World

G20 summit calls for more aid to Gaza and an end to the war in Ukraine

Published

1 year ago

November 18, 2024

G20 summit calls for more aid to Gaza and an end to the war in Ukraine

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Leaders of the world’s 20 major economies called for a global pact to combat hunger, more aid for war-torn Gaza and an end to hostilities in the Mideast and Ukraine, issuing a joint declaration Monday that was heavy on generalities but short of details on how to accomplish those goals.

The joint statement was endorsed by group members but fell short of complete unanimity. It also called for a future global tax on billionaires and for reforms allowing the eventual expansion of the United Nation Security Council beyond its five current permanent members.

At the start of the three-day meeting which formally ends Wednesday, experts doubted Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva could convince the assembled leaders to hammer out any agreement at all in a gathering rife with uncertainty over the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, and heightened global tensions over wars in the Mideast and Ukraine.

Argentina challenged some of the language in initial drafts and was the one country that did not endorse the complete document.

“Although generic, it is a positive surprise for Brazil,” said Thomas Traumann, an independent political consultant and former Brazilian minister. “There was a moment when there was a risk of no declaration at all. Despite the caveats, it is a good result for Lula.”

Condemnation of wars, calls for peace, but without casting blame

Taking place just over a year after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the declaration referred to the “catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza and the escalation in Lebanon,” stressing the urgent need to expand humanitarian assistance and better protect civilians.

“Affirming the Palestinian right to self-determination, we reiterate our unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-State solution where Israel and a Palestinian State live side by side in peace,” it said.

It did not mention Israel’s suffering or of the 100 or so hostages still held by Hamas. Israel isn’t a G20 member. The war has so far killed more than 43,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health officials, and more than 3,500 people in Lebanon following Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

The omitted acknowledgment of Israel’s distress appeared to run contrary to U.S. President Joe Biden’s consistent backing of Israel’s right to defend itself. It’s something Biden always notes in public, even when speaking about the deprivation of Palestinians. During a meeting with G20 leaders before the declaration was hammered home, Biden expressed his view that Hamas is solely to blame for the war and called on fellow leaders to “increase the pressure on Hamas” to accept a cease-fire deal.

Biden’s decision to ease restrictions on Ukraine’s use of longer-range U.S. missiles to allow that country to strike more deeply inside Russia also played into the meetings,

“The United States strongly supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Everyone around this table in my view should, as well,” Biden said during the summit.

Russian President Vladimir Putin did not attend the meeting , and instead sent his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov. Putin has avoided such summits after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant that obliges member states to arrest him.

The G20 declaration highlighted the human suffering in Ukraine while calling for peace, without naming Russia.

“The declaration avoids pointing the finger at the culprits,” said Paulo Velasco, an international relations professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro. “That is, it doesn’t make any critical mention of Israel or Russia, but it highlights the dramatic humanitarian situations in both cases.”

The entire declaration lacks specificity, Velasco added.

“It is very much in line with what Brazil hoped for … but if we really analyze it carefully, it is very much a declaration of intent. It is a declaration of good will on various issues, but we have very few concrete, tangible measures.”

Fraught push to tax global billionaires

The declaration did call for a possible tax on global billionaires, which Lula supports. Such a tax would affect about 3,000 people around the world, including about 100 in Latin América.

The clause was included despite opposition from Argentina. So was another promoting gender equality, said Brazilian and other officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

Argentina signed the G20 declaration, bit also had issues with references to the U.N.’s 2030 sustainable development agenda. Its right-wing president, Javier Milei, has referred to the agenda as “a supranational program of a socialist nature.” It also objected to calls for regulating hate speech on social media, which Milei says infringes on national sovereignty, and to the idea that governments should do more to fight hunger.

Milei has often adopted a Trump-like role as a spoiler in multilateral talks hosted by his outspoken critic, Lula.

Concrete steps for fighting global hunger

Much of the declaration focuses on eradicating hunger — a priority for Lula.

