Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,363
Here are the key events from day 1,363 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. By News Agencies Published On 18 Nov 202518 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Here is how things stand on Tuesday, November 18: Fighting A Russian missile strike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Balakliia killed three people and wounded 10, including three children, a regional military official in the Kharkiv region said on Telegram on Monday. At least two people were killed and three were injured in Russian shelling of the Nikopol district in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, Vladyslav Haivanenko, the acting head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, wrote on Facebook. Russian troops captured three villages across three Ukrainian regions, the RIA news agency cited the Russian Ministry of Defence as saying on Monday. The villages are Hai in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Platonivka in the Donetsk region and Dvorichanske in the Kharkiv region. Russia’s air defence forces destroyed 36 Ukrainian drones overnight, RIA reported on Monday, citing the Defence Ministry’s daily data. A Russian attack on Ukraine’s southern region of Odesa sparked fires at energy and port infrastructure facilities, Ukraine’s emergency services said on Monday. The attack damaged port equipment and several civilian vessels, including one carrying liquefied natural gas, and forced Romania to evacuate a border village, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X. A 68-year-old man has died after he was injured in a Russian drone attack in Ukraine’s Kherson region, the head of the regional administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, wrote on Telegram. Two Ukrainian nuclear power plants have been running at reduced capacity for 10 days after a military attack damaged an electrical substation needed for nuclear safety, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said in a statement. The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia’s port of Novorossiysk resumed export activities after a Ukrainian attack caused a two-day suspension of its oil loadings. A firefighter stands at the site of apartment buildings hit by Russian missile strikes in the town of Balakliia in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region on November 17, 2025 [Anatolii Stepanov/Reuters] Military aid Advertisement Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a deal with French President Emmanuel Macron at France’s Velizy-Villacoublay Air Base for Ukraine to obtain up to 100 French-made Rafale warplanes over the next 10 years. Macron said France’s rail transport manufacturer Alstom and Ukrainian Railways have signed a 475-million-euro ($551m) contract on delivering 55 electric locomotives to Ukraine, according to the Interfax news agency. Regional security Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski said on Monday that one confirmed and one likely act of sabotage occurred on Polish railways after an explosion damaged a Polish railway track on a route to Ukraine over the weekend. Polish Special Services Minister Tomasz Siemoniak added during the same news conference that chances are very high that the people who conducted the sabotage were acting on orders of foreign intelligence services. He appeared to be pointing fingers at Russia although he did not name the country. Politics and diplomacy During a joint news conference in Paris, Macron said he was confident Zelenskyy could improve Ukraine’s anticorruption track record and institute reforms to clear its path to European Union membership. German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil told Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng during a state visit to Beijing on Monday that the two countries “should work together to finish the war in Ukraine” and “China can play a key role”. He responded by saying, “China will continue to play a constructive role in the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.” The Kremlin said on Monday that there was an ongoing conversation about a possible prisoner-of-war exchange with Ukraine but declined to provide details. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Russia hoped for another summit between President Vladimir Putin and United States President Donald Trump soon. Peskov added that Moscow took a very negative view of a bill that Trump said Republicans in the US were working on that would impose sanctions on any country doing business with Russia. Russia’s financial watchdog added former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and leading economist Sergei Guriev – both critics of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – to its list of “extremists and terrorists”, its website showed on Monday. Economy European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a letter to EU members on Monday that the bloc had three options or a combination of them to help Ukraine meet its financing needs: “Support … financed by member states via grants, a limited recourse loan funded by the union borrowing on the financial markets or a limited recourse loan linked to the cash balances of immobilised assets”. The Chevron oil company is studying options to buy international assets of sanctioned Russian oil firm Lukoil after the US Department of the Treasury gave clearance to potential buyers to talk to Lukoil about foreign assets, five sources familiar with the process told the Reuters news agency. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
Jake Paul to fight Anthony Joshua in heavyweight bout on December 19
The social media star will box former two-time unified world champion Joshua in an eight-round professional fight. By News Agencies Published On 18 Nov 202518 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul will fight former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in a professional bout on December 19. The heavyweight matchup, which will consist of eight three-minute rounds, will take place at Kaseya Center in Miami and will be streamed live on Netflix. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list It will be the toughest fight yet for the 28-year-old Paul, who has a 12-1 record (7 KOs) and last fought in June when he beat former middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr by unanimous decision. “This isn’t an AI simulation. This is Judgment Day,” Paul told Netflix. “A professional heavyweight fight against an elite world champion in his prime. “When I beat Anthony Joshua, every doubt disappears, and no one can deny me the opportunity to fight for a world title. To all my haters, this is what you wanted.” Joshua is a two-time unified heavyweight world champion and Olympic gold medallist, but the 36-year-old hasn’t fought since losing to Daniel Dubois in an IBF title fight in September 2024. “Jake or anyone can get this work,” Joshua said. “No mercy. I took some time out and I’m coming back with a mega show. It’s a big opportunity for me. “Whether you like it or not, I’m here to do massive numbers, have big fights and break every record whilst keeping cool, calm and collected … I’m about to break the internet over Jake Paul’s face.” Anthony Joshua celebrates after winning his fight against Otto Wallin at the Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on December 24, 2023 [Ahmed Yosri/Reuters] Adblock test (Why?)
