US president arrived for photograph with other world leaders – but found they had gone ahead without him
Joe Biden headed for a photo with fellow G20 leaders in Rio de Janeiro at his final summit as US president on Monday – only to find they had already taken the picture without him.
Frustrated US officials blamed “logistical issues” for the blunder which meant that Biden missed out on the shot, along with the Canadian and Italian prime ministers.
Continue reading...Summit’s first day notable for frosty meeting of far-right Argentinian leader Javier Milei and leftwing host
The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has opened the G20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro with the launch of an alliance to combat hunger, which he described as the “ultimate symbol of our collective tragedy”.
Brazil holds the rotating presidency of the group and is hosting the meeting this Monday and Tuesday, attended by all but two – Russia and Saudi Arabia – of the 19 member countries.
Continue reading...Powerful storm systems bring heavy rainfall, widespread flooding and landslides to Central America and Asia
Tropical Storm Sara has caused significant disruption across Central America in recent days after forming in the Caribbean Sea on Thursday afternoon. It is the 18th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season and the third this month. The large number of tropical storm and hurricane formations this season can be attributed to the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico being warmer than average, thus providing more energy for the development and intensification of these systems.
Since its formation, Sara has affected Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Belize and Guatemala, bringing heavy rainfall, widespread flooding and landslides. The slow-moving nature of the storm has exacerbated the damage, prolonging the duration of its impact. However, Sara is losing strength; initially it had sustained winds of 45mph on Thursday but weakened slightly after moving inland, with winds dropping to 40mph by Sunday. According to the National Hurricane Centre, Sara is expected to dissipate into an area of low pressure as it moves north-west toward the southern region of the Yucatan peninsula on Monday.
Continue reading...Indian PM’s trip expected to focus on trade and investment as oil-rich Caribbean country’s economic boom continues
India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, will make a “historic” state visit to the oil-rich Caribbean nation of Guyana this week when the two countries are expected to sign energy and defence agreements.
Modi’s visit to the country, from Tuesday to Thursday, will be the first from an Indian prime minister since Indira Gandhi’s in 1968, two years after Guyana gained independence from Britain.
Continue reading...UK prime minister to meet world leaders at summit in Brazil that Vladimir Putin has declined to attend
Ukraine will be “top of the agenda” this week at a meeting of leaders from the world’s most powerful economies, Keir Starmer has pledged, though he said he had “no plans” to follow the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and speak directly to Vladimir Putin.
Starmer will meet world leaders on Monday at the G20 summit in Brazil, which the Russian president has declined to attend, sending his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, in his place.
Continue reading...Supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro wanted for role in 2023 storming of government buildings
Argentina has ordered the arrest of 61 Brazilian citizens for participating in the 2023 storming of government buildings in Brasília by supporters of the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, an Argentine source said on Saturday.
Two people have been arrested so far who face prison sentences in Brazil, a judicial source in Argentina told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorised to speak publicly.
Continue reading...Previous provincial government said most patients were misdiagnosed and instead had dementia or cancer
The newly elected premier of New Brunswick has called on Canada’s federal government to aid in a “full, open scientific investigation” into the mysterious brain illness that has plagued the province for years, in a move that those suffering from the condition hope could finally bring answers.
“We need to conduct a thorough investigation into what is making people sick,” the premier, Susan Holt, told the National Post.
Continue reading...Far-right president may announce country’s departure from agreement after meeting Donald Trump
There is growing concern that Argentina’s far-right president, Javier Milei, is set to announce his country’s departure from the Paris climate accord.
Earlier this week, negotiators from Milei’s government were ordered to leave the Cop29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, after just three days. Now, the Guardian understands that Milei is considering announcing a formal withdrawal from the agreement, and that a decision could be made after a formal meeting with Donald Trump.
Continue reading...Tens of thousands deported from Caribbean states, as Dominican Republic pledges to return 10,000 people a week
Activists have called on Caribbean governments to halt the mass deportation of Haitians fleeing escalating gang violence that has claimed thousands of lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
In the past month, tens of thousands of people have been deported to Haiti, including 61,000 from the neighbouring Dominican Republic, whose president recently pledged to deport 10,000 migrants a week.
Continue reading...Celebrated authors discuss the somewhat connected stories of their shared surname at literary event in Rio
Born more than 5,500 miles apart, the Booker prize winner Bernardine Evaristo, 65, and Brazil’s most celebrated living Black author, Conceição Evaristo, 77, share the same surname, though they are – as far as is known – unrelated.
But their surnames’ stories are somewhat connected, and shed light on aspects of the history of Brazil, the country that received the largest number of enslaved Africans during the transatlantic slave trade.
