainian officials in Geneva Sunday, seeking to "iron out" details of Washington's plan to end the war, as Kyiv hailed "reinvigorated diplomacy". 
  • Before the Ukrainian delegation met with the Americans Sunday afternoon, President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed that "diplomacy has been reinvigorated", voicing hope "the conversation can be constructive".
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was to meet Ukrainian officials in Geneva Sunday, seeking to "iron out" details of Washington's plan to end the war, as Kyiv hailed "reinvigorated diplomacy". 
US President Donald Trump has given Ukraine until November 27 to approve his controversial plan to end the nearly four-year conflict, but Kyiv is seeking changes to a draft that accepts a range of Russia's hardline demands.
Before the Ukrainian delegation met with the Americans Sunday afternoon, President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed that "diplomacy has been reinvigorated", voicing hope "the conversation can be constructive".
"The bloodshed must be stopped," he said on X, insisting: "We all need a positive outcome".
In Geneva, Ukraine's top negotiator Andriy Yermak said his delegation had met with high-level officials from Britain, France and Germany before heading into the meeting with Rubio.
The 28-point plan would require the invaded country to cede territory, cut its army and pledge never to join NATO. Trump told reporters Saturday it was not his final offer and he hoped to stop the fighting "one way or the other".
"Today we hope to iron out the final details of the peace agreement," a US official told AFP Sunday, asking not to be named.

Recognise European 'centrality'

The US plan was drafted without input from Ukraine or its European allies, leaving them scrambling to come up with a counter-offer to strengthen Kyiv's position.
"Ukraine must have the freedom and sovereign right to choose its own destiny. They have chosen a European destiny," EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement, stressing that the "centrality" of the European Union's role must be "fully reflected" in any peace plan. 
Ukraine's European allies gathered at the G20 summit in South Africa stressed that the US plan requires "additional work".
"We are clear on the principle that borders must not be changed by force. We are also concerned by the proposed limitations on Ukraine's armed forces, which would leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attack," the leaders of key European countries, Canada and Japan said in a joint statement.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere meanwhile warned of "major flaws" in the US plan.
"One of them is to get Europe at the table and, not least, get Ukraine at the table," he told AFP in South Africa.
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the senior officials were meeting in Geneva "to take things further forward", stressing the importance of solid "security guarantees" for Ukraine under any settlement.
French President Emmanuel Macron meanwhile told a news conference at the G20 that the plan contained points that had to be more broadly discussed as they concerned European allies, such as Ukraine's NATO ties and Russian frozen assets held in the EU.
He said the 30 countries in the "coalition of the willing" supporting Kyiv will hold a video call on Tuesday following the Geneva talks.
European Union countries were also planning to meet to discuss the Ukraine situation on the sidelines of a meeting with African leaders in Angola on Monday.

'Wish list'

The Kremlin has welcomed the Trump plan, but there were no plans Russian officials to join Sunday's talks, according to the US official.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has meanwhile said the blueprint could "lay the foundation" for a final peace settlement, but threatened more land seizures if Ukraine walked away from negotiations.
Ahead of Sunday's talks, Washington insisted the Trump proposal was official US policy, denying claims by a group of US senators that Rubio told them the document was a Russian "wish list". 
Rubio himself insisted on social media late Saturday that "the peace proposal was authored by the US". 
"It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations. It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine."
Zelensky said in an address to the nation on Friday that Ukraine faces one of the most challenging moments in its history, adding that he would propose "alternatives" to Trump's plan.
"The pressure on Ukraine is one of the hardest. Ukraine may face a very difficult choice: either the loss of dignity or the risk of losing a key partner," Zelensky said, referring to a possible break with Washington.
bur-nl/giv 

conflict

Brazil 'very concerned' about US naval build-up near Venezuela

  • I am very concerned, and I intend to discuss this with President Trump because it worries me," Lula told reporters in Johannesburg after attending a G20 summit. 
  • Brazil is "very concerned" about a US military build-up near Venezuela, fearing a conflict, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Sunday, adding he intended to speak with US counterpart Donald Trump about it.
  • I am very concerned, and I intend to discuss this with President Trump because it worries me," Lula told reporters in Johannesburg after attending a G20 summit. 
Brazil is "very concerned" about a US military build-up near Venezuela, fearing a conflict, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Sunday, adding he intended to speak with US counterpart Donald Trump about it.
"I am very concerned about the military apparatus that the United States has placed in the Caribbean Sea. I am very concerned, and I intend to discuss this with President Trump because it worries me," Lula told reporters in Johannesburg after attending a G20 summit. 
"I think there is no reason to have a war now," he said. "Let us not repeat the mistake that happened in the war between Russia and Ukraine. That is to say, once a shot is fired, it is hard to predict how it will end."
The United States has sent an aircraft carrier strike group, other navy warships as well as stealth aircraft to the region near Venezuela. On Friday it warned civilian aircraft in Venezuelan airspace to "exercise caution".
US forces have conducted strikes on more than 20 vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific since September, killing more than 80 people. US officials allege they were drug-runners, but provided no evidence. 
Washington accuses Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of leading a "terrorist" drug cartel, and Trump has not ruled out sending in US soldiers.
Lula, pointing out that Brazil shares a border with Venezuela, said: "It is important that we try to find a solution before it (a potential conflict) starts."
Trump did not attend the G20 summit in South Africa, boycotting it on the grounds that its priorities -- which include boosting cooperation on global trade and on climate change -- ran counter to US policies.
jcb/rmb/br/jh

SAfrica

G20 grapples with splintering world order

BY MARC BURLEIGH

  • - 'Fragmentation' - In a joint G20 statement issued Saturday, the leaders present said they were meeting "against the backdrop of rising geopolitical and geo-economic competition and instability, heightened conflicts and wars, deepening inequality, increasing global economic uncertainty and fragmentation".
  • G20 leaders gathered Sunday in South Africa hailed multilateralism -- even as they struggled to adapt to a changing world order beset by go-it-alone US policies, wars and deepening geopolitical rivalries.
  • - 'Fragmentation' - In a joint G20 statement issued Saturday, the leaders present said they were meeting "against the backdrop of rising geopolitical and geo-economic competition and instability, heightened conflicts and wars, deepening inequality, increasing global economic uncertainty and fragmentation".
G20 leaders gathered Sunday in South Africa hailed multilateralism -- even as they struggled to adapt to a changing world order beset by go-it-alone US policies, wars and deepening geopolitical rivalries.
The final day of their weekend summit -- boycotted by the United States -- kicked off with a searching discussion on how the G20 can survive in a fragmenting world.
"We are not experiencing a transition, but a rupture," acknowledged Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to journalists just before the summit session.
"Too many countries are retreating into geopolitical blocs or the battlegrounds of protectionism," he said, but added: "In every rupture resides the responsibility to build -- nostalgia is not a strategy."
Dozens of leaders from key economies around the world -- including Europe, China, India, Japan, Turkey, Brazil and Australia -- attended the summit, the first to be held in Africa.
US President Donald Trump's government snubbed the event, saying South Africa's priorities -- including cooperation on trade and climate -- ran counter to its policies. 
The United States is retreating from multilateral forums as it stokes trade volatility with sweeping tariffs and reverses commitments to fight global warming. 
Trump's officials have also made unfounded accusations of a "white genocide" in South Africa.

'Fragmentation'

In a joint G20 statement issued Saturday, the leaders present said they were meeting "against the backdrop of rising geopolitical and geo-economic competition and instability, heightened conflicts and wars, deepening inequality, increasing global economic uncertainty and fragmentation".
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa admitted "challenges", but said: "The G20 underscores the value of the relevance of multilateralism."
The leaders' declaration was issued despite Washington objecting to the summit making any statement in the name of the G20. 
The UK-based Oxfam charity said "South Africa has set an example to the world in ensuring the G20 stood firm and collectively agreed on a leader’s declaration -- defending multilateralism -- despite powerful opposition".
Nevertheless, French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday said that "the G20 may be coming to the end of a cycle". 
It needs to refocus its priorities on strategic economic issues going forward, he said, noting "difficulties" in the G20 finding common approaches to armed conflicts around the world.
That somewhat reflected a US intention to limit G20 discussions to just macroeconomic topics as it takes on hosting duties next year -- when Trump plans to hold the summit at a Florida golf club he owns.

