Greta Thunberg has been detained by police during a demonstration in Germany.
The environmental activist, 20, has been taking part in protests against the demolition of a village to make way for the expansion of a nearby coal mine.
It is the second time that the Swedish activist, who joined protests on Saturday, has been moved on by police in the village this week.
The local Aachen police force said Ms Thunberg was part of a group of protesters that “stormed” towards the edge of the open-cast mine, described by officers as “steep and extremely dangerous”.
The force said the activist was not arrested but was instead carried along with other protesters for identification.
She was released after a brief detention, police confirmed.
The tiny hamlet of Luetzerath, in North Rhine-Westphalia, is owned by utility firm RWE and has been emptied ahead of its demolition to allow for the expansion of the nearby Garzweiler coal mine.
Ministers and RWE say that lignite, a form of coal regarded by activists as the most health-harming, dug up from the mine will ensure Germany‘s energy security in the short term.
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Firing up the fight after government backtrack
The government, which is a three-way coalition including the country’s Green party, has had to adapt its attitude to the use of coal after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The government insists, however, it is still committed to eliminating the use of coal in the long term.
It has pledged to bring forward plans to phase out coal by eight years to 2030 in North Rhine-Westphalia, the state in which Garzweiler lies.
Environmental activists want Germany to take immediate action on fossil fuels and are opposing the expansion of the coal mine.
They say bulldozing the village to make way for the site would result in huge amounts of greenhouse gas emissions from the mined fossil fuels.
‘Hundreds hunkered down in abandoned village’
Protesters moved into the abandoned homes of former residents two years ago.
The group LuetziBleibt – which translates as Luetzi is Staying – claimed earlier this month that there were “around a couple of hundred people” hunkered down in the village.
Police in riot gear moved into the village earlier this month in an attempt to clear the protesters out.
Since then, roadblocks have been removed, treehouses built by protesters have been chopped down and buildings have been bulldozed.
Ms Thunberg joined protesters on Saturday and gave an impassioned speech in which she said Germany was “embarrassing itself right now”.
Image: Police in riot gear clashed with protesters attempting to get into the Garzeiler mine
“The science is clear: we need to keep the carbon in the ground,” she said.
Police have said it could take weeks to resolve the standoff over the coal mine expansion, which activists see as a symbol of Berlin’s failing climate policy during an energy crisis in Europe’s biggest economy.
The regional and national governments reached a deal with RWE last year allowing it to destroy the abandoned village in return for ending coal use by 2030, rather than 2038.
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Countries attending COP30, the biggest climate meeting of the year, have agreed steps to help speed up climate action, according to a draft deal.
The meeting of leaders in the Brazilian city of Belem also saw them agree to reviewing related trade barriers and triple the money given to developing countries to help them withstand extreme weather events, according to the draft.
However, the summit’s president Correa do Lago said “roadmaps” on fossil fuels and forests would be published as there was no consensus on these issues.
The annual United Nations conference brings together world leaders, scientists, campaigners, and negotiators from across the globe, who agree on collective next steps for tackling climate change.
The two-week conference in the Amazon city of Belem was due to end at 6pm local time (9pm UK time) on Friday, but it dragged into overtime.
The standoff was between the EU, which pressed for language on transitioning away from fossil fuels, and the Arab Group of nations, including major oil exporter Saudi Arabia, which opposed it.
The impasse was resolved following all-night negotiations led by Brazil, negotiators said.
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The European Union’s climate commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra, said on Saturday that the proposed accord was acceptable, even though the bloc would have liked more.
“We should support it because at least it is going in the right direction,” he said.
The Brazilian presidency scheduled a closing plenary session.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and about 80 countries, including the UK and coal-rich Colombia, had been pushing for a plan on how to “transition away from fossil fuels”.
This is a pledge all countries agreed to two years ago at COP28 – then did very little about since.
But scores of countries – including major oil and gas producers like Saudi Arabia and Russia – see this push as too prescriptive or a threat to their economies.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Israel says it has begun striking Hamas targets in Gaza, reportedly killing at least nine people, after what it called a “blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement”.
