- Shares in Stellantis, Aston Martin skid on profit warnings
- Dali prints found in London garage sold at auction
- ECB chief backs bank mergers amid UniCredit, Commerzbank talk
- China stocks soar on stimulus, but US and Europe retreat
- 100 dead in storm Helene damage, flooding across US southeast
- China stocks soar on stimulus, Europe slides on automaker woes
- German antitrust watchdog steps up monitoring of Microsoft
- Nepal's urban poor count cost of 'nightmare' floods
- E.Guinea, Gabon clash at ICJ over oil-rich islands
- New blow for UK's Starmer as growth data disappoints
- China's top banks to tweak mortgage rates to boost housing market
- Muslim women break taboos navigating east London's waterways
- Nepal dam-building spree powers electric vehicle boom
- More than 60 dead from storm Helene as rescue, cleanup efforts grow
- Dozens missing, 9 dead in migrant boat wreck off Spanish Canaries
- Death toll from Hurricane John hits eight in Mexico
- Storm Helene's toll rises as rescue and cleanup efforts gain pace
- SpaceX launches mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding as cleanup begins
- SpaceX set to launch mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Boeing strike grinds on as latest talks fail to reach agreement
- Iran 'news' sites, hackers target Trump ahead of US election
- US ports brace for potential dockworkers strike
- Japan's speedy, spotless Shinkansen bullet trains turn 60
- US hurricane deaths rise to 44, fears of more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Global stocks mostly rise, cheering Beijing stimulus
- Europe en route for Moon with new simulator, says astronaut Pesquet
- Fireworks forecast if comet survives risky Sun flypast
- Argentina judge orders dictionary to delete pejorative definition of 'Jewish'
- Global stocks rise on rate hopes, Beijing stimulus
- S.African woman turns 118, among the oldest in the world
- UK clears $4 bn AI partnership between Amazon, Anthropic
- Barca fans barred from Champions League away game over racist banner
- Chinese stocks extend surge, Europe higher on Beijing stimulus
- Pope says Church must 'seek forgiveness' for child sexual abuse
- China caps week of 'bazooka' stimulus for ailing economy with rate cut
- Cuts, cash, credit: China bids to jumpstart flagging economy
- France's debt weighs heavier ahead of budget debate
- Iran treads carefully, backing Hezbollah while avoiding war
- Return to sender: waste stranded at sea stirs toxic dispute
- 'Broken' news industry faces uncertain future
- On remote Greek island, migratory birds offer climate clues
- Taken from mother by nuns, victim seeks answers as pope visits Belgium
- China cuts amount banks hold in reserve to boost lending
- Hong Kong, Shanghai extend surge as China optimism boosts markets
- Vietnam president reiterates support for Cuba during official visit
- Drought reduces Amazon River in Colombia by as much as 90%: report
- Stay or go? Pacific Islanders face climate's grim choice
- Florida bracing for 'unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene
RBGPF | 7.18% | 64.75 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.14% | 7.03 | $ | |
AZN | 0.16% | 77.745 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.17% | 24.7307 | $ | |
GSK | -0.04% | 40.695 | $ | |
SCS | 2.16% | 13.44 | $ | |
NGG | 0.02% | 69.747 | $ | |
RIO | -0.11% | 71.15 | $ | |
VOD | -0.69% | 10.021 | $ | |
BTI | -0.83% | 36.537 | $ | |
BP | 0.21% | 31.485 | $ | |
RELX | -0.61% | 47.27 | $ | |
BCC | -0.08% | 141.38 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.95% | 24.845 | $ | |
JRI | 0.88% | 13.7 | $ | |
BCE | -0.44% | 35.035 | $ |
G77+China summit in Cuba calls for new global order
The G77+China, a group of developing and emerging countries representing 80 percent of the world's population, kicked off a summit in Cuba Friday with a call to "change the rules of the game" of the global order.
The meeting comes at a time of growing frustration with the Western-led world order amid widening differences over the Russian war in Ukraine, the fight against climate change, and the global economic system.
"After all this time that the North has organized the world according to its interests, it is now up to the South to change the rules of the game," Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said at the opening of the summit.
Diaz-Canel said that developing countries were the main victims of a "multidimensional crisis" in the world today, from "abusive unequal trade" to global warming.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres is joining some 30 heads of state and government from Africa, Asia and Latin America at the two-day summit in Havana.
At the opening of the meeting he called for a world that was "more representative and responsive to the needs of developing economies", stressing that these countries were "trapped in a tangle of global crises."
The bloc was established by 77 countries of the global South in 1964 "to articulate and promote their collective economic interests and enhance their joint negotiating capacity," according to the group's website.
Today it has 134 members, among which the website lists China although the Asian giant says it is not a full member.
Cuba took over the rotating presidency in January.
Latin American leaders such as Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, Colombia's Gustavo Petro, and Argentina's Alberto Fernandez were present at the summit, alongside Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, Angola's Joao Lourenco and Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will arrive on Friday night.
- 'Unjust' international order -
China is represented by top Communist Party official Li Xi, who said his country "will always make South-South" cooperation a priority" in its dealings with the outside world.
The meeting should conclude Saturday with a statement underscoring "the right to development in an increasingly exclusive, unfair, unjust and plundering international order," the foreign minister of host Cuba, Bruno Rodriguez, told reporters on Wednesday.
A draft of the closing statement underlines the many obstacles facing developing nations, and includes "a call for the establishment of a new economic world order," he said.
Guterres has recently attended a rash of multilateral summits, including a gathering of the G20 club of major economies in India and the BRICS group that includes Russia.
Ahead of the Havana meeting, Guterres said "this multiplicity of summits reflects the growing multipolarity of our world."
And he warned that "multipolarity could be a factor for escalating geostrategic tensions, with tragic consequences."
The G77 meeting comes after key changes in global blocs.
The African Union has joined the G20 group of the world's most powerful economies, and the BRICS -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- trade group for emerging economies has expanded to admit six new members.
- 'A valid interlocutor' -
The presence of world leaders on its soil amounts to a recognition for the Cuban government even as the country battles its worst economic crisis in 30 years, one analyst told AFP.
"Despite the difficulties of the moment, Cuba has been recognized as a valid interlocutor," said Cuban international relations expert Arturo Lopez-Levy, a visiting professor at the Autonomous University of Madrid.
The communist-ruled island is still under the yoke of US sanctions first imposed in 1962.
Diaz-Canel has in recent months represented the G77+China at several international meetings including a June global financial summit in Paris and an EU meeting in July with Latin American and Caribbean states.
L.Peeters--CPN