Continue reading...Country closes 137-year legal loophole, becoming one of 12 in Latin America and the Caribbean to entirely ban marriage for minors
Colombian lawmakers have approved a bill to eradicate child marriage in the South American country after 17 years of campaigning by advocacy groups and eight failed attempts to push legislation through the house and senate.
After five hours of heated, drawn-out debate on Wednesday evening, lawmakers approved the proposed legislation, dubbed They are Girls, Not Wives, which prohibits the marriage of anyone under the age of 18.
Continue reading...Police name 59-year-old with explosive devices said to have killed himself after trying to enter court in Brasília
The main target of a bomber who killed himself while attempting to attack Brazil’s supreme court was the justice leading the key investigations into the attempted coup of 8 January last year, when supporters of the former president Jair Bolsonaro ransacked the buildings to protest against his election defeat, police have said.
The explosions outside the court on Wednesday took place just five days before the G20 heads of state are due to meet in Rio de Janeiro, which will be followed by a state visit to Brasília, the capital, by the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.
Continue reading...Medical charity says its staff members were violently attacked by police and vigilantes 100 meters from hospital
The medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has said that at least two of its patients were killed after one of its ambulances was stopped and attacked in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.
MSF said its staff members were violently attacked on Monday after “members of a vigilante group and law enforcement officers” stopped the ambulance, which was transporting three young people with gunshot wounds.
Continue reading...Move adds to concerns about the stability of the Paris agreement after the election in the US of Donald Trump
Argentinian negotiators representing the government of the climate science denier Javier Milei have been ordered to withdraw from the Cop29 summit after only three days, adding to concerns about the stability of the Paris agreement.
More than 80 representatives from the South American country are in Baku, Azerbaijan, for two weeks of negotiations about climate finance for the energy transition. Argentina’s far-right leader has previously called the climate crisis a “socialist lie”, and during his election campaign last year he threatened to withdraw from the Paris agreement, though he has since backed down.
Continue reading...Questions raised over influence after 1,261 business and industry delegates registered for biodiversity summit in Colombia
Record numbers of business representatives and lobbyists had access to the UN’s latest biodiversity talks, analysis shows.
In total 1,261 business and industry delegates registered for Cop16 in Cali, Colombia, which ended in disarray and without significant progress on a number of key issues including nature funding, monitoring biodiversity loss and work on reducing environmentally harmful business subsidies.
Continue reading...Killing of Antônio Vinicius Lopes Gritzbach, 38, former First Capital Command member, spawns number of theories
Police investigating a brazen murder at the arrivals area of Brazil’s main airport are pursuing at least three lines of inquiry in their attempt to track down the killers – and the possible masterminds of the shocking crime.
Antônio Vinicius Lopes Gritzbach, 38, was leaving São Paulo international airport on Friday afternoon when two hooded men jumped out of a car and fired a hail of bullets. The brazen attack, captured on security cameras, marked a dramatic escalation of criminal violence in the country.
Continue reading...British Columbia teen had no underlying health conditions and had been exposed to dogs, cats and reptiles, officials say
A teenager is in critical condition in a British Columbia children’s hospital, in what is believed to be Canada’s first human case of bird flu.
“This was a healthy teenager prior to this, so no underlying conditions,” said the provincial health officer Bonnie Henry in a news conference on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Move by US authorities comes after plane was shot at on Monday, injuring attendant and forcing airport shutdown
The US Federal Aviation Administration has banned civilian flights into Haiti for 30 days after a jetliner was shot at on approach to Port-au-Prince.
Bullets hit the Spirit Airlines plane when it was about to land on Monday, injuring a flight attendant and forcing the airport to shut down.
Continue reading...Immigration minister Marc Miller’s comments come as country braces for migrant rise when Trump takes office
Canada’s immigration minister has said “not everyone is welcome” in the country as officials brace for an increase of migrants when Donald Trump returns to the White House with a pledge to carry out mass deportations.
The minister’s warning, seven years after Justin Trudeau promised that “Canadians will welcome” asylum seekers, reflects a stark shift in tone amid waning support for immigration and refugee resettlement in the country, according to migration experts.
Continue reading...Spirit Airlines flight heading from Florida to Port-au-Prince diverted to Dominican Republic after flight attendant was grazed by bullet, amid broader violence in Haiti’s capital
Haiti’s international airport shut down on Monday after gangs opened fire at a commercial flight landing in Port-Au-Prince, prompting some airlines to suspend operations as the country swore in a new interim prime minister who promised to restore peace.
The Spirit Airlines flight headed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Port-Au-Prince was just hundreds of feet from landing in Haiti’s capital when gangs shot at the plane, striking a flight attendant who suffered minor injuries, according to the airline, the US embassy and flight tracking data.
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