 'Lifeline' to multilateralism

The G20 -- comprising 19 nations plus the European Union and the African Union -- was founded in the wake of the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis as a forum to boost global economic and financial stability.
Over time, its discussions have broadened to also cover climate change, sustainable development, global health and conflicts.
While those areas have economic implications, they are also political -- often resulting in impasses or omissions in drafting summit declarations.
Divisions have only widened over Russia's war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.
Carney -- whose country this year holds the G7 presidency, to be taken up by France next year -- also said that "the centre of gravity in the global economy is shifting", implying that the G20 needed to take greater note of emerging economies and the global South.
William Gumede, a management professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa who advises governments, including Turkey's, noted that several countries not part of the G20 were invited to the summit, including African ones.
"Bringing emerging powers and developing countries was like creating a whole new world into the G20 and that actually helped to neutralise the Trump absence," he told AFP.
"This summit has actually thrown a lifeline to multilateralism, breathing new life into it," he said.
bur/rmb/br/rh

Global Edition

Slovenia holds crunch vote on contested assisted dying law

BY BOJAN KAVCIC

  • Slovenia's parliament approved a law in July allowing assisted dying after a 2024 referendum supported it.
  • Slovenians began voting Sunday in a new referendum that will determine if a law legalising assisted dying will be enforced or suspended, after critics mounted a campaign against the legislation.
  • Slovenia's parliament approved a law in July allowing assisted dying after a 2024 referendum supported it.
Slovenians began voting Sunday in a new referendum that will determine if a law legalising assisted dying will be enforced or suspended, after critics mounted a campaign against the legislation.
Several European countries, including Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland allow terminally ill people to receive medical help to end their lives.
Slovenia's parliament approved a law in July allowing assisted dying after a 2024 referendum supported it.
But a new vote was called after a civil group, backed by the Catholic Church and the conservative parliamentary opposition, gathered 46,000 signatures in favour of a repeat, exceeding the 40,000 required.
The law will come into force unless a majority of participants, representing at least 20 percent of the 1.7 million eligible voters, rejects it.
Polls opened at 7:00 am (0600 GMT) and will close 12 hours later, with first partial results expected late Sunday.

'Culture of death'

At the Stozice sports hall, the largest polling station in Ljubljana, 63-year-old pensioner Romana Hocevar said she would vote in favour of assisted dying.
"I'm a stage four cancer patient, I would not like to suffer. Had my father die of cancer and mother suffering dementia and I know what it looks like."
Vid Ursic, a 24-year-old student, said it was "good that we get to vote on relevant issues" and added that he supported "the right for people to decide on their own lives".   
But Marija Unuk, in her late fifties, said she had voted against the law "because I support the culture of life, not the culture of death". 
Under the disputed law, which was to take effect this year, lucid, terminally ill patients would have the right to aid in dying if their suffering is unbearable and all treatment options have been exhausted.
It also allows for assisted dying if treatment offers no reasonable prospect of recovery or improvement in the patient's condition, but not to end unbearable suffering from mental illness.
Prime Minister Robert Golob, who voted in advance, has urged citizens to back the law "so that each of us can decide for ourselves how and with what dignity we will end our lives".
The group opposing the law, called Voice for the Children and the Family, has accused the government of using the law to "poison" ill and elderly people.

'Human dignity'

The Catholic Church has said allowing assisted dying "contradicts the foundations of the Gospel, natural law and human dignity".
Some 54 percent of citizens back the legalisation of assisted dying, almost 31 percent oppose it and 15 percent are undecided, according to a poll published this week by the Dnevnik daily, based on 700 responses.
In June 2024, 55 percent backed the law.
If a majority of voters oppose the new law on Sunday, parliament cannot vote again on a bill that deals with the same issue over the next 12 months. 
While several European countries already allow terminally ill people to receive medical help to end their lives, in others it remains a crime, even in cases of severe suffering.
In May, France's lower house of parliament approved a right-to-die bill in a first reading. The British parliament is debating similar legislation.
bk/fec/ach 

fraud

Myanmar junta says nearly 1,600 foreigners arrested in scam hub raids

  • In its latest publicised tally, the junta said "1,590 foreign nationals who entered Myanmar illegally were arrested" from November 18 to 22 in raids on gambling and fraud hub Shwe Kokko, according to state media The Global New Light of Myanmar.
  • Myanmar's military said Sunday it arrested nearly 1,600 foreign nationals in five days in a highly publicised crackdown on a notorious internet scam hub on the Thai border.
  • In its latest publicised tally, the junta said "1,590 foreign nationals who entered Myanmar illegally were arrested" from November 18 to 22 in raids on gambling and fraud hub Shwe Kokko, according to state media The Global New Light of Myanmar.
Myanmar's military said Sunday it arrested nearly 1,600 foreign nationals in five days in a highly publicised crackdown on a notorious internet scam hub on the Thai border.
Sprawling fraud factories have mushroomed in war-torn Myanmar's border regions, housing scammers who target internet users with romance and business cons worth tens of billions of dollars annually.
Myanmar's junta has long been accused of looking the other way as the illicit industry grows, but has trumpeted a crackdown since February after being lobbied by key military backer China, experts say.
Additional raids beginning last month were part of a smokescreen, according to some monitors, choreographed to vent pressure from Beijing without too badly denting profits that enrich the junta's militia allies.
In its latest publicised tally, the junta said "1,590 foreign nationals who entered Myanmar illegally were arrested" from November 18 to 22 in raids on gambling and fraud hub Shwe Kokko, according to state media The Global New Light of Myanmar.
"Moreover, authorities seized 2,893 computers, 21,750 mobile phones, 101 Starlink satellite receivers, 21 Routers and a large number of industrial materials used in the online fraud and gambling activities," the newspaper said.
After an AFP investigation last month revealed receivers from the Starlink satellite internet service had been installed en masse at scam compounds, the Elon Musk-owned company said it had disabled more than 2,500 Starlink devices in the vicinity of suspected Myanmar scam centres.
The Global New Light of Myanmar said 223 people accused of perpetrating online fraud and gambling at Shwe Kokko were detained on Saturday alone, including 100 Chinese nationals.
Video published by local media showed a steamroller crushing hundreds of computer monitors lined up in rows next to piles of already smashed mobile phones at the Shwe Kokko compound on Saturday.
Scam hubs, staffed by thousands of willing workers as well as people trafficked from abroad, have proliferated in Myanmar's loosely governed borderlands since a 2021 coup sparked a civil war in the country.
While China is a key military backer of the junta, analysts say Beijing is increasingly irate at the rampant scams targeting and enlisting its citizens.
Scam victims in Southeast and East Asia alone were conned out of up to $37 billion in 2023, according to a UN report, which said global losses were likely "much larger".
sco/fox

