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President Donald Trump took a sudden swipe at France on Monday during an interview with US broadcaster Fox News, saying “we’ve had a lot of problems with the French.”Fox News presenter Laura Ingraham questioned the US president on the enrolment of Chinese students at US universities, saying, “they’re not the French, they’re the Chinese. They spy on us. They steal our intellectual property.”But Trump abruptly cut in to respond, saying: “Do you think the French are better, really? I will tell you, I’m not so sure.”Trump, who has been locked in a trade war with Beijing, has had a well-catalogued hands-on relationship with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, full of muscular handshakes, mutual backslapping and knee-touching for the cameras.Macron in September even rang the US leader directly to tell him he was being blocked on the street by the presidential convoy in New York as he rushed to a meeting from the UN headquarters.But the pair’s bromance has occasionally been tetchy, with Trump notably opposed to Macron’s recognition of a Palestinian state and climate policy.The US leader has also pushed Europe to step up funding of its own defence through NATO, with Macron part of the continent’s multi-pronged charm offensive to keep Trump onside with military support of Ukraine against Russia.In the Fox interview, Trump switched focus from China to France’s taxation policies, which he said were an issue for the United States.”We’ve had a lot of problems with the French where we get taxed unfairly on our technology,” Trump said. Trump has previously said he would impose “substantial” extra tariffs on countries that introduced “discriminatory” digital taxes. The comments were sparked by Ingraham grilling Trump on his administration’s back and forth on foreign students. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in May that Washington would “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students”.However, just a few months later, Trump said the country was going to allow 600,000 Chinese students to “come in”.

The Americans are coming.President Donald Trump’s administration may have steered clear of this year’s UN climate summit in the Brazilian Amazon, but the conference’s second day on Tuesday is nonetheless set to be dominated by the governors of California and New Mexico.Anticipation is building particularly around California’s telegenic leader Gavin Newsom, who governs the world’s fourth-largest economy and has sought to cast himself as the Anti-Trump — with murmurs of a 2028 presidential run in the air.”We are doubling down on stupid in the United States of America,” the Democrat told an audience at a Milken Institute event in Sao Paulo on Monday, giving a taste of the sharp anti-Republican rhetoric for which he has become known. “Not in my state of California.”Newsom’s agenda in Brazil includes a meeting with Helder Barbalho, governor of Para state, of which the COP30 host city Belem is the capital, and another with New Mexico’s Michelle Lujan Grisham.Trump, who has made an aggressive fossil fuel expansion central to his second term, withdrew the United States from the Paris climate accord upon returning to office in January.But according to Champa Patel, executive director for governments and policy at Climate Group, which runs the Under2 Coalition of global states and regions, US states can still pursue the climate blueprints left by former president Joe Biden’s administration.”The states have that roadmap, they can still follow it and keep to the spirit of Paris,” Patel told AFP. “Ultimately, it’s state-level actors that are going to implement, and the real economy is shifting,” Patel said, pointing to wind and solar growth even in Republican-led states driven by market forces.Newsom is expected to tout California’s green credentials, including a $4.1 trillion economy that is now two-thirds powered by clean energy, and the state’s successful Cap-and-Invest program, a carbon market recently extended by law until 2045.New Mexico’s Lujan Grisham governs a major fossil fuel-producing state but has pushed to expand renewables and curb methane emissions from the oil and gas sector.Still, questions linger over the limits of state-level action. Trump’s Republicans recently passed a law bringing an early end to clean energy tax credits enacted under Biden that is seen as a potentially crippling blow to the renewable sector.And while state and regional coalitions can exert political pressure at climate summits they remain, for now, outside the official text-drafting process.