UK’s sweeping asylum law changes: How will they impact refugees?
Shabana Mahmood, the United Kingdom’s home secretary, has said the country’s asylum system is “not working” and is placing “intense strain on communities” ahead of proposals for major government reforms that would end refugees’ automatic right to settle permanently in the UK. Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Mahmood said undocumented migration is “tearing the country apart”. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The government’s proposals, to be unveiled on Monday, will have two main prongs. First, they would end the automatic path to settled status for refugees after five years. And second, they would remove state benefits from those who have the right to work and can support themselves. After a summer of fierce protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers and an anti-immigration march in London, Mahmood also announced new plans to curb small-boat crossings from France as well as to return refugees to their home countries once it is safe to do so. What are the current immigration numbers? Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that net migration – the number of people entering a country minus the number leaving – had hovered around 200,000 to 300,000 people per year since 2011. However, after Brexit was enacted in 2020, there was a large increase in the number of undocumented immigrants entering the UK. Data from the ONS showed net migration climbed to 906,000 for the 12 months to June 2023. But more recent figures showed those numbers have fallen dramatically since then. Net migration figures dropped by more than half in 2024 – to 431,000. This was largely owing to a decrease in the number of healthcare and student visas made available last year. Advertisement Meanwhile, despite a UK media focus on people arriving in small boats from France, this group makes up a small share of the overall number of people entering the country. In 2024, for instance, the Home Office found that 36,816 people who arrived in the UK came via small boats. In total, 108,138 people claimed asylum last year. Of those, only one-third came via small boats. As such, most claims for asylum went through formal channels (and included some dependants of those people). Despite the falling numbers, disquiet with the ruling Labour Party remains rife. In an August YouGov poll, 38 percent of respondents said they believed Reform UK, an anti-immigration party, would be more effective at handling asylum cases than Labour, who secured just 9 percent of the tally. What changes is the government announcing? Access to citizenship On Monday, the government is expected to announce a shift from permanent settlement for refugees to a temporary-protection model. Current rules stipulate that refugees granted asylum may remain in the UK for five years before being able to apply for an “indefinite leave to remain”, opening the door to citizenship. But under the new plans, those who enter the UK through the asylum process could face up to 20 years before seeking permanent residency. In addition, people granted asylum would have to renew their status every 30 months to see if the situation in their home country has changed such that UK residence is still required. Access to social benefits Mahmood said she intends to repeal the legal duty of the government to provide accommodation and basic financial support to all asylum seekers. The government is expected to withdraw support from asylum seekers deemed able to work as well as from those people who commit offences, ignore removal orders or work illegally. Asylum seekers may currently apply for permission to work if their asylum claim has been outstanding for 12 months or more and if the delay is not considered their fault. What do refugee rights groups say? Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council charity, said that instead of deterring migrants, the 20-year path to citizenship would “leave people in limbo and experiencing intense anxiety for many, many years”. “We need a system that is controlled and is fair, and the way you do that is you make decisions fairly, in a timely fashion, and if someone is found to be a refugee, they go on and they contribute to our communities and they pay back,” he told the programme BBC Breakfast on Sunday. Advertisement Mahmood’s proposal for 30-month checks implies that refugees could be sent back to their home countries once the government believes conditions on the ground have improved – an approach inspired by Denmark’s much-debated policy. Although research by the Danish Foreign Policy Yearbook has found that deterrence has limited influence on where asylum seekers travel to, a 2017 study did suggest that Denmark’s “negative branding” had led to fewer asylum applications. How have others reacted to the proposals? While Oxford University’s Migration Observatory said Mahmood’s overhaul would make the UK’s immigration system among the strictest countries in Europe, Matt Vickers, the opposition home office minister, said the government’s new plans to reform the asylum system contain “lots of