conflict

US denies pushing Russian 'wish list' as Ukraine plan

  • The senators -- Republican Mike Rounds, independent Angus King, and Democrat Jeanne Shaheen -- said Rubio told them the current Ukraine proposal is not the official US position, but instead lays out a "Russian wish list."
  • Washington insisted Saturday that its Ukraine proposal is indeed official US policy, denying claims by a group of senators that Secretary of State Marco Rubio told them the document under discussion is just a Russian "wish list."
  • The senators -- Republican Mike Rounds, independent Angus King, and Democrat Jeanne Shaheen -- said Rubio told them the current Ukraine proposal is not the official US position, but instead lays out a "Russian wish list."
Washington insisted Saturday that its Ukraine proposal is indeed official US policy, denying claims by a group of senators that Secretary of State Marco Rubio told them the document under discussion is just a Russian "wish list."
The dispute over the 28-point plan -- which cedes Ukrainian territory long sought by Moscow -- threw an extraordinary element of confusion into efforts to negotiate an end to the war. 
US President Donald Trump has pushed the plan, pressuring the Ukrainians to accept it within days. Negotiators will meet in Switzerland on Sunday.
However, after a storm of criticism that the proposal is almost entirely favorable to Moscow, several US senators spoke out, holding a press conference at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia, Canada on Saturday. 
The senators -- Republican Mike Rounds, independent Angus King, and Democrat Jeanne Shaheen -- said Rubio told them the current Ukraine proposal is not the official US position, but instead lays out a "Russian wish list."
"What he (Rubio) told us was that this was not the American proposal. This was a proposal that was received by someone... representing Russia in this proposal. It was given to Mr Witkoff," Rounds said, referring to Trump's diplomatic envoy Steve Witkoff.
"It is not our recommendation. It is not our peace plan."
King corroborated those comments, saying "the leaked 28-point plan -- which according to Secretary Rubio is not the administration's position -- it is essentially the wish list of the Russians that is now being presented to the Europeans and to the Ukrainians."
The plan would require Kyiv to cede territory, cut its military, and pledge never to join NATO.
Trump said Saturday it was not his final offer and he hoped to stop the fighting "one way or the other." 
- 'Authored by the US' - 
Rubio asserted the proposal "was authored by the US."
"It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations. It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine," he said Saturday. 
But Shaheen said she and Rounds spoke to the top US diplomat while he was en route to Geneva for the latest negotiations with Ukrainian officials.
Rounds said Rubio was "very frank" during their call.
"It doesn't look like normally something that would come out of our government, particularly the way it was written. It looked more like it was written in Russian to begin with," Rounds said.
King noted that the plan should not reward Moscow for its invasion. 
"Everyone wants this war to end but we want it to end on a fair and just peace that respects the integrity and the sovereignty of Ukraine and does not reward aggression and also provides adequate security guarantees," he said. 
Earlier Saturday, other US senators including some in Trump's Republican party criticized Washington's plan. 
"We will not achieve that lasting peace by offering (Russian President Vladimir) Putin concession after concession and fatally degrading Ukraine's ability to defend itself," the group of senators wrote in a statement.
Senator Mitch McConnell, a veteran Republican, said "rewarding Russian butchery would be disastrous to America's interests." 
Writing on X, he said that Putin has "spent the entire year trying to play President Trump for a fool."
Since the Russian invasion began in 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to keep Kyiv's territory intact. 
In a Friday address to the nation, Zelensky said Ukraine faces one of the most challenging moments in its history, adding that he would propose "alternatives" to Trump's proposal.
bur-sms/acb/sla/rsc

UN

Boos, blowups and last-minute pause as a chaotic COP30 closes out

BY ISSAM AHMED

  • Diplomats huddled as the suspension dragged on for more than an hour before the plenary finally resumed. 
  • Jabs about greedy children, boos for the Vatican, and proceedings suspended for more than an hour: the COP30 finale unfolded with the same chaotic energy that defined the summit, exposing the rifts that came close to derailing a deal.
  • Diplomats huddled as the suspension dragged on for more than an hour before the plenary finally resumed. 
Jabs about greedy children, boos for the Vatican, and proceedings suspended for more than an hour: the COP30 finale unfolded with the same chaotic energy that defined the summit, exposing the rifts that came close to derailing a deal.
Andre Correa do Lago, the dapper Brazilian diplomat who presided over the two-week affair in Belem, opened the final plenary on Saturday afternoon, nearly a full day behind schedule, after nations worked through the night to find a text they could all live with. 
Bleary-eyed delegates took their seats, eager to see the marathon talks finally come to an end.
The summit in this rough-around-the-edges Amazonian city had already been interrupted twice by Indigenous protesters last week -- once when they breached the compound and clashed with security, another time when they blocked delegates from entering -- before a fierce blaze on Thursday triggered a panicked evacuation.
A round of cheers broke out when Correa do Lago brought down his gavel and announced the adoption of the "Mutirao" text -- a Portuguese word of Indigenous origin meaning "collective efforts" that was also the summit's slogan.
Early in the session, a representative from the Holy See earned loud boos from NGOs after taking the mic to read out the Vatican's definition of gender along strict biological lines -- a side story at this COP after several governments, from Iran to Argentina, sought to clarify their positions in the gender and climate action plan.
But the drama did not end there.
After a COP defined by a bitter struggle between dozens of nations including the European Union pushing for a "roadmap" to transition away from fossil fuels, and oil producers and emerging economies firmly resisting it, the session saw an unusual procedural clash.
Daniela Duran of Colombia declared that her country had raised a point of order in a side text that was gaveled through anyway, and was now formally objecting. 
Rather than brush her aside, Correa do Lago suspended the plenary, in an uncommon move that signaled Brazil's determination to show it was handling concerns seriously. 
Observers suggested the pause likely reflected Colombia's deep frustration: the country had been at the forefront of efforts to include a "roadmap," and was displeased with how the talks concluded.
Diplomats huddled as the suspension dragged on for more than an hour before the plenary finally resumed. 
"I have not slept, and probably this has not helped, as well as my advanced age," said Correa do Lago, in his mid-sixties, apologizing as he blamed an honest mistake for missing Colombia's point of order.
Still, Russia -- often aligned with Brazil in international forums -- chose to voice its displeasure, objecting to the objections.
"Refrain from behaving like children who want to get your hands on all the sweets!" scolded Russia's Sergei Kononuchenko, speaking in Spanish as he accused Colombia and others of trying to "stuff the sweets down your throat until you make yourself sick," prompting a sharp rebuke from Argentina.
India hailed the deal as "meaningful," while Europe, aside from a technical objection, largely stayed silent, underscoring how far the West had been knocked onto the back foot.
British energy secretary Ed Miliband cut an isolated figure, telling AFP during the enforced break that a climate agreement only implicitly referencing oil, coal and gas was still "important in the context of the US leaving Paris," even as he conceded "it's not everything we would have wanted."
Infrastructure woes had plagued the summit from the start -- leaking ceilings, broken air conditioners, toilets running out of water and more. 
In a fitting coda, a torrential downpour in the final session -- "the wonderful noise of an Amazon rain," in Correa do Lago's words -- left parts of the carpet soaked.
ia/sla

music

Tomorrowland bets on Chinese dance music fans with first indoor event

BY REBECCA BAILEY

  • - Tightly managed - The 10,000-capacity Shanghai event is tiny compared to the Belgian one, which saw 400,000 people over two weekends this year. 
  • "Are you ready Shanghai?!"
  • - Tightly managed - The 10,000-capacity Shanghai event is tiny compared to the Belgian one, which saw 400,000 people over two weekends this year. 
"Are you ready Shanghai?!" screamed the DJ, his glowing booth nestled at the heart of a huge intricate structure of pulsating colour and sound.
Thousands roared back "yes!" as Tomorrowland, one of the world's biggest dance music festivals, made its China debut this weekend.
The move is a vote of confidence in the country's small but lively electronic dance music (EDM) scene -- and in its earning potential, despite slack consumer demand elsewhere in the economy.
Renowned for its star-studded line-ups and spectacular stagecraft, Tomorrowland's home edition in Belgium's Boom is a bucket list item for many hardcore ravers. 
"For me, Tomorrowland is a dream," said Chinese EDM fan Mark, wearing sunglasses and a bright yellow arrow headdress.  
EDM was "relatively niche" in China, he said, but that could change.
"Over the course of the last 10 years it's really flourished, and now I feel like everyone around me -- including my parents -- have all started to learn about EDM," he said. 
Tomorrowland is betting on enthusiasm growing among a young urban middle class looking to "premium-ise" their partying, said Cameron Sunkel of specialist outlet EDM.com.
"China, in my eyes, is where the demand curve is steepest for this type of experience," he said, comparing it to mature European and American markets where "production costs are climbing" for only incremental growth. 
A spokeswoman for Tomorrowland told AFP they believed "strongly in China's long-term opportunities".
She compared it to Brazil, where Tomorrowland has hosted festivals since 2015.
"(It) was also a niche market when we first arrived, yet today we see a fast-growing community and incredible local talent emerging," she said.

Feel-good economy

"The Magic of Tomorrowland" is the festival's first event indoors. 
On Saturday, many entering the main building gasped at the sight of the castle-like stage dominating one side of the cavernous hall, set against a 374-square-metre (4,000-square-foot) video wall. 
At the second smaller stage, dancers shrieked as confetti cannons fired simultaneously with a bass drop, glitter falling like shimmering rain.
Slow domestic demand is vexing Chinese authorities, but young people in particular appear willing to splurge on "emotional consumption" -- things that make them feel good.
In 2024, ticket revenues from large- and medium-sized concerts and festivals grew by 66.5 percent to almost $4.2 billion, an annual industry report showed.
Tomorrowland is not alone in eyeing up the potential -- major festivals including Ultra and Creamfields have also held China editions.
Momentum was lost during the pandemic though. 
"Ten years ago in Shanghai, there were a lot of EDM bars, but actually nowadays there's not that many," Grace, a 29-year-old Chinese influencer in hot-pink flares told AFP.
"So for a big (brand) like this to come to China, I'm obviously very excited."

