News

Nov. 8 (UPI) — No military-sponsored events, including flyovers, will take place at this week’s Veterans Day “Salute to Service” NFL games, because they have fallen victim to the federal government shutdown.

But there will be a veteran commemoration planned Sunday in Northern Virginia as will be President Donald Trump on hand for the game between the Washington Commanders and the Detroit Lions.

Veterans Day is Tuesday, and unlike previous years, there will not be honor guards and military service members unveiling American flags, in addition to the lack of a flyover, at the 13 NFL games on Sunday and Monday.

Before the shutdown, there was a flyover at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., on September 11 between the Packers and the Commanders as F-35 Lightning II jets from the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 115th Fighter Wing flew over the stadium.

The campaign with the NFL began in 2011, according to Fox News.

The Pentagon’s press office said service members and Defense Department personnel are “prohibited from participating in official outreach activities.”

Those events are paid from the Pentagon’s annual budget, Fox News reported.

“Service members are permitted to wear military uniforms at Veterans Day events, in a personal capacity, as long as it follows their service-specific guidelines, and no official endorsement or involvement is implied by the Department,” the Pentagon said in a statement to The Washington Post on Thursday.

A guidance document by the Post said there will be no “jet and jump demonstration teams, bands and ceremonial unit appearances, port visits, service weeks and nonprofit and corporate leader outreach.”

In 2015, a flyover was estimated to cost $80,000 by then-Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby.

“There is a minimal expense involved with the flyover,” he said during a Defense Department briefing on Jan. 30, 2015, noting aircraft fly from nearby bases with maintenance personnel at the site.

“It’s not an exorbitant cost, and I would, you know, obviously remind you that you know, we stand to gain the benefit. And there’s an exposure benefit from having the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds fly over, a well-known, famous team, and that certainly helps us in terms of keeping our exposure out there for the American people,” he said.

Last year when Joe Biden was president, there were about a dozen flyover events at NFL games throughout November.

“While Salute to Service comes to life on-field each November — as it will again this year, starting this weekend — our long-standing efforts to support the military community continue throughout the year,” said Anna Isaacson, the NFL’s senior vice president of social responsibility said in a statement to the Post.

Trump will fly from Palm Beach County on Sunday to attend the game against the Detroit Lions at Northwest Field in Landover, Md.

He is expected to join owner Josh Harris in his suite for the game, as well as a halftime ceremony. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:25 p.m. EST.

“We are honored to welcome President Trump to the game as we celebrate those who have served and continue to serve our country. The entire Commanders organization is proud to participate in the NFL’s league-wide Salute to Service initiative, recognizing the dedication and sacrifice of our nation’s veterans, active-duty service members, and their families this Sunday,” the Commanders said in a statement.

Trump said he has opposed calling the team the Commanders after they changed their name from the Redskins, and often refers to them as the “Washington Whatevers.”

The last time Trump was at a football game was Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, when the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs.

Star forward Lionel Messi and Inter Miami advanced to MLS Cup East semifinals with Game 3 playoff win over Nashville.

Lionel Messi scored two goals and assisted two more, and Inter Miami advanced in the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time in club history with a 4-0 victory over visiting Nashville SC in Game 3 of their first-round series on Saturday night in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Messi finished the best-of-three series with five goals and three assists, meaning he was involved in all eight tallies for third-seeded Miami. He has scored 15 times against sixth-seeded Nashville in all competitions, by far his most against any MLS opponent.

By contrast, Messi has never scored against No 2 seed FC Cincinnati, which will host Inter Miami in a one-game Eastern Conference semifinal in two weeks.

Tadeo Allende scored twice after halftime and had an assist as Miami won despite playing without key forward Luis Suarez, who served a one-game suspension for his kickout at Nashville SC’s Andy Najar in Game 2.

Nashville was eliminated in the first round in a third consecutive postseason appearance, having returned to the playoffs in the first full season coached by BJ Callaghan after missing the 2024 tournament.

Messi put Miami in front in the 10th minute on the first clear chance for either side.

Ian Fray’s pressure forced Nashville’s Matthew Corcoran into an ill-advised backward pass, which Allende deflected to Messi’s feet, with time and space to surge forward.

Messi did the rest, dribbling at retreating centre back Jack Maher before firing a low finish from about 20 yards (18 metres) out between goalkeeper Joe Willis and the right post.

Then Walker Zimmerman’s defensive error helped set up Messi’s second in the 39th minute when he reached Jordi Alba’s long, speculative ball down the left flank but failed to clear it.

Instead, it fell to Mateo Silvetti, who alertly spotted Messi running into space and provided the square pass in stride for a much simpler second finish.

Nashville thought it had pulled a goal back only seconds into the second half, only for apparent goal-scorer Sam Surridge to be whistled for a foul on Maxi Falcon.

But eventually, Miami added insurance through Allende twice in the 73rd and 76th minutes.

On the first, Messi and Alba combined on the left side of the box to set up Allende’s low finish through traffic. On the second, it was Messi sending an early through ball, and Allende chipping past Willis on the run.

Democratic and Republican senators in the United States are working through the weekend to find a compromise and end the longest government shutdown in the country’s history.

But the bipartisan talks yielded few signs of progress on Saturday as the workday ended without a deal on reopening the government.

The Senate is set to try again with a rare Sunday session.

The impasse has now lasted 39 days and is taking an increasing toll on the country as federal workers go unpaid, airlines cancel flights, and food aid has been delayed for millions of Americans.

Saturday’s session got off to a rough start when President Donald Trump made clear he is unlikely to compromise any time soon with Democrats, who are seeking a one-year extension on an expiring health insurance subsidy under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare.

Trump urged Republican senators on social media to redirect federal money used to subsidise health insurance premiums towards direct payments to individuals.

“I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to money sucking Insurance Companies in order to save the bad Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE, and have money left over,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, without offering details.

The ACA marketplaces allow people to buy policies directly from health insurers and mainly serve people who do not have coverage through employers or the Medicare and Medicaid government programmes.

Some 24 million people in the US use those subsidies.

For those enrolled in ACA exchanges, premiums, on average, are expected to more than double next year if Congress allows the enhanced subsidies to lapse.

Democrats demand that Republicans agree to negotiate an extension of federal healthcare subsidies before reopening the government. Republicans say the government must reopen first.