gimmicks”. He told the BBC that a “deterrent” is what is needed: “If people arrive in this country and know they’re going to get sent back, they won’t get in those boats in the first place.” What other proposals is the UK government making? Using artificial intelligence tools to assess age The government wants to introduce artificial intelligence-based assessments to determine the age of people who arrive without documentation. Ministers said errors in the current system risk placing adults in children’s services or wrongly treating minors as adults. Rights groups, however, warned that automated systems could entrench bias, wrongly classify children as adults and expose them to harm. Earlier this year, Solomon told the BBC that he was “not convinced” that using AI tools was the government’s correct approach on age identification because he has concerns about children being put in unsafe situations. He added that “these [AI] technologies continue to raise serious questions about accuracy, ethics and fairness.” Visa ban threat for three African countries The Home Office has said visa applications from Angola, Namibia and the
Two missing after mudslides rip through northern Italy
NewsFeed Firefighters in northeastern Italy are searching for two people missing after a mudslide tore through a home overnight in Brazzano di Cormons. A woman and a 35-year-old German man who lives locally remain unaccounted for. One person has already been rescued. Published On 17 Nov 202517 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
Japanese PM Takaichi’s Taiwan remarks spark spat with China
NewsFeed China is warning its citizens against traveling to Japan as it retaliates over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent comments on Taiwan. Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu explains. Published On 17 Nov 202517 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
LIVE: Nigeria vs DR Congo – CAF World Cup qualifiers playoff final
blinking-dotLive MatchLive Match, Follow the build-up, analysis, and live text commentary of the CAF playoffs final for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Published On 16 Nov 202516 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
Skateboarding helps Gaza children with trauma amid ruins, adds rare joy
A mobile skatepark moving between displacement camps in Gaza is providing rare mental health support to children trapped in one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises, where trauma and grief are rife. Amid the wreckage of Gaza City, where collapsed buildings and twisted concrete dominate the landscape, a group of young Palestinians has transformed the destruction into an unlikely playground. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Since the fragile ceasefire began on October 10, skateboard coaches have been running sessions that offer traumatised children brief moments of freedom and normalcy. “We used to have skateparks in the Gaza Strip; this was our dream here in Gaza,” said Rajab al-Reifi, one of the coaches working with the children. “But unfortunately, after we finally achieved that dream and built skateparks, the war came and destroyed everything.” The skateboarding initiative operates against a backdrop of continuing Israeli violence despite the ceasefire. Israeli forces have killed at least 260 Palestinians and wounded 632 others since the truce began on October 10, with attacks occurring on 25 of the past 31 days. Skateboarding helps Gaza children with trauma amid the ruins, adding some joy to their daily lives [Screengrab/Al Jazeera] Making do with what’s left The sessions face severe challenges. With equipment shortages across Gaza, every skateboard wheel and piece of wood has become precious. Al-Reifi often repairs damaged boards between sessions, knowing replacements are nearly impossible to obtain. One of the few flat courtyards to survive Israel’s bombardment provides a training ground for beginners, while more adventurous skaters have turned piles of rubble and collapsed walls into makeshift ramps and obstacles. Advertisement Rimas Dalloul, another dedicated coach, works to keep the children engaged despite the dire conditions. “We don’t have enough skateboards for everyone, and there is no protective gear,” she explained. “Their clothes are all they have to help cushion them when they fall. They get injured sometimes, but they always come back. The desire to play is stronger than the pain.” Seven-year-old Palestinian Marah Salem has enjoyed skateboarding in Gaza [Screengrab/Al Jazeera] ‘I used to run from bombardment to skate’ Among the young skaters is seven-year-old Marah Salem, who has been practicing for seven months. “I come here to have fun. I don’t want to skip any sessions; I want to be consistent,” she said. “Even during the war, I used to skateboard. I used to run away from the bombardment to skate on the streets.” Her determination reflects a broader resilience among Gaza’s children, who have endured nearly two years of Israeli military assault. The skateboarding sessions offer children a form of recreation and a temporary escape, but also a means to process