Tightly managed

The 10,000-capacity Shanghai event is tiny compared to the Belgian one, which saw 400,000 people over two weekends this year. 
In China, Tomorrowland has partnered with entertainment companies Hero Esports and INS Land, and was supported by local authorities keen to burnish the city's international hub credentials.
The purpose-built main stage building was completed in just five months, including over a thousand moving lights, 118 speakers and dozens of laser, smoke and bubble machines.
The aim is to present "a fairy tale, an entire experience", said the event marketing chief, Hero Esports' Jay Lu.
EDM.com's Sunkel said the indoor event was "a way for Tomorrowland to test how their universe lands in China, how it's received under tightly managed conditions".
Common at such events in China, there was a visible security presence, and the last act -- global star Dimitri Vegas joined by Chinese rapper Masiwei -- finished at 10pm.
Some Europeans said they were bemused to find the bar payment system only allowed each person two alcoholic drinks for the event.
None of the organisers would divulge the costs involved in the event, nor exactly how long the partnership was set to last.
"We're excited for a long-term partnership so that we can educate the Chinese community on what EDM is... (and) just increase the bar for this whole industry," the event's CEO, Hero Esports' Clinton Lau, told AFP.
Asked whether this year would make a profit, Lau smiled.
"Every time you build something so grand... it takes time for the market to mature," he said. 
"So we're starting here."
reb/dhw

prison

Brazil's Bolsonaro detained for trying to break ankle bracelet and flee

BY JUAN SEBASTIAN SERRANO AND RAMON SAMHKOW WITH LUCIA LACURCIA IN RIO DE JANEIRO

  • Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes said Bolsonaro's detention was a preventive measure as final appeals play out.
  • Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro -- under house arrest while he appeals a conviction for a foiled coup attempt -- was taken into custody Saturday after the Supreme Court deemed him a high flight risk.
  • Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes said Bolsonaro's detention was a preventive measure as final appeals play out.
Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro -- under house arrest while he appeals a conviction for a foiled coup attempt -- was taken into custody Saturday after the Supreme Court deemed him a high flight risk.
The court said the far-right firebrand -- who was sentenced to 27 years in prison over a scheme to stop leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 elections -- had attempted to disable his ankle monitor in order to flee.
Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes said Bolsonaro's detention was a preventive measure as final appeals play out.
In a video made public by the court, Bolsonaro admitted that he had used a soldering iron on the monitoring bracelet out of "curiosity." The video showed the device badly damaged and burned, but still on his ankle.
The 70-year-old Bolsonaro, who governed Brazil from 2019 to 2022, was placed under house arrest in August and has been confined to an upscale condominium in the capital Brasilia.
Moraes said in his ruling that a planned vigil outside the condominium called by the former leader's eldest son Flavio Bolsonaro on Saturday could cause turmoil that would "create an environment conducive to his escape." 
Flavio had urged Bolsonaro supporters to "fight for your country."
The judge said the attempted disabling of the ankle monitor occurred early Saturday as part of a plan to "ensure the success of his escape, facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son."
Moraes gave Bolsonaro's attorneys 24 hours to explain the incident.
"I don't know what's going on inside the Federal Police now. If something happens to my father, Alexandre de Moraes, if my father dies in there, it's your fault," Flavio said in a live video broadcast.
He told reporters ahead of the vigil that his father could have burned the ankle monitor as a "act of desperation" or out of "shame" for having to wear it in front of visiting relatives.
Moraes highlighted the proximity of Bolsonaro's home to the US embassy, raising the risk of him seeking political asylum.
Bolsonaro, a former army captain, is an ally of US President Donald Trump, who has called the trial a "witch hunt" and imposed punitive tariffs and sanctions against Brazil over it.
Trump said Saturday of Bolsonaro's latest situation: "That's too bad."

Celebrations and anger

Bolsonaro has been taken to a federal police complex in Brasilia where prisoners undergo medical examinations before being sent to jail, according to a source close to the case.
Another source sent a video to AFP showing the small room where Bolsonaro will be held for now, with a television, air conditioning and a mini-fridge. 
A group of women gathered outside the police headquarters and uncorked a bottle of sparkling wine to celebrate Bolsonaro's imprisonment.
Ana Denise Sousa, 47, a high school philosophy teacher, told AFP she was overjoyed.
"The biggest scoundrel, the worst guy...who screwed everyone over, who (attempted) a coup, who never felt pity for anyone -- and now he's going to pay," she said.
Supporters also arrived at the scene, draped in Brazil's green and yellow flag.
"This is all political persecution," said Alessandro Goncalves de Almeida, a 53-year-old rideshare driver.

Time running out

Bolsonaro's legal woes have left Brazil's large conservative electorate without a champion heading into 2026 presidential elections, in which Lula, 80, has said he will seek a fourth term.
His defense team said they would appeal the detention which "could put his life at risk" due to his alleged frail health. 
Bolsonaro suffers ongoing consequences of a stab wound to the abdomen during a 2018 campaign trail attack and has required several follow-up surgeries.
During his presidency, Bolsonaro was praised for his handling of the economy but slammed for overseeing record Amazon deforestation and dismissing Covid-19 as a "little flu."
He was convicted in September of leading a criminal organization that conspired to ensure his "authoritarian hold on power." The plot allegedly involved a plan to assassinate Lula, his vice president Geraldo Alckmin, and Moraes.
ll-jss-fb/sst/acb/sla

UN

Amazon climate deal a 'win' for global unity but fossil fuels untouched

BY NICK PERRY AND ISSAM AHMED WITH LAURENT THOMET IN PARIS

  • Colombia "does not accept" the deal, said President Gustavo Petro, whose country is hosting a world-first summit on a fossil fuel phaseout in April next year.
  • Nations sealed a modest agreement at the UN climate summit in the Brazilian Amazon on Saturday as many countries swallowed weaker terms on a fossil fuel phaseout to preserve unity.
  • Colombia "does not accept" the deal, said President Gustavo Petro, whose country is hosting a world-first summit on a fossil fuel phaseout in April next year.
Nations sealed a modest agreement at the UN climate summit in the Brazilian Amazon on Saturday as many countries swallowed weaker terms on a fossil fuel phaseout to preserve unity.
Nearly 200 countries approved the deal by consensus after two weeks of exhaustive negotiations on the fringes of the rainforest, with the notable absence of the United States as President Donald Trump shunned the talks.
Applause rang out as the gavel was brought down in steamy Belem, capping a dramatic summit that witnessed raucous protests, a damaging fire and massive street marches.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who staked political capital on the success of COP30, said the pact was proof that a fractured world could still unite in crisis.
"The international community faced a choice: to continue or to give up. We chose the first option," Lula said in South Africa, where he was attending a G20 summit. "Multilateralism won."
There was less euphoria in Belem, where defeated European ministers admitted they only took the watered-down deal to keep the entire process from imploding.
"We're not going to hide the fact that we would have preferred to have more," said EU climate chief Wopke Hoekstra.
Later, he added: "I know it's a bit intangible, but there is huge value in doing stuff together." 
The head of China's delegation at COP30, Li Gao, told AFP that the summit will go down as a success.
"We achieved this success in a very difficult situation, so it shows that the international community would like to show solidarity and make joint efforts to address climate change," Li said. 
India hailed a "meaningful" deal in a statement read on behalf of major emerging markets Brazil, South Africa, India and China.
The Alliance of Small Island States -- a bloc of 39 of the world's most climate-imperiled nations -- said the deal was "imperfect, but necessary progress" for a global body that operates by consensus.

Fossil fuels flop

Dozens of countries had threatened to walk away from the talks without an exit strategy from oil, gas and coal -- instead, the deal points to a previous pact on fossil fuels, without explicitly using those words. 
"We know some of you had greater ambitions for some of the issues at hand," said COP30 president Andre Correa do Lago, who offered to create a voluntary "roadmap" away from fossil fuels as a consolation. 
Colombia "does not accept" the deal, said President Gustavo Petro, whose country is hosting a world-first summit on a fossil fuel phaseout in April next year.
The roadmap idea picked up pace after an early endorsement from Lula, but ran into predictable opposition from oil giants like Saudi Arabia, coal producer India, and others.
"President Lula set the bar high in calling for roadmaps to end fossil fuels and deforestation, but a divided multilateral landscape was unable to hurdle it," said Carolina Pasquali from Greenpeace Brazil.