Local health authorities in Gaza said there had been three separate airstrikes, one hit a car in the densely populated Rimal neighbourhood, killing five people and wounding several others.
Shortly after the attack on the car, the Israeli air force hit two more targets in the central Gaza Strip, medics said.
They said at least four people died when two houses were struck in Deir Al-Balah city and Nuseirat camp.
The Israeli military said there had been a “blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement”.
It claimed a gunman had crossed into Israeli-held territory after exploiting “the humanitarian road in the area through which humanitarian aid enters southern Gaza”.
A Hamas official rejected the Israeli military’s allegations as baseless, calling them an “excuse to kill”, adding the Palestinian group was committed to the ceasefire agreement.
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The Israeli airstrikes are a further test of a fragile ceasefire with Hamas, which has held since 10 October following the two-year Gaza war.
Israel pulled back its troops, and the flow of aid into the territory has increased. But violence has not completely halted.
Palestinian health authorities say Israeli forces have killed 316 people in strikes on Gaza since the truce.
Meanwhile, Israel says three of its soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire began and it has attacked scores of militants.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
The fast-moving developments on Trump’s Ukraine peace deal are dominating the G20 summit in South Africa, as European leaders scramble to put together a counter-proposal to the US-Russia 28-point plan and reinsert Ukraine into these discussions.
European countries are now working up proposals to put to President Trump ahead of his deadline of Thursday to agree a deal.
Ukraine is in a tight spot. It cannot reject Washington outright – it relies on US military support to continue this war – but neither can it accept the terms of a deal that is acutely favourable to Russia, requiring Ukraine to give up territory not even occupied by Moscow and reducing its army.
Overnight, the UK government has reiterated its position that any deal must deliver a “just and lasting peace”.
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Keir Starmer calls for growth plan at G20
The prime minister, who spoke with E3 allies President Macron of France, Chancellor Merz of Germany and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine on the phone on Friday, is having more conversations today with key partners as they work out how to handle Trump and improve this deal for Ukraine.
One diplomatic source told me allies are being very careful not to criticise Trump or his approach for fear of exacerbating an already delicate situation.
Instead, the prime minister is directing his attacks at Russia.
Image: Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends a plenary session on the first day of the G20 Leaders’ Summit. Pic: Reuters
“There is only one country around the G20 table that is not calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine and one country that is deploying a barrage of drones and missiles to destroy livelihoods and murder innocent civilians,” he said on Friday evening.
“Time and again, Russia pretends to be serious about peace, but its actions never live up to its words.”
Image: Pic: AP
On the Trump plan, the prime minister said allies are meetin on Saturday “to discuss the current proposalon the table, and in support of Trump’s push for peace, look at how we can strengthen this plan for the next phase of negotiations”.
Strengthening the plan really means that they want to rebalance it towards Ukraine’s position and make it tougher on Russia.
“Ukraine has been ready to negotiate for months, while Russia has stalled and continued its murderous rampage. That is why we must all work together with both the US and Ukraine, to secure a just and lasting peace once and for all,” said the prime minister.
“We will continue to coordinate closely with Washington and Kyiv to achieve that. However, we cannot simply wait for peace.
“We must strain every sinew to secure it. We must cut off Putin’s finance flows by ending our reliance on Russian gas. It won’t be easy, but it’s the right thing to do.”
Image: Pic: AP
Europeans hadn’t even seen this deal earlier in the week, in a sign that the US is cutting other allies out of negotiations – for now at least.
Starmer and other European leaders want to get to a position where Ukraine and Europe are at least at the table.
There is some discussion about whether European leaders such as Macron and Meloni might travel to Washington to speak to Trump early next week in order to persuade him of the European and Ukrainian perspective, as leaders did last August following the US-Russian summit in Alaska.
But Sky News understands there are no discussions about the PM travelling to Washington next week ahead of the budget.