trauma and a communal activity. The mental health needs of Gaza’s children remain staggering. Humanitarian organisations had already identified more than one million Palestinian children in need of mental health services before the latest conflict intensified. The scale of the conflict means no child has been shielded from its psychological impact, with mass displacement, family separations, and widespread casualties affecting the entire young population. At least 17,000 children are now unaccompanied or separated from their parents, while child protection cases surged by 48 percent in September alone, the International Rescue Committee reports. For the young skaters, the sessions offer something that war has tried to take away, the simple freedom of childhood play. Their schools have been decimated, their homes destroyed, and more than 658,000 school-age children have lost access to education for nearly two years. Yet in the ruins of their neighbourhoods, these children are finding ways to move forward. They are simply kids on skateboards, laughing, falling, getting back up, and pushing forward – both literally and metaphorically – through the rubble of their shattered world. Adblock test (Why?)
What’s the shadowy organisation taking Gaza Palestinians to South Africa?
On Thursday morning, a chartered plane carrying 153 Palestinians from war-torn Gaza – many without the required travel documents – landed at an airport near Johannesburg, leaving South African officials “blindsided”. After nearly 12 hours of scrambling, the group was allowed to disembark into the care of a local charity organisation. More details have emerged about the scheme run by “Al-Majd Europe”, through which activists argue Israel is advancing its ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza. The Palestinian passengers were charged a hefty sum of money by the organisation, which says on its website that it coordinates “evacuations from conflict zones”. Here is everything we know about the group’s transit so far and who’s behind Al-Majd Europe. What happened in South Africa? The plane full of people sat on a runway for nearly 12 hours while South African authorities tried to figure out why they did not have exit stamps or slips from when they left Gaza, according to officials from South Africa’s border agency. They were also not sure when asked by immigration where they would stay or how long they planned to be in South Africa. The government allowed them to leave the plane after charity organisation Gift of the Givers offered to accommodate them. Officials said 23 Palestinians flew to other countries, without adding any more details. “These are people from Gaza who somehow mysteriously were put on a plane that passed by Nairobi and came here,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Friday. Advertisement He added that “it does seem like they were being flushed out” of Gaza. South Africa’s intelligence services are investigating the incident. What is the company that flew them to South Africa? Behind the flight is Al-Majd Europe, which is accused of acting in coordination with Israeli authorities. Loay Abu Saif, who fled Gaza with his wife and children to Johannesburg, told Al Jazeera on Friday that he had heard about it through a social media advertisement. The Al-Majd Europe website says it was founded in 2010 in Germany, and the homepage has a pop-up warning about individuals pretending to be its agents, sharing phone numbers of “legitimate representatives”. But the site itself has no address or phone number, providing just a location in Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem. However, Al Jazeera was not able to find an office there. The website domain, almajdeurope.org, was only registered in February this year, while several links on the site lead nowhere. The email listed, [email protected], bounces back an automated message saying it does not exist. Namecheap, which registered the domain, has been cited in several cybersecurity reports on online fraud because of its low-cost, easy sign-up process. Al Jazeera learned that many people were told to pay via bank transfers to personal, not organisational, accounts. Does Al-Majd Europe do what it says it does? Among the links that work is a page with four “Impact Stories”. One post about “Mona”, a 29-year-old from Aleppo, Syria, is dated March 22, 2023, even though the website was only registered 10 months later. The narrative, written in “Mona’s” voice, expresses gratitude to Al-Majd for moving her and her mother “to a safe place” when they felt threatened in Lebanon, where they fled to in 2013. The photo, however, shows Abeer Khayat, who was 33 when photographed by journalist Madeline Edwards in December 2024 in Tripoli, Lebanon, for Middle East Eye. The online form reads: “For Gaza residents currently inside the Gaza Strip only! “Do you aspire to travel and start a new life? We are here to help you!” Left: Al-Majd’s story about ‘Mona’, who it claimed to have removed from Tripoli, Lebanon, in 2023; Right: The photo is of Abeer Khayat, photographed in Tripoli for the Middle East Eye in 2024 How did people end