SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Sunday a formal agreement had been reached for Turkiye to host the COP31 climate summit in 2026, confirming a document released at the COP30 summit in Brazil.
A statement issued by Germany this week at the COP30 summit, after a meeting of the Western European and Others Group tasked with selecting the 2026 host, said Turkiye would take the role with Australia leading the negotiation process. It followed an earlier announcement that a compromise arrangement was expected.
The deal resolved a lengthy standoff over hosting of the UN talks.
“Formal agreement has been reached for COP31 to be hosted by Turkiye in Antalya, with the Pacific’s interests advanced by Australia assuming the role of President of Negotiations in the lead up to and at the meeting,” Albanese said in a statement.
Australia would have “exclusive authority in relation to the negotiations” guiding decision making at the summit, according to the statement, which said the Pacific region would host a special pre-COP meeting to bring “attention to the existential threat climate change poses to the region.”
A regional diplomatic bloc of 18 countries, the Pacific Islands Forum, had backed Australia’s bid. Several Pacific island nations are at risk from rising seas.
The annual COP, the world’s main forum for driving climate action, has grown over the years from diplomatic gatherings into vast trade shows where host countries can promote economic prospects.
Australia PM says formal deal reached for Turkiye to host COP31 climate summit
https://arab.news/p8mrd
Australia PM says formal deal reached for Turkiye to host COP31 climate summit
- The deal resolved a lengthy standoff over hosting of the UN talks
Venezuela swears in 5,600 troops after US military build-up
- American forces have carried out deadly strikes on more than 20 vessels, killing at least 87
CARACAS: The Venezuelan army swore in 5,600 soldiers on Saturday, as the United States cranks up military pressure on the oil-producing country.
President Nicolas Maduro has called for stepped-up military recruitment after the United States deployed a fleet of warships and the world’s largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean under the pretext of combating drug trafficking.
American forces have carried out deadly strikes on more than 20 vessels, killing at least 87.
Washington has accused Maduro of leading the alleged “Cartel of the Suns,” which it declared a terrorist organization last month.
Maduro asserts the American deployment aims to overthrow him and seize the country’s oil reserves.
“Under no circumstances will we allow an invasion by an imperialist force,” Col. Gabriel Rendon said Saturday during a ceremony at Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military complex, in Caracas.
According to official figures, Venezuela has around 200,000 troops and an additional 200,000 police officers.
A former opposition governor died in prison on Saturday where he had been detained on charges of terrorism and incitement, a rights group said.
Alfredo Diaz was at least the sixth opposition member to die in prison since November 2024.
They had been arrested following protests sparked by last July’s disputed election, when Maduro claimed a third term despite accusations of fraud.
The protests resulted in 28 deaths and around 2,400 arrests, with nearly 2,000 people released since then.
Diaz, governor of Nueva Esparta from 2017 to 2021, “had been imprisoned and held in isolation for a year; only one visit from his daughter was allowed,” said Alfredo Romero, director of the NGO Foro Penal, which defends political prisoners.
The group says there are at least 887 political prisoners in Venezuela.
Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado condemned the deaths of political prisoners in Venezuela during “post-electoral repression.”
“The circumstances of these deaths — which include denial of medical care, inhumane conditions, isolation, torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment — reveal a sustained pattern of state repression,” Machado said in a joint statement with Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, the opposition candidate she believes won the election.
