Climate Activists Stage Global Protests Ahead of Week of Summitry |
Tens of thousands of demonstrators in hundreds of cities across the world this weekend called for (AP) business and government leaders to more aggressively address global warming ahead of a week of meetings related to climate change in New York. UN Secretary-General António Guterres will host a climate summit on Wednesday (FT) alongside the UN General Assembly, while business and nongovernmental organizations will also participate in a week of climate events in New York.
At the Manhattan demonstration on Sunday, protesters criticized the Joe Biden administration’s continued approval of new oil and gas drilling permits. Biden is slated to address the UN General Assembly tomorrow where he is expected to speak about climate, though he is not planning to attend Guterres’s climate summit. This weekend’s demonstrations were the largest such protests since before the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York Times reported, and capped off a summer of record-breaking heat.
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“[Sunday’s New York City March], part of three days of worldwide protests ahead of another UN climate summit, hopes to recapture some of the momentum that dissipated in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic halted most of these kinds of mass actions,” Bloomberg’s Kendra Pierre-Louis writes.
“Sunday’s protest aimed at stopping fossil fuels suggested a more focused target on the part of climate advocates, who have grown increasingly frustrated by the continued expansion of drilling and mining,” the New York Times’ Delger Erdenesanaa, Hilary Howard, and Somini Sengupta write.
This Backgrounder by Lindsay Maizland looks at the successes and failures of global climate agreements.
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Senior U.S., Chinese Officials Meet in Malta, New York |
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to meet today in New York (SCMP) with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the U.S. State Department said. It follows a meeting between U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in Malta over the weekend. Both talks could pave the way for a meeting between the two countries’ presidents in the coming months.
This Backgrounder explains the UN General Assembly.
China: World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on Beijing in writing to offer full access to probes into the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO is willing to send a new investigative team to China, he told the Financial Times.
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Foxconn Official Pledges to Double Jobs and Investment in India Over Next Year |
The India representative of the Taiwan-based technology company said in a LinkedIn post that it aimed to double (Mint) the firm’s jobs and investments in India by this time next year. The company has rapidly expanded its reach in India as it seeks to move away from China.
Afghanistan: The nonprofit International Assistance Mission and the United Nations are working to free eighteen staffers, including one international worker, after they were taken (DW, AP, AFP) by Taliban authorities to Kabul, the nonprofit said Saturday.
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Middle East and North Africa |
Monetary Transfer Triggers U.S.-Iran Prisoner Exchange |
Iran’s foreign ministry said that a prisoner swap (WaPo) of five detainees each between Iran and the United States would move forward today after previously frozen Iranian funds had arrived in Qatari banks, Iranian state media reported. The $6 billion is slated to be used for purchase of non-sanctioned goods, such as food and medicine.
This timeline by CFR’s Kali Robinson traces U.S.-Iran relations.
Egypt: Leading opposition journalist Hisham Kassem was sentenced to six months in prison (WSJ) on Saturday on charges of insulting an Egyptian official and three policemen, his lawyer said. Kassem has been unusually outspoken against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi; in June, he helped form a coalition calling for a new president and government in Egypt.
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Three Junta-Led Sahel Nations Sign Mutual Defense Pact |
The new agreement between Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger comes after the Economic Community of West African States threatened to intervene militarily in Niger to counter the junta’s coup in July. It pledges mutual assistance (Africanews) in the case of foreign attacks and domestic armed rebellions. This In Brief by CFR’s Mariel Ferragamo details why Niger’s coup threatens the stability of the entire Sahel.
Sudan: Landmark buildings in the capital, Khartoum, including the Greater Nile Petroleum Oil Company tower and the Ministry of Justice, were engulfed in flames (The Guardian) yesterday amid the country’s ongoing civil war. A committee of pro-democracy lawyers said dozens of civilians have been killed since Friday.
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Wartime Pope Likely Knew About Holocaust, Letter Reveals |
A letter found among the private papers of former Pope Pius XII informed him (NYT) that up to six thousand people were being killed each day at a Nazi death camp in Poland, an Italian newspaper revealed. The Vatican’s official position at the time was that it only had vague and unverified information (Reuters) about extermination efforts during the Holocaust. The Vatican archivist who discovered the letter said he was “99 percent sure” the Pope saw it.
Italy: The European Union (EU) Asylum Agency and the European Border and Coast Guard will be deployed (DW) to Italy to manage new migrant arrivals as part of a new EU plan to assist Italy. The plan also aims to step up migrant returns (European Commission) to countries such as Burkina Faso, Guinea, the Ivory Coast, and Senegal.
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UN Seeks Humanitarian Exemption From DR Decision to Close Border With Haiti |
The Dominican Republic announced last week that it would close all border crossings with Haiti over a dispute regarding access to a shared river. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said it would affect UN activities (Miami Herald) in Haiti and further isolate the country amid its hunger and violence crises. This Backgrounder by CFR’s Diana Roy outlines Haiti’s troubled path to development.
Brazil/Cuba: In Havana on Saturday, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called for an end (AP) to the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba and the removal of Cuba from the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list. It was the first visit to Cuba by a Brazilian president in nine years. |
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Council on Foreign Relations |
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