Kampala, Uganda | XINHUA | World Bank Group President David Malpass on Saturday urged the Group of 20 (G20) countries to extend the time frame of the Debt Service Suspension Initiative through the end of 2021, calling it one of the key factors in strengthening global recovery. “I urge you …
Read More »COMMENT: The G20’s Africa problem
Rather than include Africa in discussions about trade, the G20 addresses narrower development issue COMMENT | COBUS VAN STADEN | This has not been an easy year for the G20. The 2018 summit of the leaders of the world’s largest economies was held in Buenos Aires, a city still reeling from …
Read More »Key points of the US-China trade deal
Buenos Aires, Argentina | AFP | US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Saturday struck a deal at working dinner on the sidelines of the G20 summit to effectively stall their trade war. Trump hailed what he described as “an amazing and productive meeting with unlimited possibilities” …
Read More »Erdogan takes Saudi prince to task, demands extraditions
Buenos Aires, Argentina | AFP | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded Saturday that Saudi Arabia extradite suspects in the killing in Istanbul of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, taking to task the kingdom’s crown prince who was basking in his quick return to the world stage at the G20. Crown Prince Mohammed …
Read More »George H.W. Bush and Trump -a study in presidential contrasts
Buenos Aires, Argentina | AFP | One US president talked softly, the other harangues. One built international coalitions, the other tears them up. One was a war hero, the other avoided battle. One was called George H.W. Bush and the other, Donald Trump, is in the White House today. Trump …
Read More »G20 leaders agree on Bush tributes, but little else
Buenos Aires, Argentina | AFP | A Sino-US showdown on trade loomed Saturday as G20 leaders wrapped up tense summit talks with a rare show of unity over the death of former president George Bush. There was an implicit contrast in some of the tributes offered at the Buenos Aires …
Read More »Russia scandal dogs Trump at G20 summit
Buenos Aires, Argentina | AFP | US President Donald Trump’s G20 summit got off to a rocky start Friday with explosive new allegations of improper links to Russia overshadowing what he had hoped would be a triumphant burst of trade diplomacy. Trump scored a victory when he and the leaders …
Read More »World leaders welcome Saudi prince at G20, Putin delighted
Buenos Aires, Argentina | AFP | World leaders including a beaming Vladimir Putin welcomed Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Friday at the G20 summit, showing he was no pariah less than two months after the murder of a dissident journalist by a Saudi hit team. In an …
Read More »Trump sets up stormy G20 with Putin snub
Buenos Aires, Argentina | AFP | US President Donald Trump headed to Argentina Thursday for a fractious weekend of G20 summitry, cancelling planned talks with the Russian leader and boasting that his trade war with China was paying off. Rumblings of resistance to Trump’s assault on the international order were …
Read More »US role in spotlight as nations meet on Paris climate deal
Montreal, Canada | AFP | A top European environment official said Saturday the United States appeared to be softening its stance on the Paris climate accord, but the White House quickly pushed back. The remark came as environment ministers from some 30 countries gathered in Montreal seeking headway on the Paris …
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