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  • AS IT HAPPENED: World leaders conclude discussions at G20 Summit


AS IT HAPPENED: World leaders conclude discussions at G20 Summit

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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets the Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the summit. (SPA)
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Having met earlier with the Argentine president Macri, the crown prince met with the Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte later on Saturday afternoon. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets Argentina’s president on the sidelines of the G20 summit. (SPA)
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 Leaders from the world’s major economies are meeting on the second day of the G20 Summit in the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires. (Screenshot)
Updated 02 December 2018
Arab News
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AS IT HAPPENED: World leaders conclude discussions at G20 Summit

  • Leaders from the world’s major economies are meeting on the second day of the summit
  • Saudi Arabia’s delegation is headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
Updated 02 December 2018
Arab News

BEUNOS AIRES: Leaders from the world’s major economies met on the second day of the G20 Summit in the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires on Saturday, having come together for talks on Friday to discuss development, infrastructure and investment. 

Saudi Arabia’s delegation was headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was greeted by world leaders including Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron on day one and met with other attendees on day two.

LATEST

19.15 GMT

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

19:00 GMT

Making his final statements at the G20 Summit, France's president told reporters that he had discussed the Jamal Khashoggi case with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He also spoke with Prince Mohammed about the ongoing situation in Yemen and affirmed France's commitment to supporting a political solution to the conflict. Macron also said that he and the crown prince also discussed oil prices.

18.00 GMT 

Argentina's President Mauricio Macri said that his country planned to discuss some investment ideas with Saudi Arabia.

17:50 GMT

Saudi Arabia's crown prince met the Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the summit.

17.05 GMT

The G20 communique said that the G20 nations reaffirm their commitment to further strengthening the global financial safety net with a strong, quota-based, and adequately resourced IMF at its centre.

G20 signatories to the Paris climate change deal said that they will continue to tackle climate change while promoting sustainable development and economic growth.

Meanwhile, the US reiterated its decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement and affirmed its commitment to utilising all energy sources and technologies while protecting the  environment. 

17.00 GMT

A G20 communique said “We renew our commitment to work together to improve a rules-based international order that is capable of effectively responding to a rapidly changing world.”

Read More: Why the G20 matters now for both Saudi Arabia and the international community

16:30 GMT

Having met earlier with the Argentine president Macri, the crown prince met with the Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte later on Saturday afternoon.

16:00 GMT

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Saturday to hold further talks about events in the Kerch Strait.

Russia is resisting international calls to release three Ukrainian naval ships that its border patrols fired on and seized in the strait near Russian-annexed Crimea last weekend. Moscow accused the 24 sailors of illegally crossing the Russian border.

Merkel voiced her concern about the situation when she met Putin on the sidelines of the summit.

Read More: G20 coverage in Arab News' Spotlight

15:40 GMT

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Argentina’s president Mauricio Macri.

 

15:35 GMT

President Donald Trump canceled a planned news conference at the Group of 20 summit in Argentina Saturday, "out of respect for the Bush Family" after death of former President George H.W. Bush.
In a tweet, Trump said he was "very much looking forward" to speaking with the news media before leaving the summit in Buenos Aires "because we have had such great success in our dealing with various countries and their leaders at the G20."
He added: "However, out of respect for the Bush Family and former President George H.W. Bush we will wait until after the funeral to have a press conference."

15:00 GMT

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged British Prime Minster Theresa May to ensure stability as Britain leaves the European Union and asked her to do what she could to avoid a 'no deal' Brexit.

May secured an agreement with European Union leaders on Nov 25 that would see Britain leave the bloc on March 29 with continued close trade ties, but the odds look stacked against her getting it through a deeply divided British parliament.

Read More: G20 enters final day with work to do on bridging divisions

14:20 GMT

G20 leaders were due to discuss climate change at the morning session of their summit on Saturday and negotiations on a draft communique were expected to last until the final minute, a spokesperson for the Argentine G20 sherpa said.

Leaders were close to agreement on wording over reform of the World Trade Organization and had "advanced a lot" on trade, the spokesperson said: "We are going to negotiate till the last minute"

Read More: AS IT HAPPENED: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets world leaders at G20

13:45 GMT

Day two of the summit began with G20 leaders paying tribute to the former US president George HW Bush, who died on Saturday aged 94. French president Emmanuel Macron said: "He was a world leader, who strongly supported the alliance with Europe.”