Money and trade

Brazil sought to manage expectations of landing a major deal given the state of geopolitics and a hostile United States.
Even so, optimism took root that Brazil -- a champion of developing nations and home to the world's biggest rainforest -- could pull something out of the bag.
In a coup for developing countries, the world agreed to "at least triple" by 2035 money for poorer nations to adapt to climate change.
But this was the bare minimum, one negotiator from Bangladesh told AFP, vowing the "fight will continue."
Raju Pandit, a negotiator from Nepal, said the summit "had not met the expectations of climate vulnerable countries."
In what was seen as a win for China, strong language around trade measures was also included for the first time in a COP deal.

COP in the Amazon

Away from the politics, the summit departed sharply in feel compared to COPs of recent years staged in tightly-controlled authoritarian petrostates.
Tens of thousands of people marched in a carnival-like atmosphere on the streets while inside the venue, protesters chanted in the corridors.
But there were unexpected -- and less welcome -- moments of drama as well. 
A large fire erupted inside the venue on the second-to-last day, burning through the fabric ceiling and creating a panicked rush for the exits as smoke filled the halls.
Early in the first week, Indigenous protesters stormed the venue and clashed with security in scenes that drew global attention to their plight.
The Amazon made itself felt -- and heard. 
The humidity could be stifling and most afternoons, the skies would erupt.
Even in the final plenary, an exhausted Correa do Lago spoke of "the wonderful noise of an Amazon rain" as he struggled to be heard above the din.
bur-np/lth/sst

demonstration

Thousands march in France to demand action on violence against women

BY MARINE PENNETIER, WITH AFP TEAMS IN LILLE AND BORDEAUX

  • They are also calling for improved education and funding for groups that support victims of violence. 
  • Thousands of protesters across France braved the cold on Saturday to express their anger over the persistence of violence against women and demand more public action and funds to combat the scourge. 
  • They are also calling for improved education and funding for groups that support victims of violence. 
Thousands of protesters across France braved the cold on Saturday to express their anger over the persistence of violence against women and demand more public action and funds to combat the scourge. 
In Paris, crowds of demonstrators -- 50,000 according to organisers, 17,000 according to the police -- waved signs, chanted, danced and sang as they moved through the capital in the protests organised by the Greve feministe (Feminist Strike) collective of some 60 organisations. 
"A man kills a woman every 2.5 days in France," read one placard distributed by the feminist collective NousToutes (All of us Women). 
"Nine out of 10 victims know their rapist," read another.
"It's 2025, is it still normal to count our dead women?" said Sylvaine Grevin, president of the national femicide victims' federation, whose sister was killed in 2017, ahead of the start of the Paris demonstration. 
Hundreds of protesters also gathered in the cold in other cities, creating crowds awash in purple -- a colour linked to feminism. 
"We have the right to be loved without being abused," said 20-year-old student Juliette in Lille in northern France.
The associations behind the protests are calling for the adoption of a comprehensive framework law against violence, along with a three-billion-euro budget ($3.5-billion) to implement it.
They are also calling for improved education and funding for groups that support victims of violence. 
According to official figures published Thursday by MIPROF, a government organisation tasked with protecting women from violence and fighting human trafficking, the number of intimate partner femicides rose by 11 percent between 2023 and 2024, with 107 women killed by their partner or ex-partner.
A woman is a victim of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault every two minutes, and every 23 seconds of sexual harassment, indecent exposure, or the unsolicited sending of sexual content, according to MIPROF.
The Women's Foundation rights group estimates the minimum annual budget the government should allocate to protecting victims of domestic, gender-based and sexual violence in France is 2.6 billion euros -- equivalent to 0.5 percent of the state budget.
mep-kal-ldf-lby/sw/kjm/rsc

drugs

Thousands rally in France after murder linked to anti-drug activism

BY TONY GAMAL-GABRIEL AND WAFAA ESSALHI

  • - 'Scourge' - Politicians from across the political spectrum joined the gathering, Mehdi's death having sparked a nationwide focus on drug crime, with initiatives also planned in some 25 other towns and cities. 
  • Thousands of people gathered in Marseille on Saturday to honour the brother of an anti-drug activist murdered in France's second largest city whose death sparked nationwide calls to confront drug crime. 
  • - 'Scourge' - Politicians from across the political spectrum joined the gathering, Mehdi's death having sparked a nationwide focus on drug crime, with initiatives also planned in some 25 other towns and cities. 
Thousands of people gathered in Marseille on Saturday to honour the brother of an anti-drug activist murdered in France's second largest city whose death sparked nationwide calls to confront drug crime. 
Demonstrators chanted "Justice for Mehdi" before observing a minute of silence at the roundabout where the 20-year-old Mehdi Kessaci was shot dead by a gunman in his parked car on November 13. 
Investigations are ongoing but authorities consider the murder to be a "warning crime" linked to the anti-drug activism of his brother Amine Kessaci, 22, who was welcomed by cheers as he joined the crowd on Saturday. 
Amine Kessaci is now living under police protection and the gathering was marked by heavy police presence in the southern port city hard hit by drug crime. 
The young anti-drug and environmental activist threw himself into campaigning after his half-brother Brahim was murdered in a drug-trafficking feud in 2020. 
"I demand justice for Mehdi. I demand justice for Brahim, my other murdered brother. I demand justice for all the victims. I demand safety for my family," said Amine, whose presence at the gathering wasn't confirmed until the last moment due to security concerns. 
A former lawmaker has called for him to be awarded France's highest order of merit, the Legion of Honor, but the activist said it was "the mothers of the neighbourhoods (hit by drug crime) who deserve a decoration for their courage, their dignity, their daily struggle". 
"For years we have been raising the alarm, we have been speaking out because we know that silence kills. Each retreat by the institutions has facilitated the advance of drug trafficking," he said on Saturday via a recorded message played to the crowd.
Marseille has been struggling to battle drug crime, with more than a dozen people killed since the start of the year in turf wars and other disputes linked to cocaine and cannabis dealing. 
"Fear cannot beat us," said Marseille Mayor Benoit Payan. 
"We must resist and fight them, wage a war against those who kill for money," he added, calling for unity and refusing to let Marseille be labeled a "narco-city".

'Scourge'

Politicians from across the political spectrum joined the gathering, Mehdi's death having sparked a nationwide focus on drug crime, with initiatives also planned in some 25 other towns and cities. 
Many laid white flowers at the spot where Mehdi, who aspired to become a police officer, was killed.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez has called the crime a "turning point" and President Emmanuel Macron urged France to step up its actions and use the same approach it has used against "terrorism". 
While drug-related homicides often make front-page news in Marseille, Mehdi Kessaci's killing stunned the city.
Activists were among the crowd of more than 6,200 people, where some carried white flowers and wore white shirts. 
For 72-year-old activist Anne-Marie Tagawa, the gathering would be a moment of "reflection, but also for us to say we are not ok with what is happening".  
She said disadvantaged neighbourhoods were "fertile ground that has been abandoned by institutions, the State", leaving them those who would turn them into places where crime thrives and establish "systems of violence". 
The bereaved mother of Mehdi and Brahim, Ouassila Benhamdi, joined the gathering, dressed entirely in white. 
"My heart is torn apart. I am inconsolable. No mother wants to see her children die before her," she said in a speech, which someone finished reading for her as she was overcome by grief.  
"I am asking the government to grasp the gravity of everything that is happening," she added. 
"This must stop, for all the families affected by this scourge."
tgg-we/sp/sw/giv/gv

Brazil

COP30: Key reactions to climate deal

  • - India, South Africa, Brazil, China - But India praised the deal as "meaningful."
  • Nearly 200 nations on Saturday pushed through a modest deal at the UN's COP30 climate summit in the Amazon region of host country Brazil.
  • - India, South Africa, Brazil, China - But India praised the deal as "meaningful."
Nearly 200 nations on Saturday pushed through a modest deal at the UN's COP30 climate summit in the Amazon region of host country Brazil.
It was welcomed by some as a decent outcome amid fraught negotiations -- and the absence of the United States -- but dismissed as falling short by others.
Here's a round-up of key reactions:

Lula

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva -- who had staked political capital in the success of what he dubbed "the COP of truth" -- applauded that "science prevailed" and "multilateralism won" during the talks.
"We mobilized civil society, academia, the private sector, indigenous peoples, and social movements, making COP30 the COP with the second-highest participation in history."