Brazil’s government stressed that Lula’s launch of the global alliance against hunger and poverty on Monday was as important as the final G20 declaration. As of Monday, 82 nations had signed onto the plan, Brazil’s government said. It is also backed by organizations including the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

A demonstration Sunday on Rio’s Copacabana beach featured 733 empty plates spread across the sand to represent the 733 million people who went hungry in 2023, according to United Nations data.

Viviana Santiago, a director at the anti-poverty nonprofit Oxfam, praised Brazil for using its G20 presidency “to respond to people’s demands worldwide to tackle extreme inequality, hunger and climate breakdown, and particularly for rallying action on taxing the super-rich.”

“Brazil has lit a path toward a more just and resilient world, challenging others to meet them at this critical juncture,” she said in a statement.

Long-awaited reform of the United Nations

Leaders pledged to work for “transformative reform” of the U.N. Security Council so that it aligns “with the realities and demands of the 21st century, makes it more representative, inclusive, efficient, effective, democratic and accountable.”

Lula has been calling for reform of Security Council since his first two terms in power, from 2003 to 2010, without gaining much traction. Charged with maintaining international peace and security, its original 1945 structure has not changed. Five dominant powers at the end of World War II have veto power — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France — while 10 countries from different regions serve rotating two-year terms.

Virtually all countries agree that nearly eight decades after the United Nations was established, the Security Council should be expanded to reflect the 21st century world and include more voices. The central quandary and biggest disagreement remains how to do that. The G20 declaration doesn’t answer that question.

“We call for an enlarged Security Council composition that improves the representation of the underrepresented and unrepresented regions and groups, such as Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean,” the declaration said.

The United States announced shortly before a U.N. summit in September that it supports two new permanent seats for African countries, without veto power, and a first-ever non-permanent seat for a small island developing nation. But the Group of Four – Brazil, Germany, India and Japan – support each other’s bids for permanent seats. And the larger Uniting for Consensus group of a dozen countries including Pakistan, Italy, Turkey and Mexico wants additional non-permanent seats with longer terms.

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Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Rio de Janeiro, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Isabel DeBre in La Paz, Bolivia contributed.

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World

Iran Live Updates: Global Markets Tumble After U.S. Warns War Could Last Weeks

Published

6 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

President Trump is meeting Germany’s leader at the White House after sidelining his European allies in the decision to attack Iran. Oil and gas prices surged and stock markets fell, after U.S. and Israeli officials signaled that strikes on Iran would intensify.

World

Ambassador Huckabee describes ‘best option’ for Americans looking to flee Israel

Published

7 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Ambassador Huckabee describes ‘best option’ for Americans looking to flee Israel

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U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee described what he believes is the “best option” for Americans looking to flee Israel amid the ongoing unrest across the Middle East.

Huckabee said overnight, “We are getting a lot of requests regarding evacuating from Israel from American citizens who are currently in Israel or who have family here,” and that there are “very limited” options available.

“As of now, the best is utilizing Israel’s Ministry of Tourism shuttle bus to Taba, Egypt and getting flights from there or going on to Cairo for flights back to the U.S.,” Huckabee said on X. “Not sure when Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv will reopen. Hopefully soon, but even when it does, there will be VERY limited flights with priorities to those who already were ticketed by El Al. Doubtful that other airlines will fly in/out for a while.”

“The Ministry of Tourism is operating buses to Taba. That crossing is further away, but it’s open 24/7. There are some flights from Taba, but there are also options to get to Cairo, and it’s operating normally except to Middle Eastern countries. To get out, it’s the best option for now,” Huckabee added.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, left, and emergency personnel at the site of an Iranian missile strike on a residential building in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 1, 2026. (Alex Brandon/Pool/AFP via Getty Images; Ronen Zvulun/TPX Images of the Day/Reuters)

Huckabee also said he does not recommend Americans exit via Jordan at this time, as “Flights are not consistent and access across the Allenby crossing has limited hours.”

“All of our personnel from [the] embassy are sheltering in place, but I realize you may need to get people out and back home and not continue to incur hotel costs,” the ambassador wrote.