The longest-ever US government shutdown moved forward Monday toward an eventual resolution, after several Democratic senators broke ranks to join Republicans in a 60-40 vote passing a compromise deal — sparking intra-party backlash.Since October 1, the first day of the shutdown, more than a million federal workers have been unpaid, while government benefits and services have been increasingly disrupted.Severe impacts on air traffic have begun to mount in recent days, with more than 1,000 flights canceled daily, raising the political pressure to end the stalemate.”We’ll be opening up our country very quickly,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, adding: “the deal is very good.”After the vote, Senate Republican Leader John Thune wrote on X that he was glad to support the “clear path to ending this unnecessary shutdown in a responsible way that quickly pays federal workers and reopens the federal government.”Democratic Senator John Fetterman, who voted to support the Republican measure, posted to X Monday night about his decision.”Feed everyone. Pay our military, government workers, and Capitol Police. End the chaos in airports. Country over party,” Fetterman said.With the stopgap funding bill passed through the Senate, the legislation moves to the House of Representatives for a vote, which like the Senate is controlled by Republicans. The chamber is expected to reconvene as early as Wednesday, as Tuesday is a national holiday.”It appears to us this morning that our long national nightmare is finally coming to an end, and we’re grateful for that,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Monday. “At least some Democrats now finally appear ready to do what Republicans and President Trump and millions of hardworking American people have been asking them to do for weeks.”The House — which Johnson has kept out of session throughout the standoff — would be called back this week, he said.- Obamacare – At the heart of the Senate standoff was Democrats’ demand to extend health insurance subsidies expiring at the end of the year. Republicans insisted any negotiation occur after the government is re-opened.Millions of Americans who have purchased health insurance through the “Obamacare” program would see their costs double if the subsidies are not extended.Sunday’s breakthrough agreement would re-open the government through January, with some programs funded for the full fiscal year, and reverse some of the Trump administration’s firings of federal workers.The bill notably would restore funding for the SNAP food aid program, which helps more than 42 million lower-income Americans pay for groceries.While the Senate’s Republican leadership has agreed to hold an eventual vote on health care, it does not ensure the insurance subsidies will be extended.”After 40 days of uncertainty, I’m profoundly glad to be able to announce that nutrition programs, our veterans, and other critical priorities will have their full-year funding,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said late Sunday.- Divided Democrats -Senator Jeanne Shaheen, one of eight Democratic caucus members who backed the measure, said the Senate “took a big step forward towards protecting the health care of tens of millions of Americans.”She said the agreement would grant Democrats, despite being in the minority, the power to call a vote on health care legislation.However, with the extension of the subsidies not guaranteed, the move has angered party members who preferred to keep holding out.”Pathetic,” California Governor Gavin Newsom posted on X in reaction to the announced agreement.Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer voted no, saying he could “not in good faith” support a measure “that fails to address the health care crisis.””This fight will and must continue,” he vowed.Some lawmakers criticized Schumer himself for failing to keep the Democrats united.”Tonight is another example of why we need new leadership,” Massachusetts Representative Seth Moulton said Sunday. 

An additional 2,300 US flights were cancelled Monday as President Donald Trump threatened to dock pay for air traffic controllers who called in sick during the government shutdown.After Trump ripped absent aviation workers as unpatriotic, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) labor union hailed members working without pay as “unsung heroes” in a statement that called for Congress to immediately end the shutdown.”Enough is enough,” the union said. The back-and-forth highlights the mounting strain on the aviation industry as the record-breaking shutdown hit day 41, though a compromise bill advancing in Congress was raising hopes of a resolution this week.The air traffic control system was already under strain prior to the shutdown due to understaffing, and is facing a surge in passengers with upcoming Thanksgiving holiday travel.Besides Monday’s 2,300 cancellations, more than 8,700 flights involving US airports were delayed, according to website FlightAware. And carriers have already scrapped 1,100 flights scheduled for Tuesday, the flight tracker reported.The Trump administration last week ordered 10 percent reductions in flights at dozens of airports, including some of the nation’s busiest, due to “staffing triggers.”Trump took to social media on Monday to threaten that controllers who do not return to work “will be substantially ‘docked.'””All Air Traffic Controllers must get back to work, NOW!!!” he demanded on his Truth Social platform.Trump said he was recommending a bonus of $10,000 to the “GREAT PATRIOTS” who did not take time off during the shutdown.His statement was posted just as the air traffic controller union was concluding a press conference, timed to the second consecutive zero-dollar paycheck for its members.Union president Nick Daniels called an emerging deal in Congress a “right step in the right direction.””Air traffic controllers should not be the political pawn during a government shutdown,” said Daniels, who has spoken in increasingly dire terms since federal funding first lapsed on October 1.A NATCA statement released later Monday, following Trump’s social media threat, said controllers “deserve our praise.””This nation’s air traffic controllers have been working without pay for over 40 days,” the union said. “The vast majority of these highly trained and skilled professionals continue to perform one of the most stressful and demanding jobs in the world, despite not being compensated. Many are working six-day weeks and ten-hour days without any pay.” Democratic congressman Rick Larsen called Trump’s comments “nuts.””The women and men working long hours in air traffic control towers to keep the aviation system running deserve our thanks and appreciation, not unhinged attacks on their patriotism,” said the Democrat from Washington state.Hours later, during a phone-in interview to broadcaster Fox News, Trump doubled down on the bonuses but admitted he was unsure where the funds might come from.”I don’t know. I’ll get it from someplace…I always get the money from someplace,” the billionaire president said. “Regardless, it doesn’t matter.”- Working two jobs -Prospects for a resolution to the longest shutdown in US history looked brighter on Monday, after enough Democrats in the US Senate joined Republicans to pass a bill to fund the government through January.However, Daniels noted that after a lengthy shutdown in 2019 it took two and a half months for all controllers to receive back pay.Meanwhile, “January 30 will loom around the corner,” he added, alluding to uncertainty about what will happen after the next spending bill expires.Daniels was joined at the event by Amy Lark, who works at an air traffic facility in Virginia.Her family is having to make do without two paychecks, because Lark’s husband also works for the agency.”Yesterday, my kids asked me how long we could stay in our house. Having to answer that question was heartbreaking,” said Lark.The cutbacks are also forcing travelers to adapt.”It’s a little crazy this morning,” said Jack Nicks at Miami International Airport, adding he doublechecked to make sure his flight would be ready for takeoff.”I have other friends that are flying today. They’ve already had three flight changes. So it’s a little rough.”

