Scott Morrison says quick resolution of US-China trade dispute ‘unrealistic’

PM says ‘substantial and difficult’ issues to be resolved in standoff after speaking with Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at the G20 in Osaka

Scott Morrison says it is “unrealistic” to expect a quick resolution of the damaging trade dispute between the United States and China on Saturday at the G20 meeting in Osaka.

After conversations with Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, Morrison told travelling reporters on Friday there was a determination to resolve the standoff but he was not “naive” about how quickly the two countries would come to terms because there were “real, substantial and difficult issues to be resolved”.

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Theresa May to meet Vladimir Putin at G20 summit in Japan

Russian president aiming to improve relations with Britain, Kremlin says

Vladimir Putin will meet Theresa May at this week’s G20 summit in Japan with a view to seeking improved relations between the countries, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.

The outgoing UK prime minister’s spokesman stressed that the meeting with the Russian president did not represent a normalisation of ties.

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Hong Kong protesters hold noisy rally outside police headquarters

About a thousand people wearing masks and hats build barricades and obscure cameras with umbrellas

About a thousand people have held a noisy rally outside the police headquarters in downtown Hong Kong, calling for the release of protesters arrested during this month’s wave of political unrest, following a peaceful demonstration earlier on Wednesday.

The protesters, mostly dressed in black and many covering their faces with masks and wearing hard hats, occupied the streets around the police headquarters in Wan Chai after 10pm and chanted loudly “Shame on you” and “Release the righteous fighters” to the beating of drums.

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Hong Kong protesters call on foreign leaders to raise crisis at G20

Demonstrators march on consulates to petition overseas governments to assist in fight against ‘authoritarian regime’

Hundreds have gathered at a rally in Hong Kong and marched to foreign consulates to lobby international governments about the city’s political crisis during the G20 summit this week.

President Xi Jinping of China and the US president, Donald Trump, are expected to meet at the summit in Japan amid heightened trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

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Super funds and investors with $34tn urge leaders to speed up climate action

Fund managers call on world leaders to bring in carbon pricing and phase out coal power ahead of G20

Superannuation funds and investors representing US$34tn in assets – nearly half of the total under management across the globe – have called on world leaders to bring in carbon pricing and phase out coal power to limit global heating to 1.5C.

Released ahead of a G20 leaders meeting in Osaka, Japan, the statement by 477 institutional investors urges world leaders to accelerate their response to the climate crisis to ensure the goals of the 2015 Paris climate deal can be met.

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UK has biggest fossil fuel subsidies in the EU, finds commission

Subsidies for coal, oil and gas are not falling despite EU pledges to tackle climate change

The UK leads the European Union in giving subsidies to fossil fuels, according to a report from the European commission. It found €12bn (£10.5bn) a year in support for fossil fuels in the UK, significantly more than the €8.3bn spent on renewable energy.

The commission report warned that the total subsidies for coal, oil and gas across the EU remained at the same level as 2008. This is despite both the EU and G20 having long pledged to phase out the subsidies, which hamper the rapid transition to clean energy needed to fight climate change.

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