The Latest: Climate protesters block road near Rome summit

The Latest: Climate protesters block road near Rome summit

SeattlePI.com

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The Latest on the group of 20 summit taking place in Rome:

ROME — A few dozen protesters demanding that government leaders take incisive action on climate change have been carried away by police from the main boulevard near the G-20 summit site in Rome.

Hours before the leaders of the United States, Britain, France and other economic powerhouse nations arrived on Saturday for the start of the two-day gathering, the activists blocked the road, holding banners, including one that read, “From Rome to Glasgow, your solutions are the problem.”

On Sunday evening, many of the G-20 leaders will fly to Glasgow, Scotland, for a crucial climate summit.

When the demonstrators refused to budge, police officers lifted them bodily and moved them to a side road, where the protesters continued to lie down or sit on the pavement, blocking traffic.

On Friday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced alarm that the climate meeting might see leaders fail to deliver on promises, leaving humanity facing a “calamitous” rise in global temperatures.

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ROME — The French presidency says European Union leaders will meet with African leaders in efforts to further support the continent’s poorest economies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The informal meeting later Saturday will be hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron at France’s embassy in Rome on the sidelines of the G-20 summit.

Macron told reporters on Friday he expects the G-20 to confirm an additional $100 billion to support Africa’s economies.

The money would be provided via the reallocation to African nations of some special drawing rights, a foreign exchange tool used to help finance imports issued by the International Monetary Fund and initially meant to go to advanced...

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