It used to be a political match made in MAGA heaven.But US President Donald Trump fell out with hard-right lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday, saying she had “lost her way” after a series of critical comments.The firebrand Republican congresswoman from Georgia was previously a diehard pro-Trump supporter but has emerged as an unlikely — and rare — dissenting voice on a host of issues.In recent months Greene, 51, has broken ranks with the 79-year-old president on issues ranging from Gaza to the affordability crisis.The final straw came when she urged him to focus on domestic issues instead of foreign policy, as Trump hosted Syria’s former jihadist president at the White House on Monday.”I don’t know what happened to Marjorie. She’s a nice woman, but I don’t know what happened. She’s lost her way, I think,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about her comments.Trump said Greene was “now catering to the other side” and said she had “got some kind of an act going.””I’m surprised at her. But when somebody like Marjorie goes over and starts making statements like that, it shows she doesn’t know.”Greene’s sudden shift has prompted speculation that she is lining up for her own presidential bid in 2028, although she has dismissed it as “baseless gossip.” The change is especially jarring as she made her name as a fierce defender of Trump’s policies — particularly to foreign media, whom she lashed out at in a number of clips that went viral.She also embraced QAnon conspiracy theories and in 2018 asserted that California wildfires were ignited by a space laser controlled by the Jewish Rothschild family.- ‘Affordability is a problem’ -But Greene has increasingly taken a softer tone, and one that is at odds with Trump on a growing number of issues.The first signs came when she split with other Republicans over the summer when she called Israel’s war in Gaza a “genocide.”Then she became a leading voice calling for justice for victims of notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, despite Trump trying to dampen the reignited furor over the case.More recently, Greene has been critical on healthcare and particularly the cost of living crisis, telling CNN that “affordability is a problem” — just hours after Trump said that “I don’t want to hear about the affordability.” She even appeared on the ABC television program “The View”, a morning show widely viewed as left-leaning that  previously hosted Democratic then-president Joe Biden and vice president Kamala Harris.Then ahead of the visit of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whom she branded a “former Al-Qaeda terrorist”, Greene said that “I would really like to see nonstop meetings at the WH on domestic policy not foreign policy.”Her comments, while more direct, in fact echoed Vice President JD Vance’s remark last week that Republicans need to focus on the “home front” after heavy losses to Democrats in elections in New York, New Jersey and Virginia.Trump defended his focus on foreign policy on Monday. “It’s easy to say, ‘Oh don’t worry about the world,’ but the world is turning out to be our biggest customer,” he said.