up on that flight? The Palestinian families, with a pregnant woman among them, boarded the plane not knowing their final destination, having paid Al-Majd $1,400 to $2,000 each – the price for children the same as adults. Advertisement Saif, who was on the plane, said he hadn’t known when they would leave Gaza until a day before, when he was told passengers could only take a small bag, a mobile phone, and some cash. They were taken by bus from southern Gaza’s Rafah to the Karem Abu Salem crossing (known as Kerem Shalom in Israel), where they were checked, then transferred to Israel’s Ramon Airport, without Israeli authorities stamping their travel documents. Another person interviewed by Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity said: “The … applicant must [have a young] family. [Then] the names are sent for security screening. Once that’s completed, and if the family is approved, they’re asked to pay,” he said. “There had been prior coordination with the Israeli army for the buses to enter Rafah,” he said. “The process was only routine.” The group left from Ramon in a Romanian aircraft and transited through Nairobi, Kenya, before landing in Johannesburg. Have there been similar flights before? A man who was on board the plane told Al Jazeera there had been a similar flight to Indonesia in June. Al-Majd’s website also claims to have facilitated a trip for “a group of doctors working in hospitals in the Gaza Strip” who it flew to Indonesia “for further studies and advanced medical training”. However, this post is dated April 28, 2024. Al Jazeera could not independently verify the authenticity of this post and a photograph of the group in it. Gift of the Givers founder Imtiaz Sooliman, who alleged that Al-Majd was one of “Israel’s front organisations”, told AP that this was the second plane to arrive in South Africa. Another plane arrived with more than 170 Palestinians on board on October 28, but that flight was not announced by authorities. What did Palestine say? The Palestinian Embassy in South Africa said in a statement that the flight was arranged by “an unregistered and misleading organization that exploited the tragic humanitarian conditions of our people in Gaza, deceived families, collected
More details emerge of Israel’s ‘brutal’ treatment of Palestinian detainees
Dozens of Palestinian prisoners are being held indefinitely in an underground Israeli detention facility, deprived of sunlight and subjected to extreme violence, Palestinian lawyers say, as more reports of abuse emerge from the devastation of Israel’s war on Gaza. Lawyers for Palestinians held at Rakevet, an underground wing of the Ramla (Nitzan) prison complex in central Israel, said their clients have been assaulted, starved, and denied medical care despite serious injuries. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “When the prisoners arrive for the interview [with their lawyer], their faces show what they’ve endured,” lawyer Nadia Daqqa told Al Jazeera. “Particularly in this prison, prisoners are afraid to talk. The [interview] room is one square metre and the guards refuse to leave.” Despite that, Daqqa and other lawyers have collected testimonials from prisoners held at Rakevet. One detainee, referred to by the initials YH, had a broken jaw, shoulder and ribs, yet had received no medical treatment. Another, known as KHD, said Israeli prison guards punish the prisoners “by breaking their thumbs”. The reports are the latest to detail wide-scale abuse in Israel’s prison system, as the country has ramped up its arrests of Palestinians amid its two-year genocidal war on the Gaza Strip. More than 9,200 Palestinians are currently detained in Israeli prisons, according to the latest figures from Palestinian prisoner rights group Addameer. The majority are in what’s known as administrative detention, held without charge or trial. Advertisement Scores of detainees from Gaza have also been held in a notorious Israeli military detention camp known as Sde Teiman, where reports of killings, torture and sexual violence, including rape, have been rife since the Gaza war began in October 2023. While the Israeli authorities have denied allegations of abuse, Palestinian prisoners who were recently released from the facilities as part of last month’s Gaza ceasefire deal described harrowing abuses. The bodies of slain Palestinian detainees returned to the coastal Palestinian enclave under the ceasefire agreement also showed signs of torture, mutilation and execution, with some returned with ropes still tied around their necks. Several human rights groups in Israel have described the country’s prisons and detention facilities as a form of torture and cruel and unusual punishment. “Human rights organizations documented widespread abuses, including physical beatings, sexual violence, harassment, and threats – pointing to systemic and deliberate mistreatment,” the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) said in June. The wave of abuse also comes amid a push from within Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government to harden its policies towards Palestinian detainees. Earlier