DENPASAR, Bali: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year appeared to overshadow all else on the agenda of the leaders’ meeting of the Group of 20 on Tuesday, with the conflict in Europe having fueled geopolitical tensions and a global surge in food and energy prices. Leaders of G20 member states, invited countries and international organizations have gathered in Bali to discuss the pressing challenges facing the global economy, which is creeping toward a recession. Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most populous country and Southeast Asia’s largest economy, is hosting the summit under the t ..read more

KYIV: President Joe Biden convened an “emergency” meeting of the Group of Seven and NATO leaders in Indonesia Wednesday morning for consultations after NATO-ally Poland said a “Russian-made” missile killed two people in the eastern part of its country near the Ukraine border. Biden, who was awakened overnight by staff with the news of the missile explosion while in Indonesia for the Group of 20 summit, called Polish President Andrzej Duda early Wednesday to express his “deep condolences” for the loss of life. Biden promised on Twitter “full U.S support for and assistance with Poland’s investi ..read more

LAGOS: The world’s population is projected to hit an estimated 8 billion people on Tuesday, according to a United Nations projection, with much of the growth coming from developing nations in Africa. Among them is Nigeria, where resources are already stretched to the limit. More than 15 million people in Lagos compete for everything from electricity to light their homes to spots on crowded buses, often for two-hour commutes each way in this sprawling megacity. Some Nigerian children set off for school as early as 5 a.m. And over the next three decades, the West African nation’s population is ..read more

KYIV: A Russian missile barrage on the Ukrainian power grid sent the war spilling over into neighboring countries Tuesday, hitting NATO member Poland and cutting electricity to much of Moldova.It was Russia’s biggest barrage yet, and some of the missiles crossed into Poland, where two people were killed, according to a US official. It marked the first time in the war that Russian weapons have come down on a NATO country.Polish government spokesman Piotr Mueller did not immediately confirm the information from a senior US intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of th ..read more

DENPASAR, Bali: The Group of 20 Summit opened on Tuesday with calls to end the war in Ukraine, as world leaders gather for discussions on mending the struggling global economy after the coronavirus pandemic and the fallout of the conflict in Europe. The G20, comprising 19 states and the EU, accounts for over 80 percent of the world’s GDP, 75 percent of international trade, and 60 percent of its population. The group includes countries ranging from Brazil to Saudi Arabia. Indonesia, which this year holds the rotating G20 presidency, is hosting the leader’s summit in Bali on Nov. 15-16, with 17 ..read more

ROME: A Naples drug trafficker on Europol’s most wanted list and on the run since 2003 was extradited from Syria and arrested in Rome on Tuesday.Bruno Carbone, 45, a major drug supplier to Naples’ Camorra mafia who fled an Italian court’s sentence of 20 years in prison for international drug trafficking was detained at Rome’s Ciampino airport on Tuesday morning, Naples police said.An official in a northwestern Syrian area held by the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) militants group said Carbone was arrested “while passing through the ‘liberated’ areas in March with the aim of reaching the regions u ..read more

LONDON: UK Counter Terrorism Policing have said they are monitoring threats from extremists against migrants and refugees after an attack by a man with far-right beliefs on a processing facility on Oct. 30. Andrew Leak, who had previously tweeted about burning Muslim children alive, killed himself after throwing homemade explosives at the Western Jet Foil Asylum Processing Centre in Dover. The number of people trying to enter the UK via the English Channel has risen significantly in the past few years, driven in part by people seeking safety from countries including Iran and Afghanistan. In S ..read more

BEIJING: Protesters in southern China clashed with police in a rare display of public opposition to anti-COVID measures, videos posted online showed, after lockdowns in the area were extended over a surge in infections.Videos circulating on social media since Monday night and verified by AFP showed hundreds taking to the street in the industrial metropolis of Guangzhou, some tearing down cordons intended to keep locked-down residents from leaving their homes.A few scuffled with officials in hazmat suits.”No more testing,” protesters chanted, with some throwing debris at police.Another video s ..read more

INDONESIA: Now is the time to end Russia’s “destructive” war and “save thousands of lives,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the G20 summit in Bali via video address on Tuesday.”I am convinced now is the time when the Russian destructive war must and can be stopped,” he said, according to a speech obtained by AFP. “It will save thousands of lives.”Wearing his now-familiar army green T-shirt and speaking in Ukrainian, Zelensky addressed leaders including China’s Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden.Russian President Vladimir Putin was not in the room, however, having shunned the ga ..read more

NUSA DUA, Indonesia: The G20 will issue an end-of-summit statement in which “most” members will strongly condemn Russia’s war against Ukraine, a senior US official said Tuesday in Bali.”I think you’re going to see most members of the G-20 make clear that they condemn Russia’s war in Ukraine, that they see Russia’s war in Ukraine as the root source of immense economic and humanitarian suffering in the world,” the official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity.The statement, to be issued at the end of the summit this week in Bali, will show that the G20 is “really isolating Russia ..read more