The breakout success of the US reality TV show “The Secret Life of Mormon Wives,” the third season of which begins Thursday, shines a light on America’s fascination with the Christian religious movement. The main Mormon Church, known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has seven million US members — two percent of the country’s population.Fundamentalist Mormon groups, which practice polygamy, account for fewer than 100,000 people.Mormons are still “prominent and unique in American imagination,” said Brenda Weber, a professor at Indiana University and author of a book on Mormonism in media and culture.The movement began in 1830 in New York state, coinciding with the rise of the printing press which served as a springboard for the belief system, Weber said.Mormonism, and particularly the practice of polygamy, also inspired the Sherlock Holmes story “A Study in Scarlet,” and silent cinema hit “Trapped by the Mormons” in 1922.The Church, which emphasizes singing and dancing, has been home to many hit artists including Donny Osmond and actor Ryan Gosling.The 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah — which is the Church’s stronghold — marked the start of a cultural “Mormon moment.”The presidential ambitions of Republican Mormon Mitt Romney in 2008 and 2012 coincided with television programs dedicated to polygamous families in Utah.The series “Big Love” aired between 2006 and 2011, while the reality show “Sister Wives” has broadcast since 2010.On Broadway, the parody musical “The Book of Mormon,” named after a religious text, has been a hit since 2011.Around the same time, “Momfluencers” began gaining traction on social media — including Mormon matriarchs who are more likely to be stay-at-home mothers with more education and wealth than other American women.Matthew Bowman, a specialist in American religions at Claremont Graduate University, said that combination of factors created “potent possibilities for social media.” – ‘Very sensitive’ -Being a proselytizing religion — meaning followers seek to convert others — the Mormon women active online “create media to attract people,” said Weber. After being discovered on TikTok, the heroines of “The Secret Life of Mormon Wives” are their direct descendants. But the swinging practices of one of the stars serves as the basis for the show, the first season of which released on Hulu in 2024 and outperformed the Kardashians series.Show stars Taylor Frankie Paul, Mayci Neeley, Jen Affleck, and others — recently invited onto hit shows like “Dancing with the Stars” and “The Bachelorette” — claim to want to modernize the image of Mormons.They regularly discuss their roles in a culture where men are traditionally family heads and breadwinners. Even though the women claim they earn more than their husbands, many also paint themselves as “tradwives,” according to Weber.The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did not respond to AFP’s request for comments on the program.A statement published shortly before season one criticized media representations that “depict lifestyles and practices blatantly inconsistent with the teachings of the Church.”Bowman said the Church has been struggling with something ever since ‘The Book of Mormon’ musical came out: “how does it grapple with publicity that may not, on the face of it, seem very favorable?”The Church responded to the hit musical with tongue-in-cheek advertisements inviting people to read its founding text.But overall, it “has often tended to be very sensitive about this sort of thing, and in many of its responses or public statements, it can be rather defensive,” said Bowman.

Syria is joining the global coalition against the Islamic State group, a US official said Monday hours after President Donald Trump welcomed his Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa for historic White House talks.Sharaa, whose rebel forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad late last year, was the first Syrian leader to visit the White House since the Middle Eastern country’s independence in 1946.But the 43-year-old’s landmark visit to the Oval Office came just days after Washington removed him from its terrorism list. Sharaa’s group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was formerly affiliated with Al-Qaeda.”During the visit, Syria announced that it is joining the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS,” becoming the 90th member of the alliance and “partnering with the United States to eliminate ISIS remnants and halt foreign fighter flows,” a senior administration official said.According to the official, Syria will also be allowed to resume diplomatic relations with Washington “to further counterterrorism, security, and economic coordination.”Trump said he wanted Syria to become “very successful” after more than a decade of civil war and added that he believed Sharaa “can do it, I really do.””He’s a very strong leader. He comes from a very tough place, and he’s a tough guy,” Trump told reporters after the meeting, which was closed to press.”People said he’s had a rough past, we’ve all had rough pasts… And I think, frankly, if you didn’t have a rough past, you wouldn’t have a chance.”Trump said Syria was a “big part” of his plan for a wider Middle East peace plan, which the US president is hoping will prop up the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.”Having a stable and successful Syria is very important to all countries in the Region,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform after the meeting.Despite this, Trump would not confirm reports that Syria would sign any non-aggression pact with long-term foe Israel.Afterwards Sharaa was interviewed by broadcaster Fox News, saying Syria’s ongoing dispute with Israel over the Golan Heights territory would make entering peace talks difficult now. But he suggested talks facilitated by Trump and Washington could help start negotiations.The Syrian president’s visit capped a remarkable turnaround for a former jihadist who once had a $10 million US bounty on his head.In dramatic scenes as he left his meeting with Trump, he climbed out of his motorcade to greet crowds of supporters outside the White House, surrounded on all sides by bodyguards.- ‘Astonishing transformation’ -Syria’s presidency said on X that Sharaa and Trump discussed the bilateral relationship, “the ways to strengthen and develop it, as well as a number of regional and international issues of common interest.”It published photos of Trump standing and shaking hands with a smiling Sharaa beside the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.Other pictures showed the Syrian leader sitting opposite Trump with top US officials including Vice President JD Vance, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and top US military officer Dan Caine.Since taking power, Syria’s new leaders have sought to break from their violent past and present a more moderate image to ordinary Syrians and foreign powers.Sharaa’s White House visit is “a hugely symbolic moment for the country’s new leader, who thus marks another step in his astonishing transformation from militant leader to global statesman,” said Michael Hanna, US program director at the International Crisis Group.The Syrian met Trump for the first time in Saudi Arabia during the US leader’s regional tour in May. At the time the 79-year-old Trump dubbed Sharaa, 43, as “a young, attractive guy.”Sharaa was expected to seek US funds for Syria, which faces significant challenges in rebuilding after 13 years of devastating civil war.After his arrival in Washington, Sharaa over the weekend met with International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva over possible aid.Sharaa’s jihadist past has caused controversy in some quarters but the State Department’s decision Friday to remove him from the blacklist was widely expected.The Syrian president has also been making diplomatic outreach towards Washington’s rivals. He met Russian President Vladimir Putin in October in their first meeting since the removal of Assad, a key Kremlin ally.