this week, the Israeli parliament advanced a bill that would impose the death penalty for so-called “terrorism” offences based on “racist” motives against Israelis. The move, which rights groups have condemned and said would exclusively target Palestinians, has been championed by Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian civilians, which have been burgeoning in the occupied West Bank and are carried out with impunity and often backed by the Israeli military, would not apply. “The enactment of a new law imposing the death penalty exclusively against Palestinians marks a new episode in the ongoing series of oppression and constitutes a grave escalation in Israel’s widespread violations against Palestinians, including hundreds of extrajudicial executions,” Addameer said on November 9. Basil Farraj, a professor at Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank, said the underground Rakevet facility is just one part of this wider system of abuse. “This secret centre is in fact a symptom of the broader phenomenon of Israeli carcerality, where Palestinians continue to be treated in a violent and, in fact, an extremely brutal way that denies and negates all of their rights,” Farraj told Al Jazeera. Advertisement He explained that many Palestinians have been arrested under Israel’s so-called “unlawful combatants” law, which allows the authorities to detain them indefinitely on security grounds without having to prove any allegations. “The fact that you are held without trial adds another layer of psychological abuse and psychological torture,” Farraj said. “Not knowing why you are being arrested … adds to these layers of violence and torture that Israel has entrenched over the past two years.” Adblock test (Why?)
Thousands march for climate action outside COP30 summit in Brazil
Indigenous and other climate activists say they need to ‘make their voices heard’ as UN conference hits halfway mark. Published On 15 Nov 202515 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Thousands of people have marched through the streets of the Brazilian city of Belem, calling for the voices of Indigenous peoples and environmental defenders to be heard at the United Nations COP30 climate summit. Indigenous community members mixed with activists at Saturday’s march, which unfolded in a festive atmosphere as participants carried a giant beach ball representing the Earth and a Brazilian flag emblazoned with the words “Protected Amazon”. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list It was the first major protest outside the conference, which began earlier this week in Belem, bringing together world leaders, activists and experts in a push to tackle the worsening climate crisis. Indigenous activists previously stormed the summit, disrupting the proceedings as they demanded that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva take concrete action to ensure their territories are protected from growing threats. Amnesty International warned in a recent report that billions of people around the world are threatened by the expansion of fossil fuel projects, such as oil-and-gas pipelines and coal mines. Indigenous communities, in particular, sit on the front lines of much of this development, the rights group said. Thousands of people took part in the climate march in Belem, Brazil, on Saturday [AFP] Branded the “Great People’s March” by organisers, Saturday’s rally in Belem came at the halfway point of contentious COP30 negotiations. “Today we are witnessing a massacre as our forest is being destroyed,” Benedito Huni Kuin, a 50-year-old member of the Huni Kuin Indigenous group from western Brazil, told the AFP news agency. Advertisement “We want to make our voices heard from the Amazon and demand results,” he said. “We need more Indigenous representatives at COP to defend our rights.” Youth leader Ana Heloisa Alves, 27, said it was the biggest climate march she has participated in. “This is incredible,” she told The Associated Press. “You can’t ignore all these people.” The COP30 talks come as the UN warned earlier this month that the world was on track to exceed the 1.5C (2.7F) mark of global warming – an internationally agreed-upon target set under the Paris Agreement – “very likely” within the next decade. If countries do as they have promised in their climate action plans, the planet will warm 2.3 to 2.5C (4.1 to 4.5F) by 2100, a report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) found. “While national climate plans have delivered some progress, it is nowhere near fast enough, which is why we still need unprecedented emissions cuts in an increasingly tight window, with an increasingly challenging geopolitical backdrop,” said UNEP chief Inger Andersen. Despite that urgency, analysts and some COP30 participants have said they don’t expect any major new agreements to emerge from the talks, which conclude on November 21. Still, some are hoping for progress on some past promises, including funding to help poorer countries adapt to climate change. People hold a giant Brazilian flag reading ‘Protected Amazon’ during the march [AFP] Adblock test (Why?)