‘Another path forward’

Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire, who is leading the talks among moderates, said on Friday evening that Democrats “need another path forward” after Republicans rejected the offer from Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York to reopen the government and extend the subsidies for a year.

Shaheen and others, negotiating among themselves and with some rank-and-file Republicans, have been discussing bills that would pay for parts of government – food aid, veterans programmes and the legislative branch, among other things – and extend funding for everything else until December or January.

The agreement would only come with the promise of a future healthcare vote, rather than a guarantee of extended subsidies.

It was unclear whether enough Democrats would support such a plan. Even with a deal, Trump appears unlikely to support an extension of the health benefits. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson also said this week that he would not commit to a health vote.

Republicans hold a 53-47 majority but need 60 votes to reopen the government.

Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, DC, described the Senate’s weekend session as “very unusual”.

“But no vote was taken in the course of the day. The Republicans are not wanting to hold a vote unless they are certain that they can get those 60 votes needed to pass a legislation or change the procedure,” Hanna said.

Trump, for his part, has once again urged the Republicans to end the filibuster, which requires agreement by 60 of the Senate’s 100 members to pass most legislation.

“The Republicans could do this with a simple majority,” Hanna said. “However, Republicans are concerned about doing this because they feared that the lack of an investor would act against them, if… the Democrats take power in the Senate.”

With the Republicans rejecting Trump’s call, Senate Republican Leader John Thune is eyeing a bipartisan package that mirrors the proposal the moderate Democrats have been sketching out. What Thune, who has refused to negotiate, might promise on healthcare is unknown.

The package would replace the House-passed legislation that the Democrats have rejected 14 times since the shutdown began on October 1. The current bill would only extend government funding until November 21.

A test vote on new legislation could come in the next few days if Thune decides to move forward.

Then the Democrats would have a crucial choice: Keep fighting for a meaningful deal on extending the subsidies that expire in January, while prolonging the pain of the shutdown; or vote to reopen the government and hope for the best, as Republicans promise an eventual healthcare vote but not a guaranteed outcome.

Schumer on Saturday persisted in arguing that Republicans should accept a one-year extension of the subsidies before negotiating the future of the tax credits.

“Doing nothing is derelict because people will go bankrupt, people will lose insurance, people will get sicker,” Schumer said in a floor speech. “That’s what will happen if this Congress fails to act.”

Here are the key events from day 1,354 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here is how things stand on Sunday, November 9:

Fighting

• Russian forces fired more than 450 drones and 45 missiles at Ukraine overnight on Saturday, targeting its energy infrastructure and killing seven people, according to Ukrainian officials.
• Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said that Russian forces targeted substations that power two nuclear power plants in Khmelnytskyi and Rivne, and condemned Moscow for “deliberately endangering nuclear safety in Europe”.
• Energy facilities in Kyiv, Poltava and Kharkiv regions were also hit, disrupting the power and water supply for thousands of people, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.
• Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz said the attack on its gas infrastructure was the ninth since early October, according to the AFP news agency.
• The Russian Ministry of Defence confirmed launching “a massive strike with high-precision long-range air, ground and sea-based weapons” on weapon production and gas and energy facilities in response to Kyiv’s strikes on Russia.
• The ministry also said that Russian forces had taken more territory around the towns of Pokrovsk and Kupiansk, and captured the village of Volchye in eastern Ukraine.
• Russia’s TASS news agency, citing the Defence Ministry, said that Russian forces had shot down 15 Ukrainian drones over Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014, the Black Sea and Russia’s Rostov region on Saturday night. It also said Russian forces downed two guided bombs and 178 drones over the past day.
• TASS also reported another Ukrainian drone attack in Russia’s Belgorod region late on Saturday, and said at least 20,000 people were without power.

A rescue operation is underway in Dnipro. Overnight, Russia struck the city, hitting an apartment building. As of now, 11 people have been reported wounded, including children. Unfortunately, one person has been killed. My condolences to the family and loved ones. Dozens of… pic.twitter.com/TFUG3SjxpA

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) November 8, 2025

Politics and diplomacy

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for Europe, the G7, and the United States to step up sanctions on Russia’s energy sector following its latest attack.
• “So far, Russia’s nuclear energy sector is not under sanctions, and the Russian military-industrial complex still obtains Western microelectronics. There must be greater pressure on its oil and gas trade as well,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.
• Sybiha, the Ukrainian foreign minister, meanwhile, called for the International Atomic Energy Agency to meet over the attacks on the substations supplying the nuclear power plants and address “these unacceptable risks”.
• Sybiha also called for India and China to put pressure on Moscow to stop its “reckless attacks that risk a catastrophic incident”.
• Hungary said it has secured an indefinite waiver from US sanctions on Russian oil and gas imports, as a White House official reiterated that the exemption was for only a period of one year.

Nov. 8 (UPI) — One or more people fired shots at Customs and Border Protection agents, who were carrying out law enforcement activities in a southwestern Chicago neighborhood on Saturday.

The agents were in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood as part of the Operation Midway Blitz operation to enforce federal immigration laws in the sanctuary city when an unidentified male in a black Jeep fired shots at the agents and then fled in his vehicle.

The number of shots fired was not announced.

“This incident is not isolated and reflects a growing and dangerous trend of violence and obstruction,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a post on X.

“Over the past two months, we’ve seen an increase in assaults and obstruction targeting federal law enforcement during operations,” the post continued.

“These confrontations highlight the dangers our agents face daily and the escalating aggression toward law enforcement. The violence must end.”

The incident occurred near 26th Street and Kedzie Avenue when agents detained a young woman, which drew the attention of protesters who demanded CBP release her, according to WLS-TV.

As protesters followed the CBP caravan in which the woman was detained, the man in the black Jeep fired shots at the agents.

Some protesters also threw bricks and a paint can at the agents’ vehicles, CBS News reported.

The Chicago Police Department arrived on the scene to clear it and restore order.

No arrests have been made, but federal law enforcement is continuing to search for the driver of the black Jeep.

Chicago Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez said the CBP agents “came out of their vehicles pointing their weapons” and “used tear gas on people,” WLS-TV reported.

After Chicago police arrived, one police officer was struck by a vehicle and taken to a local hospital for treatment. His condition was not reported.