Europe  

"We're not going to hide the fact that we would have preferred to have more, to have more ambition on everything," EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told reporters, while saying the deal was still "the right direction."
French ecological transition minister Monique Barbut was more frank: "I couldn't call this COP a success," she said.
But while "this deal won't raise our overall level of ambition," she said "it doesn't disrupt any of the previous momentum" either.
British energy secretary Ed Miliband told AFP "that's what this COP process is like. You look over the long sweep of history -- it had delivered change."
"Every COP has frustrations."

Colombia

The president of Colombia Gustavo Petro slammed the deal's lack of plan to phase out fossil fuels, saying Colombia "does not accept" that the declaration "doesn't say with clarity, as science does, that the cause of the climate crisis is fossil fuels."

India, South Africa, Brazil, China

But India praised the deal as "meaningful."
"We fully support the (COP30) presidency and recognize the outstanding efforts of the presidency team, including spending many sleepless nights working to ensure that we leave with something meaningful from Belem," said a representative from India, speaking on behalf of the BASIC coalition of Brazil, South Africa, India, and China.
China meanwhile was "happy with the outcome."
China's Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment, Li Gao, told AFP that COP 30 would go down as "success in a very difficult situation."

Less-developed countries

Evans Njewa, who represented a group of 44 less-developed countries, said "we didn't win on all fronts, but we got tripling adaptation finance by 2035."
"Thanks for siding with 1.6 billion vulnerable people," Njewa said of the inhabitants of the African, Asian and island countries he reps. "This was our priority, and we made it a red line."
And the Alliance of Small Island States called the deal "imperfect" but still a step towards "progress."

Guterres

The head of the United Nations commended the weeks of efforts but said he understood that "many may feel disappointed" with the results, including Indigenous people, youth, and those now feeling the worst impacts of climate change.
"I cannot pretend that COP30 has delivered everything that is needed," read a statement from Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who said "the gap between where we are and what science demands remains dangerously wide."
"I will continue pushing for higher ambition and greater solidarity."

NGOs

The talks also were closely watched by non-governmental organizations working in the climate sector.
The head of the World Resources Institute, Ani Dasgupta, heralded COP30 for delivering "breakthroughs to triple adaptation finance, protect the world's forests and elevate the voices of Indigenous people like never before."
But the formal negotiations fell short in many respects, he said, notably on the lack of a fossil fuel phaseout plan, leading to a "weakened" deal.
Ilan Zugman, Latin American and Caribbean director for the organization 350.org, said that "the lack of concrete commitments in the final text of COP30 shows us who is still benefiting from the delay: the fossil fuel industry and the ultrarich, not those living the climate crisis every day."
bur-mdo/sla

kidnapping

Gunmen seize 315 in latest Nigerian mass school kidnapping

BY SUSAN NJANJI

  • The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had earlier reported 227 people seized, but the new number came "after a verification exercise" that concluded 303 students and 12 teachers were abducted.
  • Gunmen have kidnapped more than 300 students and teachers in one of the largest mass kidnappings in Nigeria, a Christian group said Saturday, as security fears mounted in Africa's most populous nation.
  • The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had earlier reported 227 people seized, but the new number came "after a verification exercise" that concluded 303 students and 12 teachers were abducted.
Gunmen have kidnapped more than 300 students and teachers in one of the largest mass kidnappings in Nigeria, a Christian group said Saturday, as security fears mounted in Africa's most populous nation.
The early Friday raid on St Mary's co-education school in Niger state in western Nigeria came after gunmen on Monday stormed a secondary school in neighbouring Kebbi state, abducting 25 girls.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had earlier reported 227 people seized, but the new number came "after a verification exercise" that concluded 303 students and 12 teachers were abducted.
The number of boys and girls - aged between eight and 18 years - kidnapped from St Mary's is almost half of the school's student population of 629.
The Nigerian government has not commented on the number of students and teachers abducted. 
Niger state governor Mohammed Umar Bago said on Saturday the intelligence department and police were "doing the head count".
Bago, whose government had ordered some schools shut, also announced the closure of all schools in his state as attention focuses on rescuing the students and teachers. Nearby states have also shuttered all their schools as a precautionary measure. 
The national education ministry has also ordered 47 boarding secondary schools across the country be shut.
President Bola Tinubu has cancelled international engagements, including attending the G20 summit in Johannesburg, to handle the crisis.
The two abduction operations and an attack on a church in the west of the country, in which two people were killed and dozens abducted, have happened since US President Donald Trump threatened military action over what he called the killing of Christians by radical Islamists in Nigeria.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called on Abuja to "take both urgent and enduring action to stop violence against Christians", during talks with Nigerian National Security Advisor Nuhu Ribadu, the Pentagon said Friday.
Nigeria is still scarred by the kidnapping of nearly 300 girls by Boko Haram jihadists at Chibok in northeastern Borno state more than a decade ago. Some of those girls are still missing.
In a video clip shared by CAN, looking distraught, an unidentified St Mary's staff described hearing the sounds of motorcycles and cars before "there was serious bang, bang on different gates of the compound". 
"Children were crying," she said, describing her panic while looking for keys to the section where the crying was loudest. A security guard was heard groaning and after some time she heard the gang driving away.
The "attackers operated aggressively and without interruption for nearly three hours, moving through dormitories", said the local Catholic diocese.

Myriad security challenges

Meanwhile, some 600 kilometres away, on the outskirts of the capital Abuja, 40-year-old nurse Stella Shaibu, collected her daughter on Saturday from a school in Bwari, following the directive to shut some boarding schools.  
"How can 300 students be taken away at the same time?" she asked, concluding that the "government is not doing anything" to curb insecurity.
"If there is something that the American government can do to salvage this situation, I'm totally in support," she told AFP.
In a separate attack on a church in western Nigeria on Tuesday, gunmen killed two people during a service that was being broadcast online. Dozens of worshippers are believed to have been abducted.
For years, heavily armed criminal gangs have been killing thousands and conducting kidnappings for ransom in rural areas of northwest and central Nigeria, where there is little state presence.
No group has claimed the latest attacks but bandit gangs seeking ransom payments often target schools in rural areas where security is weak.
The gangs have camps in a vast forest straddling several states in the west.
Although bandits have no ideological leanings and are motivated by financial gain, their increasing alliance with jihadists from the northeast has been a source of concern for authorities and security analysts.
bur-sn/gv

SAfrica

Geopolitical fractures and Ukraine worries sap G20 summit

BY HILLARY ORINDE AND UMBERTO BACCHI

  • But it said it would send the US charge d'affaires at its embassy in South Africa on Sunday to accept the handover of the next G20 presidency.
  • The G20's role in fixing economic crises is threatened by geopolitical fractures, leaders warned Saturday at a summit in South Africa boycotted by the United States.
  • But it said it would send the US charge d'affaires at its embassy in South Africa on Sunday to accept the handover of the next G20 presidency.
The G20's role in fixing economic crises is threatened by geopolitical fractures, leaders warned Saturday at a summit in South Africa boycotted by the United States.
European leaders attending the G20 summit -- the first held in Africa -- huddled on its sidelines to push back at a unilateral plan by US President Donald Trump aimed at ending the war in Ukraine on terms favouring Russia.
In a joint statement issued with Canada and Japan, they said Trump's plan needs "additional work" as it would leave Ukraine "vulnerable". They added that some of its points required "the consent of EU and NATO members".
Speaking at the opening of the summit, one of the statement's signatories, French President Emmanuel Macron, said: "We are struggling to resolve major crises together around this table."
He warned that, given fissures in international cooperation, "the G20 may be coming to the end of a cycle".
"There's no doubt, the road ahead is tough," agreed British Prime Minister Keir Starmer -- who also signed the statement -- adding: "We need to find ways to play a constructive role again today in the face of the world challenges."
Chinese Premier Li Qiang said "unilateralism and protectionism are rampant" and "many people are pondering what exactly is happening to global solidarity."
But the summit's host, President Cyril Ramaphosa, argued the G20 remained key for international cooperation.
"The G20 underscores the value of the relevance of multilateralism. It recognises that the challenges that we face can only be resolved through cooperation, collaboration and partnership," Ramaphosa said.

