The Latest: G-20 leaders, spouses dine on local delicacies

For dessert, the guests could choose cheese or raspberries.

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9:55 p.m.

Hamburg police say 196 officers have been injured during two days of clashes with anti-globalization activists who are protesting the Group of 20 summit in the German port city.

City officials did not provide a comparable figure for injured protesters. Hamburg’s fire department said Friday that ambulances had transported 60 civilians to the city’s hospitals, including 11 people who were severely injured when they fell off a wall after fleeing from riot police.

While most of the thousands of demonstrators convening for the G-20 were peaceful, some lit fires Friday night on streets in the city’s Schanzenviertel neighbourhood.

In the nearby St. Pauli district, thousands of people danced in the streets to techno and live hip-hop music as the international leaders of the G-20 nations listened to a classical concert at the city’s philharmonic under heavy police protection.

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8:00 p.m.

As international Group of 20 leaders assemble at a landmark philharmonic for dinner and to listen to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, a massive police presence is keeping protesters outside the Hamburg concert hall at bay.

Six helicopters are hovering in the sky, three large police patrol boats and several smaller ones are guarding the waters around the philharmonic located on a peninsula in the harbour.

Around 200 police officers stood shoulder-to-shoulder on the bridge leading to the concert house, where American conductor Kent Nagano was to lead an orchestra in Beethoven’s Nine, the European Union’s anthem.

The leaders and their spouses were getting together for a festive dinner afterward.

Police and anti-globalization activists have been clashing in Hamburg for a second day in violent skirmishes across the city.

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7:50 p.m.

Leaders of the Group of 20 economic powers and their spouses have gathered at Hamburg’s spectacular new Elbphilharmonie concert hall. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are sitting next to French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte.

The world leaders applauded the summit host, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as she took her place in the row behind the Trumps. The leaders are hearing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, conducted by American Kent Nagano.

Merkel and her husband, Joachim Sauer, are classical music fans. Sauer, who rarely accompanies the chancellor on official business, was on hand for the G-20 and to host the concert alongside Merkel.

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7:10 p.m.

The Group of 20 leaders and their partners will spend their evening at a spectacular new landmark that dominates Hamburg’s harbour — the Elbphilharmonie concert hall, with its wave-shaped roof and shiny glass facades.

The leaders are to hear Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, conducted by American Kent Nagano.

Built on top of a former cocoa and coffee warehouse jutting out into the harbour of Germany’s second-biggest city, the Elbphilharmonie boasts a main concert hall that can seat 2,100 people, none more than 30 metres (100 feet) from the conductor.

It has been praised for its impressive acoustics.

The Elbphilharmonie opened only six months ago. Construction started in 2007 and was originally supposed to be finished in 2010. The cost to taxpayers climbed from an initially planned 77 million euros to 789 million euros ($897 million).

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6:30 p.m.

Leaders of the Group of 20 countries have agreed to push internet service providers to implement new technology and training to detect and remove extremist content from the web.

They also agreed at their meeting in Hamburg, Germany to work together and consult on new terrorist threats to air travel.

The promises were contained in a statement on countering terrorism issued by the host German government. A proposed U.S. ban on laptops on flights from Europe to the United States led to tension with European officials earlier this year. The ban was not implemented.

The leaders said they would push for “lawful and non-arbitrary” access to suspect data when national security is threatened and added that they affirmed that “rule of law applies online as well as it does offline.”

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6:20 p.m.

Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni is warning that new protectionist trade measures could bring “contagion” that would slow the growth of the world economy.

Gentiloni told reporters at the Group of 20 summit on Friday that “we cannot waste this moment of recovery, giving signals of protectionism or of incorrect trade behaviour.”

He said that the “risk is of a contagion effect” that could “compromise a situation that is positive in Latin America, is positive in Europe and is positive in the United States.”

He said that resorting to trade barriers could slow the current growth rate of 3.5 per cent a year. Gentiloni said that protecting the middle class and domestic interests was “sacred” but had to be reconciled with maintaining global trade.

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6:00 p.m.

Hamburg police say violent anti-globalization activists protesting the Group of 20 summit have forced their way into a closed train station bending open the iron gates.