The Chicago Police Department said there were no reports of anyone being struck by gunfire.

CBP agents continued their law enforcement activities near 26th and Pulaski and deployed tear gas to fend off protesters as they detained another person.

Many protesters used whistles and car horns to warn others of the CBP activities during an afternoon attempt to detain a man and his niece near 25th and Sawyers.

The incident also required the attention of the Chicago Police Department after someone used a vehicle to ram a CBP vehicle.

Visit comes as Syria announces launching a ‘large-scale operation’ targeting ISIL cells across the country.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has arrived in the United States for an official visit, according to state media, during which Washington hopes to enlist Damascus in its global coalition against ISIL, or ISIS.

Al-Sharaa’s arrival in the US capital came late on Saturday as Syria’s Ministry of Interior announced launching a “large-scale security operation” across the country, targeting ISIL cells.

Al-Sharaa, whose rebel forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad late last year, is due to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.

It is the first such visit by a Syrian president since the country’s independence in 1946, according to analysts. Al-Sharaa, who had met Trump for the first time in Riyadh in May, was removed from a US “terrorist” sanctions list on Friday.

US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said earlier this month that al-Sharaa would “hopefully” sign an agreement to join the international US-led alliance against ISIL.

Washington is also preparing to establish a military presence at an airbase in Damascus to help enable a security pact that the US is brokering between Syria and Israel, according to the Reuters and AFP news agencies.

For his part, al-Sharaa is expected to seek funds for Syria, which faces significant challenges in rebuilding after 13 years of brutal civil war. The World Bank has estimated that the cost of reconstruction could take at least $216bn, a figure that it described as a “conservative best estimate”.

Al-Sharaa once led Syria’s offshoot of al-Qaeda, but his anti-Assad group broke away from the network a decade ago and later clashed with ISIL. Al-Sharaa’s group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was delisted as a terrorist group by Washington in July.

Al-Sharaa’s trip to Washington, DC, comes after his landmark visit to the United Nations in September, his first time on US soil, where he became the first Syrian president in decades to address the UN General Assembly in New York.

On Thursday, the US led a vote by the UN Security Council to remove sanctions against him.

In Damascus on Saturday, state media reported that Syrian security forces had carried out 61 raids across the country targeting ISIL cells.

A spokesperson for the Syrian Interior Ministry said at least 71 people were arrested, while explosives and weapons were seized.

Syria’s SANA news agency, citing the ministry, said the operations were carried out in the Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, Homs and Damascus countrysides, and that the campaign was part of “ongoing nation efforts to combat terrorism and protect public safety”.

Nov. 8 (UPI) — Wendy’s is closing about 300 locations over the next year as the fast-food chain seeks to revitalize its business model and become more profitable.

Interim Chief Executive Officer Ken Cook announced the pending closings on Friday and said they represent a small fraction of the popular restaurant chain’s 6,000 locations in the United States, CNN reported.

Cook told analysts that “consistently underperforming” locations will be closed so that they won’t reflect poorly on the Wendy’s brand.

“These actions will strengthen the system and enable franchisees to invest more capital and resources in their remaining restaurants,” Cook explained.

“Closures of underperforming units are expected to boost sales and profitability at nearby locations.”

The restaurant closures will start this year and continue through next year.

The fast-food chain last year closed 140 restaurants for similar reasons, but it still reported a 4.7% decline in sales during the third quarter of 2025.

Meanwhile, Burger King, McDonald’s and Shake Shack reported revenue increases during the quarter.

Among the thousands of remaining Wendy’s locations, Cook said many will benefit from improved equipment and technology, and several also will be transferred to new owners, according to USA Today.

Wendy’s has not posted a list of locations targeted for closure or indicated how many in each respective state.

BBC

‘Part of my community’

Social following

Kathryn Martin

Kathryn Martin

Who: Manchester City vs Liverpool
What: English Premier League
Where: Etihad Stadium, Manchester
When: Sunday at 4:30pm (16:30 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 13:30 GMT in advance of our live text commentary stream.

Games between Manchester City and Liverpool have often been regarded as key battles in Premier League title races in recent seasons, but Sunday’s encounter may merely point to which of the two clubs is best equipped to try to chase league leaders Arsenal.

By the time the weekend’s big game kicks off at the Etihad Stadium, Arsenal – who visit surprise-package Sunderland on Saturday – could be 10 points clear of champions Liverpool and nine ahead of Pep Guardiola’s City.

That scenario would increase the pressure on City and Liverpool, who head into the last round of fixtures before another international stoppage second and third respectively.

There are signs that both clubs are finding form. City have lost only once in their last 13 games in all competitions and on Wednesday pummelled Borussia Dortmund 4-1 in the Champions League with Erling Haaland scoring his 18th club goal this season and a rejuvenated Phil Foden bagging a brace.

Liverpool have also emerged from a run of six defeats in seven matches in all competitions to beat Aston Villa and Real Madrid in their last two games.

Guardiola ‘desperate to play against Liverpool’

City lost home and away to the Reds last season as they were dethroned as champions, and City boss Pep Guardiola admitted he was surprised at Liverpool’s stumbles this season.

“Of course, but sometimes it’s about momentum,” Guardiola stated. “All the clubs are there except Arsenal, who are more consistent than anyone.

“But the season is long, so we try to be there and see what happens. To be hones,t I’m so excited and happy to prepare for Sunday. I’m desperate to play against Liverpool.”

Foden is ‘back’ warns City’s boss

The City and England forward lit up the win over Dortmund, scoring twice to register his first European goals this season and double his tally in all competitions.

City’s star academy graduate struggled for much of last season, opening up about off-field issues and injuries that affected him, but the signs are that the 25-year-old is back to his best, having been the stand-out player in City’s Premier League-winning 2023/24 campaign.

“Phil is back,” Guardiola said. “How many times have we seen Phil score these type of goals? We miss this a lot last season but this season I think he is going to help us a lot.”

Guardiola added, “He’s a special player [and] we need his goals and hopefully today was the first step to do it. It’s important to have him for the big, big match on Sunday [against Liverpool].”

Van Dijk says Liverpool must build from the back

Prior to a 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday, Liverpool had gone 10 matches without a clean sheet.

“It is easy to say now because we won twice in a row. In a world of chaos you have to stay calm and see perspective of things,” captain Virgil van Dijk said. “We all know how football works – it can change overnight.”