NETANYAHU INSISTS US AND ISRAEL’S STRIKES ON IRAN WON’T LEAD TO ‘ENDLESS WAR’

People take shelter in Tel Aviv on Sunday, March 1, 2026, after Iran launched missile barrages following attacks by the U.S. and Israel on Saturday. (Ronen Zvulun/Reuters)

U.S. Embassy Jerusalem said in a statement early Tuesday morning that it is “not in a position at this time to evacuate or directly assist Americans in departing Israel.” It also mentioned the Israeli Ministry of Tourism’s buses to Taba.

“To be added to the passenger list for a shuttle, you must register via the Ministry’s evacuation form,” it said.

A firefighter works to put out a fire in Tel Aviv after Iran launched missiles into Israel on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (Tomer Appelbaum/Reuters)

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“The U.S. Embassy cannot make any recommendation (for or against) the Ministry of Tourism’s shuttle. If you choose to avail yourself of this option to depart, the U.S. government cannot guarantee your safety,” it added.

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.

World

Is Iran expanding attacks to target energy and civilian sites in the Gulf?

Published

9 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Is Iran expanding attacks to target energy and civilian sites in the Gulf?

Hours after Israel and the United States launched attacks on Iran on Saturday, Tehran launched retaliatory strikes on Israel and US military assets located in several Gulf countries.

Iran has since struck targets in Israel as well as US military assets in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

While the Iranian attacks initially focused on US military assets, Gulf states said Tehran has expanded attacks targeting civilian infrastructure including hotels, airports and energy facilities.

What sites has Iran hit in Gulf countries?

US military assets

On Saturday, Bahrain said that a missile attack targeted the headquarters of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, located in the capital, Manama.

Kuwait’s Defence Ministry said that Ali al-Salem airbase came under attack by a number of ballistic missiles, all of which were intercepted by Kuwaiti air defence systems.

In Qatar, the Defence Ministry says it “thwarted” attacks on the country in accordance with a “pre-approved security plan”, intercepting “all missiles” before they reached the country’s territory. On Saturday, Iran had targeted the Al Udeid airbase, which hosts the US forces, the government said.

Over the past four days of the conflict, attacks on Gulf countries have intensified, and governments in the region say they have intercepted large numbers of Iranian missiles and drones.

Bahrain said its air defence systems have destroyed 73 missiles and 91 drones launched by Iran since the start of the latest conflict.

The UAE Defence Ministry spokesperson said that 186 missiles were launched and 172 of them were destroyed. One missile landed on UAE territory. Additionally, 812 Iranian drones were monitored, and 755 of them were intercepted.

Qatar’s Ministry of Defence said that three cruise missiles were detected and intercepted since Saturday. Additionally, 101 ballistic missiles were detected, and 98 were intercepted. Thirty-nine drones were detected, and 24 were intercepted. On Monday, the Qatari Defence Ministry said in a statement that the air force downed two Iranian SU-24 fighter jets.

US embassies

Early on Tuesday, a “limited fire” broke out at the US embassy in the Saudi capital of Riyadh after it was hit by two drones. The attack caused “minor material damage” to the compound, the Saudi Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

Black smoke was ⁠seen rising over Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter, which houses foreign missions, after the attack, the Reuters news agency reported.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kuwait released a statement on Tuesday saying that a “treacherous Iranian attack” targeted the US embassy building in Kuwait. This came a day after videos emerged that showed smoke emerging from near the embassy in Kuwait City.

The statement called the attack a “flagrant violation of all international norms and laws, including the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Vienna Convention of 1961 on Diplomatic Relations, which grant immunity to diplomatic buildings and their staff even in cases of armed conflict.”

On Monday, three US jets crashed in Kuwait. The US military blamed the crash on “friendly fire”, but a Kuwaiti statement did not give a reason for the incident.

The US embassy in Kuwait on Tuesday suspended operations until further notice, citing the “ongoing regional tensions”.⁠

Energy infrastructure

Qatar’s state-run energy firm and the world’s largest producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), QatarEnergy, announced on Monday that it had halted LNG production following Iranian attacks on its operational facilities in Ras Laffan and Mesaieed in Qatar.