Police tweeted that they had stationed one water cannon outside the Landungsbruecke station. Police also tweeted that they detained 22 Greenpeace activists who tried to swim through the Elbe river into the no-go zone where the Group of 20 summit is taking place.

Violence between protesters and police officers seemed to escalate again on Friday afternoon with riot police chasing demonstrators up stairs, walls and grassy slopes and water cannons being deployed across the city. Police criticized protesters for throwing cobble stones and iron rods and directly targeting their officers.

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5:50 p.m.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says most Group of 20 nations at the Hamburg summit have backed the Paris accord against climate change.

Merkel said Friday that “it will be very interesting to see how we formulate the communique tomorrow and make clear that, of course, there are different opinions in this area because the United States of America regrettably … wants to withdraw from the Paris accord.”

Trump announced last month that the U.S. would pull out of the Paris accord, putting it at odds with most other governments.

The G-20 summit ends on Saturday.

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5:45 p.m.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is saying that violent protests are unacceptable as police and demonstrators skirmish in Hamburg.

Merkel on Friday thanked security forces for their work as the Group of 20 met behind a heavy police presence in the city.

She said: “I have every understanding for peaceful demonstrations, but violent demonstrations endanger human lives, they endanger people themselves, they put police officers and security forces in danger, put residents in danger, and so that is unacceptable.”

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5:35 p.m.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says discussions on trade at the Group of 20 summit are proving very difficult.

Merkel said that negotiators “still have a great deal of work ahead of them” to agree on how to formulate a passage on trade in the summit’s closing communique.

She said that most participants called for “free but also fair trade” and underlined the significance of the World Trade Organization. She didn’t specify who didn’t, but concern about President Donald Trump’s “America First” approach to trade and other issues has been running high.

Merkel said Friday that “the discussions are very difficult, I don’t want to talk around that.”

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4:55 p.m.

Hamburg’s fire department says 11 protesters were injured severely and had to be taken to the hospital after some of them fell from a wall during confrontations with the police.

The fire department wrote in a statement some of the protesters fell four meters (13 feet) and were badly injured. A dozen ambulances and 65 firefighters were called to the scene. As they arrived, more and more injured activists showed up for treatment.

The fire department says it treated 26 people and took 14 of them to the hospital. Eleven of those were severely injured. It was not immediately clear why they were trying to climb up the wall.

Protesters and police have been clashing in the city since Thursday. Thousands of activists have come together to protest the Group of 20 summit there.

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4:45 p.m.

French President Emmanuel Macron is stressing the need for commitments to fight global warming as the Group of 20 holds its first summit since President Donald Trump announced he plans to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord.

Macron said on the sidelines of the G-20 summit Friday that he and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would discuss “the common engagement which we must take, we must defend, at a moment when it is called in question by certain people.”

Trudeau says he and Macron would discuss “our firm commitment to Paris” and “collective leadership” to counter climate change.

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4:15 p.m.

Germany’s justice minister has condemned violent clashes at the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg that have injured 160 police officers and led to the detention of more than 40 protesters.

Justice Minister Heiko Maas told the daily Bild on Friday that the violent protests were a disservice to the big crowd of overwhelmingly peaceful demonstrators.

Maas said, “Every peaceful protest is welcome. But that is no free pass for unrestrained rampage.”

The minister added that, “these extremist criminals don’t belong in the streets, but into court. Whoever torches cars and injures police officers does not deserve any kind of tolerance.”

Anti-globalization protesters have set cars ablaze and tried to block entry to the summit grounds. It is not clear how many activists have been injured in the clashes.

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4:00 p.m.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is calling for a careful and pragmatic approach in tackling tensions over North Korea.

Speaking Friday at the start of his meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Putin emphasized the need for a level-headed approach.

He noted that while the problem linked with Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs is “very acute,” it’s “important not to lose self-control and act in a pragmatic, very accurate way.”

The South Korean president emphasized that “the North Korean missile provocation has become a threat to the entire region.”

Moon added that he was pinning great hopes on Putin to persuade Pyongyang to enter a dialogue.

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3:35 p.m.

President Donald Trump was on the far left at the Group of 20 summit — in the leaders’ group photo, that is.

Trump’s position as an outlier was merely a matter of protocol. Pride of place goes to the so-called G20 troika, consisting of current host German Chancellor Angela Merkel flanked by the host of the next meeting, Argentina’s Mauricio Macri, and the host of the last one, China’s Xi Jinping.