Liverpool face another huge test of their title defence on Sunday when Van Dijk faces Haaland, who has struck 26 times this season for club and country.

“You can see at the moment Arsenal are flying, and it is down to clean sheets and not conceding chances,” added Van Dijk.

“We have the quality to hurt anyone on the break – it starts with the defending. Today, you saw the hard work.

“We have to keep going. Sunday is going to be another difficult one.”

Slot looking forward to ‘Clasico’ against City

Liverpool boss Arne Slot said he was not surprised by his team’s return to form to win their last two games, but warned that playing at Manchester City would pose a far more difficult challenge.

“Our main focus is on consistency at the moment, as you know we’ve lost a few games, much more than we usually do … We were consistent but we were consistently losing. That wasn’t the idea,” a laughing Slot told reporters ahead of Sunday’s clash.

“It wasn’t a surprise for me how the last two games went. It was helpful that the other team did what we expected them to do,” he added.

Slot said Guardiola’s City were his immediate focus rather than the league table.

“Similar to the ‘Clasico,’ these are the few games everyone is looking forward to,” he said.

“What I like about Pep Guardiola’s teams is that 10 out of 10 times you get what you are hoping for – a great game of football, no time wasting or those kinds of things that I start to dislike more and more about football,” Slot said.

Head-to-head

Liverpool boast by far the better win ratio from the two clubs’ 218 encounters, with the Reds winning 110 matches, City winning 60, and 58 ending as draws.

The Reds’ league double over City last year included a 2-0 win at the Etihad in February, courtesy of goals from Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai, that sent the eventual champions 11 points clear of City.

City’s last win over the Reds was a 4-1 thrashing at the Etihad in April 2023, on a tense day that included an apparent attack by Liverpool fans on the City team bus and Guardiola being accused of disrespectfully celebrating directly in front of Liverpool substitutes.

City’s team news

Guardiola seems to have the luxury of a fully-fit squad to choose from, with talismanic midfielder Rodri set to come into the team after recovering from injury to likely form a double-pivot with Nico Gonzalez.

While left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri has recovered from injury, Nico O’Reilly has excelled in his absence and may be the one tasked with trying to shackle Salah.

City’s predicted starting lineup

Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Rodri, Gonzalez; Cherki, Foden, Doku; Haaland

Liverpool’s team news

The Reds’ first choice keeper Alisson Becker remains injured, but Liverpool have the impressive Giorgi Mamardashvili to rely on between the sticks instead.

Slot confirmed that record signing Alexander Isak may be fit enough to make the squad following a groin problem but he may not be risked, while Curtis Jones is back in training after also suffering a groin injury.

Conor Bradley put in a sensational defensive display against Real Madrid in midweek and will surely retain his spot at right-back with Jeremie Frimpong ruled out for another six weeks, while Andy Robertson also impressed at left-back and may start again as new signing Milos Kerkez continues to adjust to life at Liverpool.

Liverpool’s predicted starting lineup

Mamardashvili; Bradley, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Szoboszlai, Wirtz; Ekitike

China has now formally commissioned its first catapult-equipped aircraft carrier, the Fujian, into service. The commissioning ceremony put particular emphasis on the ship’s electromagnetically-powered catapults, with President Xi Jinping shown pressing the launch button inside the control ‘bubble’ built into the flight deck. This all notably comes after U.S. President Donald Trump pledged last week to sign an executive order that would compel the U.S. Navy to go back to using steam-powered catapults on future carriers.

Fujian’s commissioning ceremony took place at the naval port in Sanya on the island of Hainan on November 5, according to a press release the Chinese Ministry of Defense put out today. Examples of the key aircraft in the carrier’s air wing – J-35 and J-15 fighters, the KJ-600 airborne early warning and control aircraft, and the Z-20F helicopter – were displayed on the flight deck during the event. The conventionally-powered Fujian was launched in 2022 and has conducted multiple sea trials since 2024, including a major demonstration of its ability to launch and recover aircraft back in September.

President Xi Jinping presided over the flag-granting ceremony of the Fujian in Sanya, officially marking China’s entry into the three-carrier era (Liaoning, Shandong, Fujian).

The 80,000-ton Fujian is China’s first carrier equipped with an electromagnetic catapult system (EMALS)… pic.twitter.com/DwVwspOjjW

— 观察者网 (@realGuancha) November 7, 2025

There had already been signs earlier this week that Fujian, which has received the hull number 18, had officially entered operational service. China’s newest carrier had been in port in Sanya for more than a month. It had also been sharing a pier with the Shandong, one of the other two aircraft carriers in the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) inventory. The Liaoning, China’s first aircraft carrier, and Shandong are both short take-off, but arrested recovery (STOBAR) types with ski jump bows instead of catapults.

Nice quality side by side of Fujian with Shandong at Sanya. Illustrates well marginal waterline length increase but providing a considerably wider hull significanly improving deck traffic. The forward elevator position remains somewhat compromised vs starboard launch position. https://t.co/B9a97qvwHf

— Alex Luck (@AlexLuck9) October 5, 2025

As has been made clear, Fujian‘s electromagnetic catapults, also referred to as an electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS), are an especially significant feature of the carrier’s design. There is currently only one other flattop in service globally with an EMALS, the U.S. Navy’s USS Gerald R. Ford, which we will come back to later on.

With Fujian, China has skipped over carriers with steam-powered catapults entirely, a decision the country’s Ministry of National Defense has now said was directed by President Xi himself. Steam has been the default for powering catapults on aircraft carriers equipped with them for decades. As noted, Xi was given the opportunity to press the launch button inside the carrier catapult control ‘bubble,’ though no actual aircraft left the ship’s deck during the in-port ceremony.

Official confirmation:

President Xi personally made the decision for the aircraft carrier Fujian to have the electromagnetic catapult, instead of the steam catapult that was originally designed to have.