Iranian officials have publicly denied targeting QatarEnergy.

Saudi Arabia shut down operations at the Ras Tanura plant, its biggest domestic oil refinery operated by Saudi Aramco, after a fire broke out at the facility that officials said was caused by debris from the interception of two Iranian drones.

Iran’s Tasnim News Agency quoted an unnamed Iranian military source as saying: “The attack on Aramco was an Israeli false flag operation,” adding that Israel’s goal was “to distract the minds of regional countries from its crimes in attacking civilian sites in Iran.”

“Iran has announced frankly that it will target all American and Israeli interests, installations and facilities in the region, and has attacked many of them so far, but Aramco facilities have not been among the targets of Iranian attacks so far,” the source told the agency.

Tasnim quoted the source as saying: “According to data provided to us by intelligence sources, the port of Fujairah in the UAE is also one of the next targets of the Israelis in the false flag operation, and this regime intends to attack it.”

Airports

Airports have been targeted in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the UAE, and also in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq. Officials have blamed Iran for the strikes, though Tehran has not publicly claimed responsibility for the attacks on those facilities.

An Al Jazeera correspondent reported that Erbil International Airport was targeted twice on Saturday, with a drone attempting to target the airport and air defences intercepting and shooting it down.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari told a news conference on Tuesday that there were attempts to attack Hamad International Airport, but they all failed.

At Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport, at least one person was killed and seven wounded during what the facility’s authority called an “incident.”

The Dubai media office wrote in an X post that part of Dubai International Airport “sustained minor damage in an incident”, without specifying what the incident was or who was behind it.

The region’s airspace, one of the busiest in the world, has been closed in the wake of the conflict, stranding tens of thousands of travellers. About 20,000 passengers have been stranded in the UAE, while almost 8,000 people are also stuck in transit in Qatar as the airspace remains closed.

Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad, which together operate more than 1,000 flights daily, have suspended operations. Emirates on Monday announced limited flight resumption, but normal operations have not started.

Hotels and residencies

The Interior Ministry of Bahrain said on Saturday that several residential buildings in Manama had been hit, reporting on X that the civil defence was engaged in firefighting and rescue operations at the affected sites.

On Saturday, Iran fired 137 missiles and 209 drones across the UAE, its Ministry of Defence said, with fires and smoke reaching the Dubai landmarks of Palm Jumeirah and Burj Al Arab.

Videos circulating on social media showed smoke emerging from the entrance of a five-star luxury hotel, Fairmont The Palm, in the Palm Jumeirah area.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson al-Ansari said on Tuesday that Iranian targets are not just military, but all of the country’s territory. He did not go into detail about which parts of Qatar are specifically being targeted.

Al-Ansari said that all red lines have been crossed; from the north to the south of Qatar, Al Jazeera’s Laura Khan reported from Doha, Qatar.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran had targeted a hotel complex in Bahrain because it was hosting US soldiers.

“We are not targeting our brothers or neighbours in the Persian Gulf. But we are targeting US targets, and this is clear,” Araghchi said on Tuesday.

“We started by attacking their military bases, and they evacuated their military bases and moved them to hotels and created human shields for themselves. We try to target military personnel, infrastructure and facilities helping the US and its army in launching operations against Iran.”

Why is Iran targeting civilian infrastructure in the Gulf?

One of the reasons why the Iranians are resorting to hitting civilian infrastructure in neighbouring countries is to “demonstrate their military capabilities,” Luciano Zaccara, Iran and Gulf analyst at Qatar University, told Al Jazeera.

“Iran is retaliating against all the attacks, not in one place, but in almost 10 simultaneously,” he said.

“The other thing is the political message they want to give that if Iran is attacked, the impact will be global,” Zaccara said, noting that the main message is that not only Iran, but the economy of the whole region, will be affected.

“And neither the US, the region, nor the consumers of energy are able to continue this way,” he said.

Zaccara added: “But at this point, they [Iran] don’t care that much, considering that they have been under sanctions for a long time. So it’s not affecting the Iranian economy that much. And the fact that the oil price is going up – even though they export very little – means they are still surviving.”