The UN climate talks in Dubai could be in jeopardy after some nations reacted furiously to a draft deal on fossil fuels they call “weak”.

The draft removed language included in a previous text suggesting that fossil fuels could be “phased out”.

All 198 countries at the summit must agree or there is no deal.

Humans burning fossil fuels is driving global warming, risking millions of lives, but governments have never agreed how or when to stop using them.

A representative for the European Union called the draft “unacceptable” and said the bloc could walk away.

“We can’t accept the text,” said minister Eamon Ryan, a negotiator for the EU and Ireland’s environment minister. But he added that the collapse of the talks is “not the outcome the world needs”.

Politicians, including from nations on the frontline of climate change, have been in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to discuss the growing problem in a year that is set to be the warmest on record.

The question of what to do about greenhouse gas emissions from burning oil, coal and gas have dominated the talks.

Expectations were low that the controversial COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber could deliver a strong deal on fossil fuels because he is also CEO of the Abu Dhabi oil giant Adnoc.

But countries that want a rapid end to fossil fuels had grown optimistic as Mr Jaber appeared to say he backed a “phase out” of fossil fuels.

A draft text published on Saturday confirmed that one option for the talks outcome was a “phase out of fossil fuels in line with best available science”.

Questions remained over when this would happen and whether it would rely on the use of expensive and experimental technology to store the carbon dioxide released when fossil fuels are burned.

On Monday, another draft was published that deleted mentions of “phase out”. Instead it said nations should “reduce consumption and production of fossil fuels in a just, orderly and equitable manner”.

While the changes in language can seem small, slight differences in UN documents can significantly change what countries are obliged to do.

Many nations appear to have had just an hour to look at the text before a meeting of all governments was called.

Source: BBC

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in Washington DC to try to rescue an imperilled US defence package to Kyiv worth billions of dollars.

The aid has become embroiled in US domestic, partisan politics, with Republicans demanding concessions on border funding in exchange.

It marks Mr Zelensky’s third visit to the US since Russia’s 2022 invasion.

The week is a crucial one for Ukraine, with the EU also deciding whether to open accession talks to the bloc.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has signalled that he opposes the move, and has the power to block such a decision.

Mr Orban and Mr Zelensky had an apparently intense conversation when they met on Sunday at the inauguration of Argentina’s new president. The details of their discussion have not been revealed.

The Ukrainian president will arrive in Washington on Monday. As well as holding meetings with US President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, he will address the Senate on Tuesday morning.

The White House said in a statement on Sunday that Mr Zelensky’s visit was meant “to underscore the United States’ unshakeable commitment to supporting the people of Ukraine as they defend themselves against Russia’s brutal invasion”.

The US military aid package, worth $60bn (£47.9bn; €55bn), is currently stalled in Congress, facing pushback from Republicans who argue that more money should be going to domestic security at the US-Mexico border.

A vote in the Senate last week saw a package, which included the funding but no border measures, blocked by Republicans.

In addition to more funds for border enforcement, Republicans are seeking reforms to the way in which undocumented migrants seeking political asylum in the US are processed.

“We’ve got to be able to have a change in policy on this,” Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma, one of the lead Republican negotiators, said in an interview on Sunday.

“All we’re trying to do is to say what tools are needed to be able to get this back in control, so we don’t have the chaos on our southern border.”

Mr Lankford said that Americans don’t want US national security on the border to be ignored while Congress focuses on Ukraine’s interests.

Although the Biden administration has expressed a willingness to accept some asylum policy changes, such concessions risk angering liberal lawmakers and further dividing a party that has already been fractured by the president’s support of Israel in the Gaza War.

“We are concerned about reports of harmful changes to our asylum system that will potentially deny lifesaving humanitarian protection for vulnerable people, including children, and fail to deliver any meaningful improvement to the situation at the border,” a group of 11 Democratic senators wrote in a statement issued on 30 November.

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, an ally of Mr Biden’s, has said that the White House is becoming “more engaged” in the ongoing negotiations, seeking a comprehensive funding agreement that includes money for Ukraine before Congress leaves for its holiday recess on Friday.