Trump wound up out on the wing between Indonesian President Joko Widodo and French President Emmanuel Macron, who has even less seniority than Trump does after being elected in May.

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1:35 p.m.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has told Group of 20 leaders that millions of people are hoping that they can help solve the world’s problems.

Merkel said Friday she’s sure that every leader will make an effort to achieve “good results.”

But she added that “solutions can only be found if we are ready to compromise.” All the same, Merkel said that leaders also should name their differences. Merkel was speaking at the start of a working lunch at which leaders will discuss global growth and trade.

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1:10 p.m.

The pope is urging leaders of the Group of 20 nations to make the poor and refugees a priority of their summit.

Pope Francis said that “in the hearts and minds of leaders and in every phase of taking political measures, it is necessary to give absolute priority to the poor, refugees, those suffering, the displaced, those excluded, without national, racial, religious or cultural distinction.”

The pope also urged leaders to reject armed conflict, urging an end to “useless massacres.” The goal of the G-20, the pope noted, “is to peacefully resolve economic differences.”

Francis said that the leaders should “move to deep reflection” on the fact that the summit brings together 20 nations that represent 90 per cent of the production of goods and services in the world, while those who suffer the most are less represented on the world stage.

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11:35 a.m.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow will urge other nations in the Group of 20 to pool efforts more closely in the fight against terrorism.

Putin said Russia will issue a call to “jointly neutralize political, economic, social and ideological conditions allowing the expansion of terrorism.” He added that “no nation can deal with this evil on its own and offer a reliable protection to its citizens.”

Putin spoke after a meeting with the leaders of China, India, Brazil and South Africa.

The leaders of the so-called BRICS countries met just before the opening of the G-20 summit.

The Kremlin has said that Putin would also raise the need for closer anti-terror co-operation at his long-expected first meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.

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11:05 a.m.

Leaders of China, India, Russia, Brazil and South Africa have met on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Germany, calling for a more open global economy.

In a communique following their meeting in Hamburg early Friday, the BRICS leaders voiced support for a “rules-based, transparent, non-discriminatory, open and inclusive multilateral trading system.”

They emphasized the need for increasing “the voice and representation” of the emerging markets and developing countries in global economic and financial institutions.

Speaking at the meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke against global trade restrictions, saying that financial sanctions under political pretexts hurt mutual confidence and damaged the global economy — an apparent reference to Western sanctions against Russia.

The BRICS leaders also urged the international community to jointly work to implement the Paris climate agreement.

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10:40 a.m.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is welcoming President Donald Trump and other leaders of the Group of 20 global economic powers to a two-day summit in Hamburg.

The meeting at the city’s trade fair centre opens Friday with a discussion on fighting terrorism — one of the least contentious subjects on an agenda that also includes global trade and climate.

The G-20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, France, Britain, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United States and the European Union. Saudi Arabia’s King Salman isn’t attending, and his country is represented by Ibrahim al-Assaf, the minister of state.

Also attending the summit are the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Guinea, Senegal, Singapore and Vietnam.

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9:45 a.m.

Hamburg police say they have used a water cannon to clear a blockade by protesters ahead of the opening of the Group of 20 summit.

Police said the incident happened on the banks of the Outer Alster lake, some distance from the trade fair grounds where the summit is being held, on Friday morning. They said they had repeatedly told a group of protesters to clear the road.

Officers repeatedly used water cannons, as well as pepper spray and batons, on Thursday evening amid clashes with violent protesters.

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9 a.m.

The Group of 20 summit is getting underway in Hamburg, with terrorism, global trade and climate change among the issues on the agenda as leaders gather under tight security.

The host, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, says she hopes to find “compromises and answers” on a range of issues at the two-day meeting of leading economic powers opening Friday. While there’s little disagreement on fighting terrorism, prospects of finding common ground on climate change and trade look uncertain.

The meeting opens after skirmishes Thursday evening between police and violent protesters elsewhere in the port city, Germany’s second-biggest. Police said that at least 76 officers were hurt, one of whom had to be taken to a hospital with an eye injury after a firework exploded in front of him.

The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

The Latest: G-20 leaders, spouses dine on local delicacies

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