At the end, the video shows the sled of the catapult coming to a full stop,… pic.twitter.com/RLCwgjhd7r

— Zhao DaShuai 东北进修🇨🇳 (@zhao_dashuai) November 7, 2025

In principle, an EMALS offers significant advantages over steam when it comes to sortie generation rates. The amount of force electromagnetic catapults exert on the aircraft they launch can also be more finely tuned, increasing the range of types they can accommodate, helping to reduce general wear and tear, and providing additional safety margins. The ability of an EMALS to launch smaller and more fragile designs is seen as particularly critical to opening the door to future carrier-based drone operations, something the PLAN is very actively pursuing. The video clip in the social media post below looks to highlight all of this to a degree by showing how fast and smoothly the catapult shuttles on Fujian can decelerate after being engaged.

PLAN Fujian’s EMALS shuttle goes from rocket boost to slow-roll in a split second. That extreme deceleration is insane—and it’s all real-time. Notice the flags in the background are waving at normal speed, indicating it’s not slow-mo pic.twitter.com/E3SRLnF0TB

— Fighterman_FFRC (@Fighterman_FFRC) November 7, 2025

At the same time, the U.S. experience with EMALS technology on the USS Gerald R. Ford has shown it to be hard to master. The carrier’s catapults, as well as the companion electronically-controlled Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG), have struggled with technical and reliability issues over the years. The ship also has electromagnetically powered elevators for moving munitions and other stores between its magazines and the flight deck, which were plagued with problems in the past. The Navy says it has mitigated the issues with Ford‘s catapults, arresting gear, and elevators, but official details regarding operations as recently as last year highlight continued difficulties. Other elements of the carrier’s design, especially its Dual Band Radar (DBR) system, have faced challenges, as well. Future Ford class carriers will notably feature an entirely new main radar configuration.

During a speech last month, U.S. President Donald Trump assailed the Navy over issues with Ford’s catapult and elevators. He promised to sign an executive order compelling the service to go back to using steam-powered catapults and hydraulic elevators. Though that order has yet to materialize, Trump has been outspoken about the catapult elevator issues with the Ford class on multiple occasions in the past, and has taken a very active role in U.S. naval planning and ship design, as you can read more about here.

This all stands in stark contrast to the developments in China, especially so now, with authorities in the country having said President Xi was personally responsible for the EMALS capabilities on Fujian. The new supersized Type 076 amphibious assault ship for the PLAN also has a single catapult that is understood to be an EMALS type. Other countries are also looking ahead at equipping future carriers and big deck amphibious vessels with electromagnetic catapults.

For China, Fujian, which is now officially in operational service, has long been a very significant development, well beyond the design of its catapults. Its carrier air wing is set to offer a host of new naval aviation capabilities, especially with the introduction of the J-35 naval stealth fighter and the KJ-600. The J-35 and KJ-600 were heavily showcased during the most recent round of sea trials, as seen in the videos below.

All three of the PLAN’s aircraft carriers form a centerpiece of a massive naval modernization push that traces back to the 1990s. In addition to offering new ways to project power regionally, including as part of any future intervention against Taiwan, the flattops enable longer-range blue water operations in the Pacific and beyond. The PLAN capabilities and capacity also continue to grow thanks to a still-expanding array of larger and otherwise modern surface combatants and submarines, all being churned out by a naval shipbuilding sector that notably dwarfs that of the United States.

Fujian is also China’s first carrier that is not based on a Soviet design, which is a point of national pride. Liaoning was originally laid down in the Soviet Union as the planned sister ship to the long-troubled Admiral Kuznetsov. Work on the ship came to a halt with the fall of the Soviet Union. The government of the newly independent country of Ukraine subsequently came into possession of the incomplete Kuznetsov class carrier and ultimately sold it to Chinese buyers. There had been speculation that the ship would be turned into a floating hotel or amusement park, something that did happen in China with other ex-Soviet aircraft carriers, before it became clear that the PLAN intended to put it into operational service. The Shandong, which was entirely built in China, was derived from the Liaoning‘s design.

China is already reportedly working on another even more capable carrier, commonly referred to now as the Type 004, which may be nuclear-powered. Renderings related to that design that have emerged in the past have shown similarities to the Ford class, as well as France’s future New Generation Aircraft Carrier, both of which are nuclear-powered.

Altogether, Fujian‘s commissioning is another important step forward for China’s carrier force and its larger naval modernization plans. The heavy focus on its EMALs catapults could have additional ramifications for global carrier developments, including in the United States.

Contact the author: [email protected]

Nov. 8 (UPI) — The Philippines is under high alert as Typhoon Fung-Wong is forecast to strengthen and make landfall on Luzon as soon as Sunday evening.

The Metro Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council issued its highest alert in anticipation of the storm making landfall and lashing the Philippines with high winds and heavy rainfall from Sunday through Tuesday.

“This is our highest state of readiness,” Civil Defense Director George Keyser said during an emergency meeting.

“The volume of rain could be unprecedented, even if the eye makes landfall far north,” Keyser said.

He said forecasters are unsure of how much rain to expect, which requires coordination among 17 local governments and national governmental agencies to handle the storm’s impacts.

“Sunday afternoon through Monday night is critical,” Keyser said. “We must clear streets for search-and-rescue and relief efforts.”

The alert helps to ensure the readiness of 486 traffic enforcers, 130 flood control teams, and 40 road emergency crews, in addition to K-9 units, according to the Philippine Information Agency.

It also activates full response protocols for flood control at 71 pumping stations, video monitoring of 85 critical sites, and the immediate deployment of boats, cranes, payloaders and buses for evacuations as needed.

The Philippines are recovering from Tuesday’s strike by Typhoon Kalmaegi, which killed nearly 200 in the Central Philippines, plus another five in Vietnam, CNN reported.

That storm was the 20th cyclone of 2025 and was the deadliest so far as it passed over the Philippines and made landfall eight times across the archipelago before moving on to Vietnam.

Fung-Wong might prove to be stronger, with wind speeds forecast to reach 115 mph before striking the eastern Philippines as soon as Sunday evening local time.

The typhoon’s mass covers 932 miles and already is impacting the eastern portion of the Philippines with strong winds and heavy rainfall.

Fung-Wong is forecast to pass over the northwestern Philippines while moving northwesterly before turning north on Tuesday and the northeasterly toward Taiwan.

Over the past two decades, Russia’s economic influence in Africa—and specifically in Nigeria—has been limited, largely due to a lack of structured financial support from Russian policy banks and state-backed investment mechanisms. While Russian companies have demonstrated readiness to invest and compete with global players, they consistently cite insufficient government financial guarantees as a key constraint.