Even if the Senate can strike a deal, however, the package would have to also be approved by the House of Representatives, where opposition to more Ukraine aid is even more intense.

Mr Biden has been urging lawmakers to approve the funds. In an impassioned televised address last Wednesday, he said the package could not wait and warned that Russia would not stop at victory over Ukraine.

Though Ukraine fended off Russia’s original attack, its much-vaunted counter-attack this year has stalled and there have been signs of fatigue from some of the Western nations which have stepped up to support it militarily.

After the Senate vote, Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme that Ukrainians would be “in mortal danger” if Western countries did not continue their support.

“We really need the help. In simple words, we cannot get tired of this situation, because if we do, we die,” she said.

“And if the world gets tired, they will simply let us die.”

Source: BBC

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who played a pivotal and polarising role in US foreign policy during the Cold War, has died at the age of 100.

He served as America’s top diplomat and national security adviser during the Nixon and Ford administrations.

Despite leaving office in the mid-1970s, he continued to be consulted by generations of leaders for decades.

The German-born former diplomat died at his home in Connecticut.

Former US President George W Bush led tributes, saying the US had “lost one of the most dependable and distinctive voices on foreign affairs”.

Meanwhile, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair described him as an artist of diplomacy, saying Kissinger was motivated by “a genuine love of the free world and the need to protect it”.

President Richard Nixon’s daughters, Tricia Nixon Cox and Julie Nixon Eisenhower, said that Kissinger’s life story was “so unique – and so thoroughly American”.

“Henry Kissinger will long be remembered for his many achievements in advancing the cause of peace,” the statement said. “But it was his character that we will never forget.”

Born in Germany in 1923, the school teacher’s son first came to the US in 1938 when his family fled the Nazis. He never quite lost his native Bavarian accent.

He became a US citizen in 1943 and went on to serve three years in the US Army and later in the Counter Intelligence Corps.

After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees and a PhD, he taught international relations at Harvard.

In 1969, then-President Nixon appointed him national security adviser, a position that gave him enormous sway over US foreign policy.

His eight years as both national security adviser and secretary of state between 1969-77 saw the US finally end its involvement in the Vietnam War, open up relations with China and bring about a cessation of hostilities in the 1973 Yom Kippur War in the Middle East between Egypt and Syria on the one hand and Israel on the other. It was an effort that created the whole idea of shuttle diplomacy.

Isaac Herzog, the president of Israel, which is currently at war with Hamas, paid tribute to Kissinger’s work on the peace agreement with Egypt, posting on social media that “the entire family of nations is blessed to this day by the fruits of the historic processes he led”.

In China – where Kissinger enjoyed enduring popularity – news of his death was soon trending on Weibo, a social media platform.

China News’ obituary referred to him as “an old friend of the Chinese people”.

China Central Television called him “a legendary diplomat” and “living fossil”, who had played an important role in US-China relations.

Over the years, however, Kissinger was also subject to scathing criticism from those who accused him of putting rivalry with the Soviet Union over human rights and supporting repressive regimes across the world, including Augusto Pinochet in Chile.

Anger over several of his policies, including on Cambodia and Argentina, followed him even in death. Rolling Stone has published his obituary under the headline “Henry Kissinger, War Criminal Beloved by America’s Ruling Class, Finally Dies” and the left-leaning Huffpost has splashed “The Beltway Butcher” over a photo of him on its home page.

Kissinger, however, was dismissive of criticism.

“That’s a reflection of their ignorance,” the gravel-voiced statesman told CBS in an interview shortly before his 100th birthday.

In 1973, he was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize alongside North Vietnam’s Le Duc Tho, who refused to accept.

The award led to two members of the Nobel committee resigning.

While Kissinger left government service in 1977, he continued to be a prolific commentator on public affairs. His counsel was sought by a dozen US presidents – from John F Kennedy to Joe Biden – as well as by lawmakers.

Notably, Kissinger is also the only American to have dealt directly with every Chinese leader from Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping.