The longest-ever US government shutdown appeared headed Monday to an eventual resolution, after several Democratic senators broke ranks to join Republicans in advancing a compromise deal — sparking intra-party backlash.Since October 1, the first day of the shutdown, more than a million federal workers have been unpaid, while government benefits and services have been increasingly disrupted.Severe impacts on air traffic have begun to mount in recent days, with more than 1,000 flights canceled daily, raising the political pressure to end the stalemate.”We’ll be opening up our country very quickly,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, adding: “the deal is very good.”After clearing a key procedural hurdle late Sunday, the Senate began the voting process late Monday to pass the compromise budget measure.It would then move to the House of Representatives, which like the Senate is controlled by Republicans. The chamber could vote on the bill as early as Wednesday to send it to Trump’s desk.”It appears to us this morning that our long national nightmare is finally coming to an end, and we’re grateful for that,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Monday. “At least some Democrats now finally appear ready to do what Republicans and President Trump and millions of hardworking American people have been asking them to do for weeks.”The House — which Johnson has kept out of session throughout the standoff — would be called back this week, he said.”I’d like to vote tonight after the Senate is done, but it takes everybody a while to get back” for a vote, Johnson told broadcaster CNN.- Obamacare – At the heart of the impasse is Democrats’ demand to extend health insurance subsidies expiring at the end of the year. Republicans insist any negotiation occur after the government is re-opened.Millions of Americans who have purchased health insurance through the “Obamacare” program would see their costs double if the subsidies are not extended.Sunday’s breakthrough agreement would re-open the government through January, with some programs funded for the full fiscal year, and reverse some of the Trump administration’s firings of federal workers.The bill notably would restore funding for the SNAP food aid program, which helps more than 42 million lower-income Americans pay for groceries.While the Senate’s Republican leadership has agreed to hold an eventual vote on health care, it does not ensure the insurance subsidies will be extended.”After 40 days of uncertainty, I’m profoundly glad to be able to announce that nutrition programs, our veterans, and other critical priorities will have their full-year funding,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said late Sunday.While leaders were rushing to move the bill through Congress, it could still take days to make its way to Trump’s desk. Tuesday is a national holiday.- Divided Democrats -Senator Jeanne Shaheen, one of eight Democratic caucus members who backed the measure, said the Senate “took a big step forward towards protecting the health care of tens of millions of Americans.”She said the agreement would grant Democrats, despite being in the minority, the power to call a vote on health care legislation.However, with the extension of the subsidies not guaranteed, the move has angered party members who preferred to keep holding out.”Pathetic,” California Governor Gavin Newsom posted on X in reaction to the announced agreement.Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer voted no, saying he could “not in good faith” support a measure “that fails to address the health care crisis.””This fight will and must continue,” he vowed.Some lawmakers criticized Schumer himself for failing to keep the Democrats united.”Tonight is another example of why we need new leadership,” Massachusetts Representative Seth Moulton said Sunday. 