Unlike China, India, Japan, and the United States—which have provided billions in concessionary loans and credit lines to support African infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturing, and SMEs—Russia has struggled to translate diplomatic goodwill into substantial economic projects. For example, Nigeria’s trade with Russia accounts for barely 1% of total trade volume, while China and the U.S. dominate at over 15% and 10%, respectively, in the last decade. This disparity highlights the challenges Russia faces in converting agreements into actionable investment.

Lessons from Nigeria’s Past

The limited impact of Russian economic diplomacy echoes Nigeria’s own history of unfulfilled agreements during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration. Over the past 20 years, ambitious energy, transport, and industrial initiatives signed with foreign partners—including Russia—often stalled or produced minimal results. In many cases, projects were approved in principle, but funding shortfalls, bureaucratic hurdles, and weak follow-through left them unimplemented. Nothing monumental emerged from these agreements, underscoring the importance of financial backing and sustained commitment.

China as a Model

Policy experts point to China’s systematic approach to African investments as a blueprint for Russia. Chinese state policy banks underwrite projects, de-risk investments, and provide financing often secured by African sovereign guarantees. This approach has enabled Chinese companies to execute large-scale infrastructure efficiently, expanding their presence across sectors while simultaneously investing in human capital.

Egyptian Professor Mohamed Chtatou at the International University of Rabat and Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco, argues, “Russia could replicate such mechanisms to ensure companies operate with financial backing and risk mitigation, rather than relying solely on bilateral agreements or political connections.”

Russia’s Current Footprint in Africa

Russia’s economic engagement in Africa is heavily tied to natural resources and military equipment. In Zimbabwe, platinum rights and diamond projects were exchanged for fuel or fighter jets. Nearly half of Russian arms exports to Africa are concentrated in countries like Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. Large-scale initiatives, such as the planned $10 billion nuclear plant in Zambia, have stalled due to a lack of Russian financial commitment, despite completed feasibility studies. Similar delays have affected nuclear projects in South Africa, Rwanda, and Egypt.

Federation Council Chairperson Valentina Matviyenko and Senator Igor Morozov have emphasized parliamentary diplomacy and the creation of new financial instruments, such as investment funds under the Russian Export Center, to provide structured support for businesses and enhance trade cooperation. These measures are designed to address historical gaps in financing and ensure that agreements lead to tangible outcomes.

Opportunities and Challenges

Analysts highlight a fundamental challenge: Russia’s limited incentives in Africa. While China invests to secure resources and export markets, Russia lacks comparable commercial drivers. Russian companies possess technological and industrial capabilities, but without sufficient financial support, large-scale projects remain aspirational rather than executable.

The historic Russia-Africa Summits in Sochi and in St. Petersburg explicitly indicate a renewed push to deepen engagement, particularly in the economic sectors. President Vladimir Putin has set a goal to raise Russia-Africa trade from $20 billion to $40 billion over the next few years. However, compared to Asian, European, and American investors, Russia still lags significantly. UNCTAD data shows that the top investors in Africa are the Netherlands, France, the UK, the United States, and China—countries that combine capital support with strategic deployment.

In Nigeria, agreements with Russian firms over energy and industrial projects have yielded little measurable progress. Over 20 years, major deals signed during Obasanjo’s administration and renewed under subsequent governments often stalled at the financing stage. The lesson is clear: political agreements alone are insufficient without structured investment and follow-through.

Strategic Recommendations

For Russia to expand its economic influence in Africa, analysts recommend:

1. Structured financial support: Establishing state-backed credit lines, policy bank guarantees, and investment funds to reduce project risks.

2. Incentive realignment: Identifying sectors where Russian expertise aligns with African needs, including energy, industrial technology, and infrastructure.

3. Sustained implementation: Turning signed agreements into tangible projects with clear timelines and milestones, avoiding the pitfalls of unfulfilled past agreements.

With proper financial backing, Russia can leverage its technological capabilities to diversify beyond arms sales and resource-linked deals, enhancing trade, industrial, and technological cooperation across Africa.

Conclusion

Russia’s Africa strategy remains a work in progress. Nigeria’s experience with decades of agreements that failed to materialize underscores the importance of structured financial commitments and persistent follow-through. Without these, Russia risks remaining a peripheral player (virtual investor) while Arab States such as the UAE, China, the United States, and other global powers consolidate their presence.

The potential is evident: Africa is a fast-growing market with vast natural resources, infrastructure needs, and a young, ambitious population. Russia’s challenge—and opportunity—is to match diplomatic efforts with financial strategy, turning political ties into lasting economic influence.

Nov. 8 (UPI) — The federal government will extend its record-long close to 40 days after the Senate adjourned with no vote held on a possible budget deal on Saturday.

A small number of centrist Democratic Party senators have been negotiating with Republicans behind closed doors to try to craft a funding measure that would reopen the federal government, CNN reported.

They are making progress but said there disagreement remains over Democrats’ demand to extend Affordable Care Act credits that are scheduled to expire at the end of the year.

Senate Republicans are meeting at 12:30 p.m. EST on Sunday before resuming session.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., earlier said the Senate will work through the weekend to try to end the budget impasse and reopen the federal government, which shut down when the 2026 fiscal year started without a budget in place in Oct. 1.

Thune also said the Senate will continue to meet until a budget deal is approved.

The Senate was scheduled to be in recess around Veterans Day, which is Tuesday.

Instead, it convened after noon in a rare Saturday session, which was the fourth this year.

The last Sunday session was on Feb. 11, 2024, for a vote on emergency national security appropriations.

With the government closed for more than a month, around 900,000 workers are furloughed and another 700,000 are working without pay — a number that includes air traffic controllers, which has resulted in staffing issues and forced flight cancellations.

Food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was paused for this month, although the Supreme Court is set to decide a case on whether the Trump administration is legally required to fund the program.

The issue holding up an end to the shutdown is an extension of subsidies available for some Americans who purchase health insurance through an Affordable Care Act exchange. The ACA is also referred to as Obamacare.

Republicans want a clean funding bill with health insurance to be considered later, while Democrats want the government’s subsidies to be extended into next year as part of a funding bill.

A record 24.3 million have purchased insurance through one of the exchanges, with nine out of 10 receiving some sort of financial assistance.