He also served on the boards of various companies and was a fixture of foreign policy and security forums, as well as penning 21 books.

Even after turning 100, Kissinger kept up an active life, including a surprise visit this July to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, where the aged statesman was feted despite a chill in relations between China and the US.

The visit irked the White House and prompted National Security Council spokesman John Kirby to lament that “it’s unfortunate that a private citizen” had access to Chinese leaders while the US government did not.

During an interview with ABC on a book tour in July 2022 – when he was 99 – Kissinger was asked whether he would take back any of his decisions.

“I’ve been thinking about these problems all my life. It’s my hobby as well as my occupation,” he said. “And so the recommendations I made were the best of which I was then capable.”

He is survived by his wife of nearly 50 years, Nancy Maginnes Kissinger, as well as by two children, Elizabeth and David, from a previous marriage and five grandchildren.

Source: BBC

The first of 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the war-torn and besieged Gaza Strip on Saturday through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, said AFP correspondents on both sides.

UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said he was “confident that this delivery will be the start of a sustainable effort to provide essential supplies… to the people of Gaza” and warned that “this first convoy must not be the last”.

The border crossing was closed again after the passage of the trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent which is responsible for delivering the aid, including food and medical supplies from various UN agencies.

Rafah is the only route into Gaza that is not controlled by Israel, which agreed to allow the aid in from Egypt following a request from its top ally the United States.

Israel has been bombing Gaza since Hamas’ bloody surprise attack of October 7 and has also declared a total siege, cutting off most water as well as food, electricity, fuel and other supplies.

Hamas militants stormed into Israel from Gaza and killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burnt to death on the first day of the raid, according to Israeli officials.

Since then, more than 4,100 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have been killed in relentless Israeli bombardments, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the aid passage as “an important first step that will alleviate the suffering of innocent people”.

Source: France 24

Turkey will declare three days’ mourning over a deadly strike on a hospital in war-torn Gaza that killed hundreds, a Turkish official told AFP on Wednesday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a fervent supporter of the Palestinian cause, has accused Israel of “striking a hospital sheltering women, children and innocent civilians” and urged the world to stop the tragedy in Gaza.

“Turkey will declare three days national mourning,” the official, who wished to remain anonymous, told AFP.

Israel has said the blast was caused by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which denied blame.

Source: France 24

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in China on Tuesday to meet his “dear friend” Xi Jinping, bolstering their relationship at a summit that will be overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war.

China this week welcomes representatives of 130 countries for a forum of President Xi’s landmark project, the Belt and Road Initiative, that Beijing is using to extend its global influence.

Putin is at the top of the invitation list, with the Russian leader on his first trip to a major global power since the Ukraine invasion threw his regime into international isolation.

His plane landed in China just before 09:30 am, an AFP journalist on the tarmac saw.

He is due to meet Xi for talks on Wednesday, the Kremlin said.

Source: AFP

US President Joe Biden will pay a solidarity visit to Israel on Wednesday following the Hamas attacks, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who also announced that Israel had agreed to work on civilian aid for Gaza.

Blinken spoke after meeting for nearly eight hours at the defence ministry with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the top US diplomat’s second visit since the October 7 attacks by Hamas.

“The president will reaffirm United States solidarity with Israel and our ironclad commitment to its security,” Blinken said early Tuesday in Tel Aviv.

“Israel has the right and indeed the duty to defend its people from Hamas and other terrorists and to prevent future attacks,” Blinken said.

Biden “will hear from Israel what it needs to defend his people as we continue to work with Congress to meet those needs,” he said.

Biden will visit Tel Aviv, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in Washington. He also announced that Biden would travel to Jordan where he would meet Jordanian King Abdullah II, Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Blinken said that the United States also secured assurances from Israel on working to bring foreign assistance into the impoverished and blockaded Gaza Strip as Israel prepares a ground offensive against the Hamas-ruled territory.

US officials said that a new US coordinator on humanitarian aid, David Satterfield, would work with Israel to develop more concrete plans.

Biden hopes to “hear from Israel how it will conduct its operations in a way that minimises civilian casualties and enables humanitarian assistance to flow to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not benefit Hama,” Blinken said.

