World roundup: November 15 2024

Stories from Iran, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, and elsewhere

TODAY IN HISTORY

November 15, 1884: The Berlin Conference begins, with the goal of regulating European colonization of Africa. Its declaration obliged European powers to establish political control over their spheres of influence in Africa in order to claim possession of them. This is sometimes identified as the beginning of the “Scramble for Africa,” though in actuality African colonization was already well underway and only sped up in the wake of the conference.

Illustrierte Zeitung’s interpretation of the festivities (Wikimedia Commons)

November 15, 1889: A republican military coup ousts Brazilian Emperor Pedro II, ending the Brazilian monarchy.

November 15, 1983: The “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” declares its independence, some eight years after the “Turkish Federated State of Cyprus” broke away from the Cypriot government after a pro-Greek military coup and the invasion of northern Cyprus by Turkish forces. Turkey is the only country that has diplomatically recognized the separatist state.

INTERNATIONAL

According to the Climate Action Tracker project, Earth is on pace to warm to at least 2.7 degrees Celsius over its “pre-industrial” baseline. Reflecting the pace of international progress in fighting climate change, that figure is the same as it was in 2023, which was the same as it was in 2022. Anyhoo, the United Nations’ COP29 climate summit is continuing in Azerbaijan and apparently it’s been a wonderful networking opportunity for fossil fuel purveyors:

Oil executives and lobbyists descended on COP29 in Baku for “energy day” Friday, as environmental groups denounced the presence of the fossil fuel industry at the UN climate talks.

While negotiators haggled over the key goal of an increase in climate funding, a former UN chief said the talks were “no longer fit for purpose”.

The head of France’s TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanne, told AFP the sector is “part of the problem”, but insisted it was making “continuous progress” on transition.

The “Kick the Big Polluters Out” (KBPO) coalition of NGOs analysed accreditations at the annual climate confab, calculating that more than 1,700 people linked to fossil fuel interests are in attendance.

Who, really, could have anticipated that awarding this year’s hosting gig to a corruption-riddled petrostate wouldn’t work out well?

MIDDLE EAST

ISRAEL-PALESTINE

Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’s politburo (which is still in Qatar, at least for the time being), told AFP on Friday that the Palestinian group “is ready to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip” provided it is “respected” by the Israeli government. Without any details this is much easier said than done, and really this message may be meant less for Israel and the US than for Qatar. As we know, Qatari officials have suspended their role in negotiations in frustration over the lack of progress and may have told Naim and the rest of Hamas’s political office to find themselves a new home. Maybe Hamas is trying to repair a breach in that relationship.