Open enrollment began on Nov. 1 for most policyholders, one month after the shutdown began.

Rates will rise 26% on average next year, according to a KFF analysis — not including the end of the subsidies. In all, costs will more than double, according to a separate KFF analysis of data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Thune, of South Dakota, said both sides negotiated overnight on a possible short-term spending bill, while bipartisan negotiations also have been ongoing but not fruitful.

“I’m frustrated like everybody is,” GOP Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas told reporters on Saturday. “Every American is frustrated. Nobody wins in a shutdown, especially one that is this long.

Asked whether there could be a deal, he responded, “None. None at all. I’m almost speechless. What has not been said?”

Thune said a 15th vote on advancing the House-passed continuing resolution is not currently scheduled, but could come up later in the day.

In past votes, a few Democrats have approved the bill but 60 votes are needed. The Republicans have a 53-47 edge in the chamber.

“There’s still only one path out — it’s a clean funding extension,” Thune said on the Senate floor Saturday.

Senators have been told they will be given 24 hours to read the text of an agreement, a GOP aide told CNN.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma told reporters that consensus has emerged in the Republican conference around a Jan. 30 funding end date.

GOP senators have pushed for the funding with the goal of including longer-term appropriations bills and extending the deadline for funding, in exchange for a future vote on healthcare.

“The question is whether we can have everything ready to go,” Thune told reporters. “We’re getting close to having it ready. Ideally, it’d be great to set it up so we could vote today, but we have to … have the votes to actually pass it.”

On Friday, Republicans shot down a Democratic push toward a deal featuring a one-year tax credit extension on health insurance. Thune said the tax extension would be considered after the shutdown ends.

“That’s what we’re going to negotiate once the government opens up,” Thune said Friday.

Minor Leader Chuck Schumer of New York criticized Republicans for rejecting the idea.

“Yesterday, we offered Republicans a perfectly reasonable compromise to get out of this horrible shutdown that they installed on the American people,” Schumer said on the House floor. “We offered three things: we all vote to reopen the government, we all approve a one-time temporary extension of current ACA premium tax credits, and then after we reopen we negotiate.”

“I know many Republicans stormed out the gate to dismiss this offer, but that’s a terrible mistake,” he added.

Schumer said it doesn’t need to be negotiated because the idea “is not a new policy, this is not negotiating a shutdown.”

Thune has been adamant that he can’t guarantee Democrats a tax extension process.

President Donald Trump, who is at his estate in South Florida, has been pressing to end the filibuster rule and instead have bills pass by a majority of the 100 senators. Most Republicans are opposed to this “nuclear” option, fearing Democrats will do that when they are in power.

“Democrats are cracking like dogs on the Shutdown because they are deathly afraid that I am making progress with the Republicans on TERMINATING THE FILIBUSTER!,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday afternoon. “Whether we make a Deal or not, THE REPUBLICANS MUST ‘BLOW UP’ THE FILIBUSTER, AND APPROVE HUNDREDS OF LONG SOUGHT, BUT NEVER GOTTEN, POLICY WINS LIKE, AS JUST A SMALL EXAMPLE, VOTER ID (IDENTIFICATION). Only a LOSER would not agree to doing this!”

End Obamacare?

Trump also told Republicans to end Obamacare, something he has attempted to do since he first became president in 2017.

He called it the “worst Healthcare anywhere in the World.”

On Saturday morning in a post on Truth Social, he said money used for the program should be sent directly to the public instead of “money sucking Insurance Companies in order to save the bad Healthcare provided by ObamaCare.

“In other words, take it from the BIG, BAD Insurance Companies, give it to the people.”

Medicare, mainly for seniors, has Part A and B that don’t go through insurance companies and are run by the U.S. government’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, an ally of Trump, touted the proposal.

“We’re not going to extend this program for a year because that would be unfair to the taxpayer,” Graham said on the Senate floor. “That would continue a healthcare system that’s out of control. It would enrich health insurance companies even more. We’re not going to do that. We’re going to replace this broken system with something that is actually better for the consumer to meet the goal of lowering health care costs.”

Graham said he spoke with Trump on Saturday morning and that the president told him he would “like to sit down and see if we can come up with a better solution. I know we can, but we’re not going to do it while the government’s shut down.”

Graham also urged Democrats to “end this madness.”

“To my Democratic colleagues, let’s open up the government and act like adults and see if we can get this problem in a better spot. We’ll never do it with the government shut down,” he said.

Recent Israeli air strikes on Lebanon have reignited fears of more conflict along the border.

Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah positions to stop the group from rebuilding its military capabilities.

Israeli forces are also bombing Gaza, violating a recently agreed to ceasefire, and have launched more than 1,000 air strikes in Syria since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

Next week, US President Donald Trump will host Ahmed al-Sharaa, the first Syrian president to visit the White House.

So, how will that meeting impact regional sovereignty?

And can Israel sustain its near-daily attacks across the Middle East under the guise of security?

Presenter: Cyril Vanier

Guests:

Nabeel Khoury – non-resident fellow at the Arab Center Washington, DC

Heiko Wimmen – project director for Iraq, Syria and Lebanon at the International Crisis Group

Harlan Ullman – senior adviser at the Atlantic Council and chairman of the Killowen Group, a strategic advisory firm

Canadian firm ends its sponsorship of the Israeli-owned team following multiple pro-Palestine protests at major cycling races.

The title sponsor of Israel-Premier Tech has ended its association with the cycling team with immediate effect after protests against the team’s participation in races and despite the outfit saying it would undergo a full rebrand for the 2026 season to operate under a new name.

Canadian company Premier Tech said on Friday it had broken off its sponsorship deal after the team was targeted by pro-Palestinian protesters at several races this year, with stages of the Vuelta a Espana grand tour in August and September disrupted by demonstrators before the race was abandoned by organisers.

The sponsors removed their full name from riders’ jerseys at the Vuelta.

The team, owned by Canadian-Israeli property developer Sylvan Adams, was created in 2014 by Ron Baron and Ran Margaliot and is based in Israel.

It was also subject to isolated protests during the sport’s other two main stage races: the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, and had been accused of sportswashing by pro-Palestine groups.

After the Vuelta, the Canadian multinational Premier Tech called for the team to change its name to remove “Israel” and to adopt a new identity and brand image.

