BERLIN (AFP) - Climate activists from Fridays for Future demonstrated in more than 70 cities across Germany on Friday, demanding that Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government meet its international climate finance pledges and accelerate the phase-out of fossil fuels. The protests, held under the slogan “Pay your climate debt,” also targeted Merz’s absence from the COP31 summit in Antalya. Activists accused the government of delivering only incomplete funding for climate measures abroad while investing heavily in new gas-fired power plants at home.

 

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TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will attend next week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, marking her first visit to China since bilateral relations deteriorated over her remarks on Taiwan last year. Takaichi will begin a four-day trip to the Philippines and China on Monday, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masanao Ozaki told a news conference, according to Kyodo News. Her itinerary includes a Japan-ASEAN summit in the Philippines on Tuesday. The country is hosting the 49th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit this year. Arrangements are also underway for the leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the U.S. to meet in Manila under the Quad framework, in what would be the grouping’s first summit since September 2024.

 

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PARIS (Reuters) - Fighting between Ethiopian and Eritrean forces has intensified near the disputed border town of Badme, with drone strikes and heavy artillery bombardments forcing civilians to flee amid fears of a wider war, according to diplomatic sources cited by local outlet Addis Standard on Saturday. Two diplomats familiar with intelligence assessments told the Ethiopian news outlet that clashes had escalated over several days, with Ethiopian forces reportedly deploying drones and Eritrean troops using heavy artillery. “We are aware of drone strikes, particularly from the Ethiopian side, and the use of heavy artillery from the Eritrean side, and we are monitoring the situation,” one diplomatic source said. Another warned that the exchanges risked triggering a major military confrontation between the neighboring countries.

 

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian authorities said Friday that they’d recovered about $19.5 million in hidden cash, some of which they found buried underground, as part of an investigation into an ex-minister who served under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The National Asset Recovery and Protection Office said it had discovered “large quantities of cash buried in forests, concealed in agricultural buildings, warehouses and a residential property, and stored in a high-value safe in a hidden location,” according to a statement Friday. Among the recovered cash was more than 5 billion forints, some 2.6 million euros and $1.2 million — worth around $19.5 million in total.

 

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WASHINGTON (AP) - A bomb was found near an ethanol plant in central Illinois, sparking evacuations of those who live near the industrial site as law enforcement officials investigate, authorities said Saturday. The bomb was found Friday afternoon at the BioUrja Renewables facility in Peoria. While officials say the device has since been “rendered safe,” as of Saturday morning, all residents within a 1-mile radius remained under an evacuation notice as officials continued to scour the facility for any other bombs and evidence. Meanwhile, shelters have been set up for those displaced by the threat, authorities said. “This is a credible threat,” Peoria Police Chief Brad Dixon told reporters just after midnight Saturday. “We need to take the blast radius seriously.”