Concern for Ukraine

The G20 comprises 19 countries plus the European Union and the African Union, and accounts for 85 percent of the world's GDP and two-thirds of its population.
The Johannesburg summit was undermined by the American boycott, and China's Li stood in for an absent President Xi Jinping, while Russia sent a Kremlin official, Maxim Oreshkin, instead of President Vladimir Putin, who is wanted under an International Criminal Court warrant. 
The leaders present adopted a summit declaration covering climate, energy, debt sustainability and a critical-minerals pact -- along with a joint call for a "just" peace in Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and the "Occupied Palestinian Territory".
Following the opening ceremony, Starmer, Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz rushed into a meeting to discuss Trump's plan for Ukraine, joined soon after by other leaders from Europe, Australia, Canada and Japan.
Afterwards all of them, except Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, issued a statement saying the "draft" US plan had some "important elements" but "will require additional work".
"Borders must not be changed by force," they said, adding they were "also concerned by the proposed limitations on Ukraine's armed forces, which would leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attack".

'Progress' sought

European Council President Antonio Costa said on X the leaders of all 27 EU nations would hold a follow-up meeting on Monday, on the sidelines of a European Union-African Union summit in Angola.
Security officials from Britain, France and Germany were to meet US and Ukrainian counterparts on Sunday in Switzerland to seek "progress" on the US plan, both Starmer and Macron said. 
Macron, speaking to journalists, said a "coalition of the willing" of some 30 nations backing Ukraine would on Tuesday follow up with a video call to coordinate and "to take new initiatives".
Trump has said he wants Kyiv to accept his 28-point proposals -- which involve ceding territory to Russia and cutting the size of Ukraine's military -- by Thursday.
The United States said it skipped the Johannesburg summit because it viewed its priorities -- including on trade and climate -- as running counter to its policies.
But it said it would send the US charge d'affaires at its embassy in South Africa on Sunday to accept the handover of the next G20 presidency.
Trump has said he intends to hold the 2026 summit at a Florida golf club that he owns.
bur/rmb/br/rlp

SAfrica

S.Africa G20 declaration highlights: minerals, debt, climate

BY JULIE BOURDIN

  • South Africa chose "Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability" as the theme of its presidency of the G20, which comprises 19 countries and two regional bodies, the European Union and the African Union and accounts for 85 percent of global GDP. Here are some highlights from the declaration from the first G20 summit on the African continent which was boycotted by the United States.
  • Leaders from the G20 group of top economies endorsed Saturday a declaration at a summit in South Africa that highlights issues related to access to critical minerals and measures to cope with climate change. 
  • South Africa chose "Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability" as the theme of its presidency of the G20, which comprises 19 countries and two regional bodies, the European Union and the African Union and accounts for 85 percent of global GDP. Here are some highlights from the declaration from the first G20 summit on the African continent which was boycotted by the United States.
Leaders from the G20 group of top economies endorsed Saturday a declaration at a summit in South Africa that highlights issues related to access to critical minerals and measures to cope with climate change. 
South Africa chose "Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability" as the theme of its presidency of the G20, which comprises 19 countries and two regional bodies, the European Union and the African Union and accounts for 85 percent of global GDP.
Here are some highlights from the declaration from the first G20 summit on the African continent which was boycotted by the United States.

Critical minerals

Leaders said they would seek to protect the global value chain of critical minerals from "disruption", whether due to geopolitical tensions, unilateral trade measures inconsistent with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, pandemics, or natural disasters.
Many countries are intensifying efforts to secure access to these minerals, which are abundant in African and essential to the transition to green energy, used in electronics from phones to solar panels and electric cars.
China's dominance of critical mineral supply chains has emerged as growing area of concern for the world's industrialised democracies.
The declaration also supported "increased exploration of critical minerals, particularly in developing countries" for which they said the resource should be a driver of development and value-addition "rather than just raw material exports".

Just, lasting peace

The declaration addressed major global conflicts underway by calling for a "just, comprehensive, and lasting peace" in Ukraine, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the "Occupied Palestinian Territory" on the basis of the UN Charter.
It called on countries to "refrain from the threat or use of force ... against the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of any state".
While Ukraine was only mentioned once in the 30-page document, Western leaders attending the summit also scrambled on the sidelines to respond to a unilateral plan pushed by US President Donald Trump to end the war in Ukraine on terms favouring Russia.

Inequality

South Africa placed the fight against inequality as one its main G20 priorities, with President Cyril Ramaphosa commissioning an expert report on the problem and supporting a call to establish an international panel on wealth disparities.
While the declaration did not specifically mention the report's recommendation, it underlined the "imperative" to address "disparities in wealth and development both within and between countries".
The leaders also called for efforts to reform international financial systems to help low-income countries cope with their debt, which was hindering development and eating into investments into infrastructure, disaster resilience, healthcare and education.
They called for more transparency from lenders, including in the private sector, and backed a review of the International Monetary Fund as well as work to establish global minimum taxes. 
The declaration's language on taxation of the super-rich was less robust than in the previous G20 declaration in Rio de Janeiro where leaders agreed to ensure the world's billionaires "are effectively taxed".

Climate

Endorsed on the same day that the COP30 UN climate talks concluded in Brazil, the declaration recognised the need to "rapidly and substantially" scale up climate finance "from billions to trillions globally from all sources".
It highlighted inequalities in access to energy, particularly in Africa, and called for increasing, de-risking and diversifying investments for sustainable energy transitions.
The leaders said they would promote the development of early warning systems for people at risk of climate-linked disasters, recognising that some of those most impacted were from least developed countries. 
The text, however, fell short of mentioning a phaseout from fossil fuels. 
jcb/br/giv

fashion

Irish fashion designer Paul Costelloe dies aged 80

  • "We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Paul Costelloe following a short illness," his family said, adding he was with his wife and seven children when he died in London.
  • Irish-American fashion titan Paul Costelloe, who was the late Princess Diana's personal designer for over a decade, has died aged 80, his family said in a statement Saturday.
  • "We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Paul Costelloe following a short illness," his family said, adding he was with his wife and seven children when he died in London.
Irish-American fashion titan Paul Costelloe, who was the late Princess Diana's personal designer for over a decade, has died aged 80, his family said in a statement Saturday.
"We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Paul Costelloe following a short illness," his family said, adding he was with his wife and seven children when he died in London.
The luxury womenswear designer was one of the most prominent Irish stylists and a regular on the opening day of London Fashion Week since the inception of the show in 1984.
Born in 1945 in Dublin, Costelloe trained as a design assistant at French luxury houses in Paris before joining British retailer Marks and Spencer in Milan.
He was then appointed as Princess Diana's personal stylist from 1983 and stayed in the role until her death in 1997.
He told Irish state broadcaster that he felt he had "made it" when he was asked to be her designer.
"She was very human, she didn't act like a princess... She made a very good cup of tea and some scones," Costelloe told RTE about his most famous client earlier this year.
Known for his romantic, tailored designs, Costelloe's collections tied old-school styles with new, innovative twists, frequently featuring pops of colour, tweed patterns and florals.
Costelloe, who once compared being a fashion designer to being a tireless "athlete", presented his latest 1960s-inspired Spring-Summer collection titled "We stroll down Rodeo Drive" at London Fashion Week in September.
His brand is also a family business, with his son William the design director creating the prints and backdrops for his collections.
"My ambition is to step back from fashion eventually," Costelloe told Vogue in 2024. "To hire an old car and drive around France and paint".
aks/giv

protest

Climate activists dye Venice's Grand Canal green

  • Negotiations at key UN climate talks in Brazil ran into overtime on Saturday with no agreement struck and delegates still locked in a bitter fight over whether to mention fossil fuels in the final text. 
  • Climate activists dyed Venice's Grand Canal green Saturday, as countries at a UN climate conference in Brazil struggled to agree on the crucial issue of phasing out of fossil fuels.
  • Negotiations at key UN climate talks in Brazil ran into overtime on Saturday with no agreement struck and delegates still locked in a bitter fight over whether to mention fossil fuels in the final text. 
Climate activists dyed Venice's Grand Canal green Saturday, as countries at a UN climate conference in Brazil struggled to agree on the crucial issue of phasing out of fossil fuels.
Extinction Rebellion said its activists released an environmentally harmless dye into canals, rivers, lakes and fountains in a total of 10 Italian cities to highlight "the massive effects of climate collapse".
Greta Thunberg was present at the "Stop Ecocide" protest in Venice, where demonstrators dressed entirely in red with veils over their faces walked slowly through curious crowds of tourists, images showed.
The green dye was also poured into the Po river in Turin, the Reno river in Bologna, the Tara river in Taranto, as well as fountains in Padova and Genoa, the activist group said.
Negotiations at key UN climate talks in Brazil ran into overtime on Saturday with no agreement struck and delegates still locked in a bitter fight over whether to mention fossil fuels in the final text. 
At stake at the Belem talks is securing a deal that paves the way for faster cuts to planet-warming emissions that are driving ever more extreme weather.
"The most important global summit to define international political agreements aimed at countering climate and social collapse is drawing to a close, and once again this year, Italy has been among the countries blocking the most ambitious proposals," said activist Paola as quoted by Extinction Rebellion, whose surname was not provided.
ide/giv