While UK prime minister Theresa May lauded Bush as “a great statesman and a true friend of our country.” Current US president Donald Trump said Bush had “inspired generations of his fellow Americans to public service.”

But there was no immediate comment from Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, who in the past has called the breakup of the Soviet Union under Bush’s president a “historical tragedy.”

Read More: What G20 summits have solved

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Among the world leaders the crown prince also met with on day one included Indonesia's vice president and South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa, where he discussed cooperation in the fields of energy and investment. 

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan participated in a G20 working dinner for world finance ministers on the sidelines of the summit on Thursday.

The meeting consisted of two sessions. The first session focused on developments in the global economy, risk management in volatile financial markets, growing trade differences, lessons learned over the last ten years since the group's first summit in November 2008, and ways of cooperation in order to face future challenges of achieving sustainable and comprehensive growth. The second session, which was opened by Al-Jadaan who was the keynote speaker at the session, focussed on financial progress in the group’s works, ways to make its role effective by building on what is has achieved, mechanisms to reach consensus on controversial financial and economic issues, and streamlining the G20 agenda.

Topics: G20 Summit 2018 G20 Saudi Arabia at the G20

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Another construction crane collapse in Thailand kills 2 people a day after deadly train derailment

Updated 5 sec ago
AP
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Another construction crane collapse in Thailand kills 2 people a day after deadly train derailment

  • A construction crane has collapsed onto an elevated road near Bangkok, a day after another construction accident in northeastern Thailand killed 32 people
Updated 5 sec ago
AP
NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand: A construction crane collapsed onto an elevated road near Bangkok, killing two people on Thursday, a day after another crane fell on a moving passenger train in northeastern Thailand and killed 32 people.
The work on an extension of the Rama 2 Road expressway — a major artery leading from Bangkok — has become notorious for construction accidents, some of them fatal.
The crane collapsed at part of the road project in Samut Sakhon province, trapping two vehicles in the wreckage, according to the government’s Public Relations Department.
Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said on Thai TV Channel 7 that two people had died. It was unclear if anyone else had been trapped in the wreckage.
There was uncertainty about the number of victims because the site is still considered too dangerous for search teams to enter, said Suchart Tongteng, a rescue worker with the Ruamkatanyu Foundation.
“At this moment, we still can’t say whether another collapse could happen,” he said, citing dangling steel plates. “That’s why there are no rescue personnel inside the scene, only teams conducting on-site safety assessments.”
At the site of Wednesday’s train derailment, the search for survivors ended, Nakhon Ratchasima Gov. Anuphong Suksomnit said. Three passengers listed as missing were presumed to have gotten off the train earlier, but that was still being investigated.
Officials believed 171 people had been aboard the train’s three carriages, which were being removed from the scene Thursday.
The crane that fell, crushing part of the train, was a launching gantry crane, a mobile piece of equipment often used in building elevated roadways.
Police were still collecting evidence and interviewing witnesses and have not pressed charges, provincial Police Chief Narongsak Promta told reporters.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry reported a South Korean man in his late 30s, was among the dead.
The high-speed rail project where the accident occurred is associated with the plan to connect China with Southeast Asia under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
In August 2024, a railway tunnel on the planned route, also in Nakhon Ratchasima, collapsed, killing three workers.
Anan Phonimdaeng, acting governor of the State Railway of Thailand, said the project’s contractor is Italian-Thai Development, with a Chinese company responsible for design and construction supervision.
A statement posted on the website of the company, also known as Italthai, expressed condolences to the victims and said the company would pay compensation to the families of the dead and hospitalization expenses for the injured.
Transport Minister Phiphat said Italthai was also the lead contractor on the highway project where Thursday’s accident took place, though several other companies are also involved.
The rail accident had already sparked outrage because Italthai was also the co-lead contractor for the State Audit Building in Bangkok that collapsed during construction last March during a major earthquake centered in Myanmar. The building’s collapse was the worst quake damage in Thailand and about 100 people were killed.
Twenty-three individuals and companies have been indicted, including Italthai’s president and the local director for the company China Railway No. 10, the project’s joint venture partner. The charges in the case include professional negligence and document forgery, and Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation has recommended more indictments.
The involvement of Chinese companies in both projects has also drawn attention, as has Italthai and Chinese companies’ involvement in the construction of several expressway extensions in and around Bangkok where several accidents, some fatal, have occurred.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Wednesday the government was aware of the rail accident and had expressed condolences.

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