“At our request, the United States and Israel have agreed to develop a plan that will enable humanitarian aid from donor nations and multilateral organizations to reach civilians in Gaza,” Blinken said.

He said the two sides were discussing the “possibility of creating areas to help keep civilians out of harm’s way.”

“We welcome the government of Israel’s commitment to work on this plan. The president very much looks forward to discussing it further when he’s here on Wednesday,” he said.

Biden has vowed unwavering solidarity with Israel after suffering the worst attack in its 75-year history. But he also has voiced concern about more severe proposals that could impact civilians in Gaza and earlier pressed Israel to reverse a decision to shut off water supply.

“We share Israel’s concern that Hamas may seize or destroy aid going entering Gaza or otherwise preventing it from reaching the people who need it,” Blinken said.

“If Hamas in any way blocks humanitarian aid from reaching civilians, including by seizing the aid itself, we’ll be the first to condemn it and we will work to prevent it from happening again.”

Source: AFP

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said every Hamas member was “a dead man” after the first meeting of his country’s emergency government.

Alongside him, opposition figure Benny Gantz said it was “a time for war”.

But US President Joe Biden said he had spoken to Mr Netanyahu and made it clear that Israel must “operate by the rules of war”.

The death toll in Israel has reached 1,200. More than 1,100 people have been killed by Israeli air strikes on Gaza.

Mr Biden said he understood the anger and frustration of the Israeli people but urged Israel to adhere to the principles of the Geneva conventions. He also warned Iran – which has welcomed the Hamas attack – to “be careful”.

Earlier on Wednesday Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gantz agreed to put aside a bitter political rivalry that had escalated into widespread protests.

Mr Gantz told Israeli citizens that the newly-formed government was “united” and ready to “wipe this thing called Hamas off the face of the Earth”.

Alongside Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gantz, the centrist National Unity Party leader and a former defence minister, the new temporary cabinet would also include Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

The country’s main opposition leader, Yair Lapid, has not joined the alliance. However, Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gantz said in a joint statement that a seat would be reserved for him in the war cabinet.

“During the war period, no bills or government decisions will be promoted that do not concern the conduct of the war,” said a statement.

“All senior appointments will be automatically extended during the war period.”

The emergency government will give broader national consensus to military action. It also brings to the war cabinet two voices who are experts in military strategy. Both Mr Gantz and also Gadi Eisenkot, who joins as an observer, are former Israeli military chiefs of staff.

The announcement of the new cabinet came in the wake of savage attacks by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip.

Source: BBC

The Israeli military says the surprise co-ordinated assault launched by Hamas on Saturday feels like the September 2001 attack on the US

“This is our 9/11 – they got us,” says a spokesman, while another compares it to the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack

Israel is still fighting Palestinian militants in multiple places near the Gaza border, two days after the attack began

And it says fighters may be still be getting into Israel from the enclave

More than 700 people have been killed in Israel since Hamas launched its attacks on Saturday morning, including 260 at a music festival

And almost 500 have died in Gaza, after Israel launched massive retaliatory air strikes.

Source: BBC

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to a pair of scientists who developed the technology that led to the mRNA Covid vaccines.

Professors Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman will share the prize.

The technology was experimental before the pandemic, but has now been given to millions of people around the world to protect them against serious Covid-19.

The same mRNA technology is now being researched for other diseases, including cancer.

The Nobel Prize committee said: “The laureates contributed to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times.”

Both were told they had won by telephone this morning and were said to be “overwhelmed”.

Vaccines train the immune system to recognise and fight threats such as viruses or bacteria.

Traditional vaccine technology has been based on dead or weakened versions of the original virus or bacterium – or by using fragments of the infectious agent.

In contrast, messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines use a completely differently approach.

During the Covid pandemic, the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines were both based on mRNA technology.

Professor Kariko and Professor Weissman met in the early 1990s when they were working at the University of Pennsylvania, in the United States, when their interest in mRNA was seen as a scientific backwater.

Source: BBC