International
Religious leaders urge UN summit to fix climate crisis
AFP
Religious leaders including Pope Francis and the world’s top Sunni Islam cleric issued a plea on Monday for a forthcoming UN climate conference to act boldly against global warming.
“Future generations will never forgive us if we miss the opportunity to protect our common home. We have inherited a garden: we must not leave a desert to our children,” they said.
The appeal was presented at the Faith and Science: Towards COP26 conference which the Vatican hosted in Rome ahead of the landmark two-week COP26 summit that kicks off on October 31 in Glasgow, Scotland.
“We plead with the international community, gathered at COP26, to take speedy, responsible and shared action to safeguard, restore and heal our wounded humanity and the home entrusted to our stewardship,” it added.
Climate change experts including Hoesung Lee, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), also took part in the Vatican conference and endorsed the appeal.
In a written note to participants, the pope said: “COP26 in Glasgow represents an urgent summons to provide effective responses to the unprecedented ecological crisis and the crisis of values that we are presently experiencing.”
The pope largely left the podium to other guests to make speeches, including the grand imam of the Al-Azhar mosque and university Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, and Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians
Bartholemew called the appeal he co-signed “a powerful symbolic gesture” stemming from “the dialogue between all religions of the world, united in their commitment to preserving the beauty and integrity of God’s creation”.
Last month, Francis, Bartholomew and Anglican leader Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby — who also attended Monday’s conference — issued another plea that called “on everyone, whatever their belief or worldview, to endeavour to listen to the cry of the Earth”.
Less than one month from the COP26 climate summit, world leaders are under unprecedented pressure to decarbonise their economies and chart humanity’s path away from catastrophic global warming.
But with the pandemic still raging in parts of the globe and with countries already battered by climate-driven calamities pleading for help, the negotiations in Glasgow are likely to be fraught.
International
Pope Leo XIV to skip COP30 in Brazil but plans future visit, Lula confirms
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced that Pope Leo XIV will not attend the COP30 climate summit in Belém, but will visit Brazil “at the right moment,” following their meeting on Monday at the Vatican.
“I invited him to come to COP30, considering the historic importance of hosting a Climate Conference for the first time in the heart of the Amazon. Due to the Jubilee, the Pope told us he will not be able to attend,” Lula wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Although the pontiff will not be present at the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference, he assured that the Vatican will be represented and confirmed his intention to visit Brazil in the near future.
“We were very happy to hear that His Holiness intends to visit Brazil when the time is right. He will be warmly welcomed with the affection, hospitality, and faith of the Brazilian people,” the president said.
Lula also congratulated the Pope on his first exhortation, Dilexi Te, which focuses on poverty, and emphasized that “faith cannot be separated from love for the poor.”
“I told him we need to build a broad movement of indignation against inequality, and I see this document as a reference that should be read and practiced by everyone,” Lula added.
International
Venezuela calls for continued global pressure to secure ‘just peace’ for Palestine
The Venezuelan government stated on Monday that international pressure “must continue” until a “just peace” is achieved for Palestine, as the official end of the war in Gaza is expected to be signed later today—an agreement that follows the release of surviving Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
In an official statement, President Nicolás Maduro’s administration emphasized that “the global popular mobilization, along with political and diplomatic pressure from the international community—including Arab and Muslim nations—has been decisive in paving the way for this peace process.”
The statement further urged that “such mobilization must continue until the full implementation of international law, particularly the United Nations Security Council resolutions that call for the withdrawal of occupying forces from territories invaded in 1967 and the establishment of the State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
The Venezuelan government noted that the agreement comes “after the near-total destruction of the Gaza Strip, where more than 65,000 people—mostly children, women, and defenseless civilians—were killed by the criminal bombings of Zionist occupying forces, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.”
“Venezuela maintains that true peace can only be achieved through the application of international justice, which must include the investigation and prosecution of war criminals and human rights violators responsible for the atrocities committed against the Palestinian people,” the statement concluded.
The peace accord is expected to be signed Monday in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh. Neither Israel nor the Palestinian group Hamas will attend the ceremony, which will be attended by around thirty heads of state, government leaders, and representatives of international organizations.
International
Mexico reports 64 dead, 65 missing after devastating central region floods
The Mexican government reported on Monday that 64 people have died and 65 remain missing following the heavy rains that struck five central states between October 6 and 9. The storms left thousands affected and caused severe damage to homes, businesses, and infrastructure across 111 municipalities.
According to Laura Velázquez, head of the National Civil Protection Coordination (CNPC), the fatalities were distributed as follows: Veracruz (29), Hidalgo (21), Puebla (13), and Querétaro (1). The figures were confirmed during President Claudia Sheinbaum’s daily press briefing.
Velázquez also stated that 65 individuals are still unaccounted for in the states of Veracruz (18), Hidalgo (43), and Puebla (4). “We understand the population’s anguish and concern. Everyone will receive assistance. Cleanup operations will be carried out in full, with no resources spared,” President Sheinbaum assured.
The Civil Protection chief explained that the rainfall report from October 6 to 9 showed maximum precipitation levels on October 8 — 280 millimeters in Veracruz and 286 millimeters in Puebla — causing rivers and streams to overflow in surrounding areas.
The updated report also detailed 111 municipalities affected: Veracruz (40), Hidalgo (28), Puebla (23), Querétaro (8), and San Luis Potosí (12).
Since October 10, the Mexican government has been holding continuous emergency sessions in coordination with state authorities to address the crisis and provide relief to affected populations.
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