conflict

Ukraine, Europe scramble to respond to US plan to end war

  • US President Donald Trump has given Ukraine less than a week to sign.
  • Ukraine and its European allies scrambled Saturday to come up with counter-proposals after US President Donald Trump gave Kyiv a tight deadline to approve a deal to end the war that accepts some of Russia's hardline demands.  
  • US President Donald Trump has given Ukraine less than a week to sign.
Ukraine and its European allies scrambled Saturday to come up with counter-proposals after US President Donald Trump gave Kyiv a tight deadline to approve a deal to end the war that accepts some of Russia's hardline demands.  
President Volodymyr Zelensky has pushed back against the 28-point US plan. Russian leader Vladimir Putin has welcomed the proposal, which would force Ukraine to give up land, cut its army and pledge never to join NATO. 
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met Saturday on the the sidelines of a G20 summit in South Africa, the French presidency said.
The huddle was held ahead of a wider meeting on the same topic that would include other European leaders, the presidency said. 
Starmer had earlier said the aim was to "look at how we can strengthen this plan for the next phase of negotiations". 
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the allies should make it clear "that there should be nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine."
US Vice President JD Vance reacted to the criticism of the plan, saying it "either misunderstands the framework or misstates some critical reality on the ground."
"There is a fantasy that if we just give more money, more weapons, or more sanctions, victory is at hand," he added.
Ukraine faces one of the most challenging moments in its history, Zelensky said in an address to the nation, adding that he would propose alternatives to Trump's proposal.
A top Ukrainian official on Saturday said Kyiv would launch talks with the US in Switzerland to discuss ways to end the war. The delegation will be led by Zelensky's top aide Andriy Yermak.
Better equipped and larger in numbers, the Russian army is slowly but steadily gaining ground across the lengthy front line.
Ukrainians were meanwhile facing one of the toughest winters since the war began, as Moscow carried out a brutal bombing campaign against energy infrastructure. 
This comes as a sweeping corruption probe that unveiled graft in the energy sector was unravelling in Kyiv, sparking public outcry.    
US President Donald Trump has given Ukraine less than a week to sign. Zelensky pledged to work to ensure any deal would not "betray" Ukraine's interests, acknowledging he risked losing Washington as an ally.

'He'll have to like it'

Russia would gain territory, be reintegrated into the global economy and rejoin the G8, under a draft of the plan seen by AFP.
Putin said the blueprint could "lay the foundation" for a final peace settlement, but threatened more land seizures if Ukraine walked away from negotiations.
"Ukraine and its European allies are still living under illusions and dreaming of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield," Putin said in a televised meeting with his security council. 
If Kyiv walks away, Russia claimed its recent recapturing of the Ukrainian city Kupiansk "will inevitably be repeated in other key areas of the front line", Putin added.
The Ukrainian army denies Russia has retaken Kupiansk, which Kyiv lost to Moscow the day it launched its invasion in 2022, then wrested back.
Trump said that November 27 -- when the United States celebrates Thanksgiving -- was an "appropriate time" to set for Zelensky to agree a deal, but he indicated it could be flexible.
"He'll have to like it, and if he doesn't like it, then you know, they should just keep fighting," Trump told reporters. "At some point he's going to have to accept something."

'Loss of dignity'

Earlier this week, Russia carried out one of its deadliest attacks this year and one of the worst on western Ukraine since the invasion.
Thirty-two people died  in the western city of Ternopil after cruise missiles slammed into apartment blocks.
To end the war, the US plan envisages recognising territories controlled by Moscow as "de facto" Russian, with Kyiv pulling troops out of parts of the Donetsk region. 
Ukraine would also cap its army at 600,000, rule out joining NATO and have no NATO troops deployed to its territory.
In return, Ukraine would get unspecified "reliable security guarantees" and a fund for reconstruction using some Russia assets frozen in foreign accounts.
"The pressure on Ukraine is one of the hardest. Ukraine may face a very difficult choice: either the loss of dignity or the risk of losing a key partner," Zelensky said in his address.
bur-asy/ach 

UN

UN climate talks deadlocked as EU pushes fossil-fuel phaseout

BY ISSAM AHMED, JULIEN MIVIELLE AND NICK PERRY

  • Barbut has accused oil-rich Saudi Arabia and Russia, along with coal producer India and "many" other emerging countries, of refusing language on a fossil-fuel phaseout.
  • The UN's COP30 climate talks spilled into overtime on Saturday, with the European Union in a standoff with oil producers and emerging countries over its push for a renewed commitment to a fossil-fuel phaseout.
  • Barbut has accused oil-rich Saudi Arabia and Russia, along with coal producer India and "many" other emerging countries, of refusing language on a fossil-fuel phaseout.
The UN's COP30 climate talks spilled into overtime on Saturday, with the European Union in a standoff with oil producers and emerging countries over its push for a renewed commitment to a fossil-fuel phaseout.
A closing plenary was scheduled for 1300 GMT in the Brazilian Amazon city of Belem, even as nations remained deadlocked after two weeks of negotiations that were supposed to end on Friday.
The EU warned that the summit could finish without a deal after host Brazil released a draft agreement on Friday that made no mention of "fossil fuels" or a "roadmap" that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had himself publicly championed.
After negotiating through the night, EU ministers were meeting on Saturday, but French ecological transition minister Monique Barbut said things were going "nowhere so far."
Thirty-six countries including wealthy nations, emerging economies and small island states had warned in a letter to Brazil that they would reject any deal that did not include a plan to move away from oil, coal and gas.
But a member of an EU delegation told AFP that the 27-nation bloc was "isolated" and cast as the "villains" at the talks.
Some EU states were weighing a walkout, the delegate added, while others feared being blamed if the talks collapsed.
Barbut has accused oil-rich Saudi Arabia and Russia, along with coal producer India and "many" other emerging countries, of refusing language on a fossil-fuel phaseout.
The push to phase out oil, coal and gas -- the main drivers of global warming -- grew out of frustration over a lack of follow-through on the COP28 agreement in Dubai in 2023 to transition away from fossil fuels.
Arunabha Ghosh, a special envoy for South Asia at the talks, shot back against "finger pointing."
"To assume that one side cares about the planet and the other side, because they are unhappy with the formulation, does not care about the planet does grievous harm to the spirit of negotiations," he told AFP.
Ghosh defended the exclusion of the "roadmap," arguing developing countries needed to ensure energy security and a just transition for their workers dependent on fossil fuel sector.
Consensus is needed among the nearly 200 nations to land an agreement at the conference, which this year is taking place without the United States as President Donald Trump shunned the event.
The head of COP30, Brazilian diplomat Andre Correa do Lago, said those who doubt that cooperation is the best way forward for climate change "are going to be absolutely delighted to see that we cannot reach an agreement between us."

Money fight

The annual meeting has been chaotic, with Indigenous protesters blocking its entrance last week and negotiations disrupted by a fire inside the venue on Thursday.
Developing nations, meanwhile, are pushing the the EU and other developed economies to pledge more money to help them adapt to the impact of climate change, such as floods and droughts, and move toward a low-carbon future.
The rejected draft said there was a need for a "manyfold increase" in financial support for developing countries. It also called for "efforts to triple adaptation finance" by 2030 compared to 2025 levels.
The EU has also rejected language on trade in the text.
China, India and other allied countries want COP30 to adopt a decision against trade "barriers" -- a dig at the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
CBAM, which will become fully operational next year, targets imports of carbon-intensive goods such as steel, aluminum, cement, fertilizers, electricity and hydrogen.
bur-ia-lth/ami