Leaders Open G20 Summit by Defying Absent US

World leaders from the Group of 20 rich and developing economies broke with tradition and adopted a declaration at the start of their summit in South Africa on Saturday despite opposition from the US, which is boycotting the two-day talks in a diplomatic rift with the host country. A spokesperson for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the leaders' declaration was adopted unanimously by the other members at the start of the talks in Johannesburg, the AP reports. The 122-point declaration urges more global action on issues that specifically affect poor countries, like climate-related disasters and sovereign debt levels, and was promoted by the host nation as a victory for the first G20 summit held in Africa.

• Agenda: The summit's priorities include solving some of the long-standing problems that have afflicted the developing world, and leaders and top government officials came together at an exhibition center near the township of Soweto, which was once home to Nelson Mandela. Many of South Africa's priorities, especially a focus on climate change and confronting global inequality, met resistance from the US. But as he opened the summit, Ramaphosa said that "consensus has emerged." South Africa set the agenda, as the country holding the rotating G20 presidency
• The vote: While Ramaphosa's spokesperson said the declaration, which the US had pressured South Africa to not bring up, was unanimously approved, Argentina said it did not endorse it. Argentine President Javier Milei also did not attend the summit in solidarity with ally Trump, and the country was represented by Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno. The G20 is actually a group of 21 members that comprises 19 nations, the European Union, and the African Union.

• The boycott: The world's biggest economy is unrepresented after Trump claimed that South Africa is violently persecuting its Afrikaner white minority. The monthslong rift between the US and South Africa deepened in the buildup to the summit, but some of the leaders were eager to move on. "I do regret it," French President Emmanuel Macron said of Trump's absence, "but it should not block us. Our duty is to be present, engage and work all together because we have so many challenges."
• Ahead: The direction of the G20 bloc is likely to change sharply after the US takes over the rotating presidency at the end of the summit. The only role the US will play at this meeting will be when a representative from its embassy in South Africa attends the formal handover ceremony, the White House said. South Africa said that it's an insult for Ramaphosa to hand over to a junior diplomatic official and that a formal handover likely wouldn't happen on Sunday.