The team agreed to move away from its “Israeli identity”.

However, the Canadian-based manufacturer and horticulture firm Premier Tech said it would step down as co-title sponsor of the team with immediate effect.

“Although we took notice of the team’s decision to change its name for the 2026 season, the core reason for Premier Tech to sponsor the team has been overshadowed to a point where it has become untenable for us to continue as a sponsor,” the company added.

“We want to thank the team – riders and staff – for the four unforgettable seasons by their side, and to acknowledge their incredible accomplishments and professionalism, both on and off the road.”

Canadian cyclist Derek Gee, who finished fourth overall at this year’s Giro d’Italia, also left Israel-Premier Tech shortly before the Vuelta over what he described as “personal beliefs”.

Last month, Gee said he was facing a damages claim of 30 million euros ($35m) from the team.

In September, a United Nations inquiry found that Israel’s war on Gaza was a genocide and held the Israeli government responsible for the war that has killed at least 68,875 Palestinians.

Although the team is privately-owned rather than state-run, Adams had dubbed himself an unofficial ambassador for Israel, and the outfit had been hailed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for refusing to quit the Vuelta ahead, despite protests, until the race was eventually abandoned.

In October, Adams stepped back from his day-to-day involvement with the team and no longer speaks on its behalf.

The team joined the World Tour elite level of road racing before the 2020 season and in July that year recruited four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome.

Amid the pro-Palestine protests at the Vuelta, Spanish Sports Minister Pilar Alegria had called for a ban on Israeli sports teams in the same way that Russian sides broadly were banned in 2022 after the country invaded Ukraine, highlighting a “double standard”.

“It is difficult to explain and understand that there is a double standard,” Alegria told Spanish radio station Cadena SER in September.

“Given that there has been such a massacre, a genocide, such an absolutely terrible situation we are living through day-by-day, I would agree that the international federations and committees should take the same decision as in 2022,” she added.

“[The protests] are a clear representation of what the people feel, sport cannot be distanced from the world that surrounds it.”

Foreign minister says Budapest ‘obtained an indefinite exemption from the sanctions’ on Russian oil and gas shipments.

Hungary’s foreign minister says Budapest has secured an indefinite waiver from US sanctions on Russian oil and gas imports, as a White House official reiterated that the exemption was for only a period of one year.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday to press for a reprieve after the US last month imposed sanctions on Russian oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft.

After the meeting, Orban told Hungarian media that Budapest had “been granted a complete exemption from sanctions” affecting Russian gas delivered to Hungary from the TurkStream pipeline, and oil from the Druzhba pipeline.

But a White House official later told the Reuters news agency that Hungary had been granted a one-year exemption from sanctions connected to using Russian energy.

On Saturday, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said there would be no sanctions for “an indefinite period”.

“The prime minister was clear. He has agreed with the US President [Donald Trump] that we have obtained an indefinite exemption from the sanctions,” Szijjarto wrote on Facebook.

“There are no sanctions on oil and gas shipments to Hungary for an indefinite period.”

However, a White House official repeated in an email to the Reuters news agency on Saturday that the exemption is for one year.

Hungary expected to buy US LNG

The White House official who spoke to Reuters added that Hungary would also diversify its energy purchases and had committed to buying US liquefied natural gas with contracts valued at some $600m.

Orban has maintained close ties with both Moscow and Washington, while often bucking the rest of the EU on pressuring Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

The Hungarian leader offered to host a summit in Budapest between Trump and Putin, although the US leader called it off in October and hit Moscow with sanctions for the first time in his presidency.

Budapest relies heavily on Russian energy, and Orban, 15 years in power, faces a close election next year.

International Monetary Fund figures show Hungary bought 74 percent of its gas and 86 percent of its oil from Russia in 2024, warning that an EU-wide cutoff of Russian natural gas alone could cost Hungary more than 4 percent of its GDP.

Orban said that, without the agreement, energy costs would have surged, hitting the wider economy, pushing up unemployment and generating “unbearable” price rises for households and firms.

Nov. 8 (UPI) — President Donald Trump said the United States will not participate in the upcoming G20 conference in South Africa due to that nation’s alleged racial policies and killings of Afrikaners.

The G20 is scheduled Nov. 22 and 23 at the NASREC Expo Centre in Johannesburg, but the president cited the treatment of Dutch, French and German settlers and migrants as a cause for boycotting the event.

“It is a total disgrace that the G20 will be held in South Africa,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Friday.

“Afrikaners … are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated,” the president said. “No U.S. government official will attend as long as these human rights abuses continue.”

Afrikaners have experienced rising hostility from some politicians and others in South Africa, including those who encourage violence and land confiscation.

The nation’s Expropriation Act of 2024 enables the South African government to confiscate land for public use, and without paying in some instances, in order to address matters involving equity, according to Fox News.

Many view the act as a mechanism to target white South African farmers and take their land without compensation, and Trump has accused South Africa of engaging in genocide.

The South African foreign ministry denied any racial oppression had occurred in a prepared statement shared with the BBC.

“The South African government wishes to state, for the record, that the characterization of Afrikaners as an exclusively white group is ahistorical,” the foreign ministry said.

“Furthermore, the claim that this community faces persecution is not substantiated by fact.”

When South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visited Trump at the White House in May, the president raised the matter of genocide against Caucasians in South Africa.

Ramaphosa denied any genocide has occurred and cited prior oppression of South Africans.

“We cannot equate what is alleged to be genocide to what we went through in the struggle because people were killed because of the oppression that was taking place in our country,” Ramaphosa told the president.

Trump then played a video that allegedly showed white crosses placed along a South African highway to mark where the bodies of white farmers are buried, Fox News reported.

Ramaphosa asked where the white crosses were located and said he never had seen the alleged video evidence.

Trump has granted refugee status to Afrikaners despite the South African government earlier saying claims of genocide are “widely discredited and unsupported by reliable evidence,” the BBC reported.

The G20 is a collection of 19 nations, plus the European Union, and was formed in 1999 to promote global economic stability in the wake of Asian financial troubles.

The G20 collectively represents 85% of the world’s economic output and two-thirds of its population and meets annually to discuss matters affecting member states and the world.

The United States is scheduled to host the annual event next year in Miami.