International Desk

This week was the start of the COP30 climate talks in Belém, Brazil. 

Young people from across the globe are heavily involved in climate campaigning, but many face obstacles in being able to attend COP, particularly in being involved in the actual decision-making.  

Wire Host Caeden spoke to Youth Environmentalist and member of the Youth Climate Justice Project, Sumaya Mohammed, who is attending COP next week, about young people's experiences with the climate talks.

They also spoke to Aoife Daly, Professor of Law at University College Cork and Lead on the Youth Climate Justice Project, about her research into youth participation at COP. 

The future of Palestinian leadership remains unclear as the current Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, remains unpopular and heavily criticised. 

One candidate for leadership is Marwan Barghouti, who has been described as a Nelson Mandela-like leader for Palestine. However, he has been imprisoned in Israel since 2004, facing ill-treatment and torture. 

Wire Host Caeden spoke to Professor Amin Saikal, Middle East Analyst at Australian National University, about Marwan Barghouti and the broader leadership crisis in Palestine.

New Zealanders Rana Hamida, Youseff Sammour and Sam Leason have been deported from Israel after being taken and detained from the Freedom Flotilla.

Another New Zealander, Will Alexander and his partner, German Citizen Ava Mulla, have also been detained from the second wave of Flotilla boats.

The activists are attempting to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza and carry humanitarian aid. 

Flotilla activists who have been detained and then deported from Israel have been mistreated by the Israeli military, including being abused and denied food and water.

Wire Host Caeden spoke with Acacia O’Connor, an actor and spokesperson for the Global Movement to Gaza, about the Freedom Flotilla and the experiences of detained activists. 

Earlier this month, four out of five members of Brazil’s supreme court voted to convict the former president, Jair Bolsonaro, for plotting a military coup after losing the 2022 election. 

However, members of the right-wing political opposition that support Bolsonaro are attempting to pass a bill that would give him amnesty. 

For International Desk, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Dr Marieke Riethof, Senior Lecturer in Latin American Politics at the University of Liverpool, about the conviction of Bolsonaro and the public response.