After years of temporary pop-up events, streaming giant Netflix will make its first foray into the theme park space this week, rivalling entertainment giants Disney and Universal Studios.The company’s “Netflix House” theme park will open its doors Wednesday at the King of Prussia mall — one of the largest shopping centers in the United States, in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — in a space measuring over 100,000 square feet (10,000 square meters).The theme park, which will offer free admission, plans to host a wide range of dining and activities, all decorated to resemble some of the platform’s most popular shows and movies, including “Bridgerton,” “Stranger Things,” “Squid Game” and “KPop Demon Hunters.”Netflix Chief Marketing Officer Marian Lee said the company opted against charging for admission because “we wanted that accessibility. We want to be an everyday destination.””As we were launching these pop-up experiences, it became clear that we would actually have more flexibility if we had a permanent location,” she told AFP in an interview.Additional “Netflix House” locations are set to open after the Pennsylvania attraction, with one in Dallas, Texas scheduled to debut on December 11 and a third on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada by 2027.”Las Vegas is a very different space. It’s not inside of a shopping center, but it is on the Strip…and so there, we will program it a little bit differently,” Lee said.Although Lee did not confirm the costs to build these theme parks, she said “you can see it’s a huge capital investment for the company to invest in both the space and like all the finishings and the fabrications of everything.”As of right now, Lee said there no plans to build a “Netflix House” internationally. “We’d have to think about it in a different way,” she said.

The United Nations climate conference opened Monday in the Brazilian Amazon with pleas for the world to keep up the fight against global warming, even as the United States turns its back.Feeble progress toward weaning off fossil fuels and cutting planet-warming emissions have opened fault lines between countries in Belem, the hot and sticky city on the edge of the rainforest hosting the two-week COP30 summit.”It’s time to inflict a new defeat on the deniers,” Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva thundered in his opening address, which followed a traditional performance from Indigenous people in feathered headpieces.He pointedly slammed those who “spread fear, attack institutions, science, and universities.”Weighing on the talks is the absence of the United States, the world’s top oil producer and second-largest polluter.But American state and local leaders, including California Governor Gavin Newsom, are set to take the stage Tuesday to show the country isn’t entirely missing in action, highlighting their own climate policies and solidarity with global efforts.”Make no mistake, humanity is still in this fight,” said UN climate chief Simon Stiell. “We have some tough opponents, no doubt, but we also have some heavyweights on our side.” He pointed to “the brute power of market forces” beginning to tip in favor of renewables, which this year overtook coal as the world’s top energy source: “extraordinary progress that was unimaginable a decade ago.”The summit opens in the wake of destructive storms in the Caribbean and Asia and a growing fear that geopolitical tensions — from wars to trade feuds — are distracting from the fight against climate change.In a stark reminder of what’s at stake, the UN’s top climate scientist reaffirmed that a temporary breach of the 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) benchmark — the safer warming goal of the Paris Agreement — was now inevitable.Those challenges and more were compounded by logistical problems in Belem, including a dire shortage of hotel rooms.Organisers say just over 42,000 delegates have gathered, fewer than at recent editions, as sky-high accommodation costs appear to have kept many away.Lula has defended the choice of location, saying he wanted to bring the world’s attention to the Amazon’s role in combating climate change, a shift mainly driven by burning coal, oil and gas.- Tough negotiations -A tough two weeks lies ahead for diplomats meeting in a cavernous conference hall, where the din of negotiations are occasionally drowned out by tropical rainfall hammering the roof overhead.Rich nations and developing countries regularly clash at COPs over how to raise the money needed for poorer regions to adapt to climate change and shift to a low-carbon future.”Our 44 countries did not light this fire, but we are bearing its heat,” Evans Njewa, a Malawian diplomat who chairs the Least Developed Countries (LDC) bloc that represents more than one billion people, told reporters.Major oil producers such as Saudi Arabia have traditionally opposed efforts at COPs to focus on fossil fuels. At COP28 in 2023, nations historically agreed to transition away from fossil fuels for the first time.Lula has floated the idea of a “roadmap” on fossil fuels at COP30, but the proposal so far lacks details.For 30 years, the countries party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change — adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro — have met annually to strengthen the global climate regime.Those efforts culminated in the 2015 Paris Agreement, which commits the world to limiting global warming to well below 2C relative to pre-industrial levels, while striving for 1.5C.But Jim Skea, head of the UN’s expert climate science body, warned Monday it was “almost inevitable” that the world will cross the crucial warming threshold at least temporarily.The world’s failure to rein in global temperature rises is the focus of an effort by small island nations to put this on the official agenda.A Western diplomat told AFP that such nations “are ready to upend the COP” if they don’t see a stronger official response to these efforts assured at COP30.”If they don’t deliver on 1.5C, that spells our demise,” Tuvalu minister for climate affairs and environment Maina Vakafua Talia told AFP.burs-lth/ia/np/mlm