Europe

    US President Donald Trump confirmed today that he will be coming to London, and said he thinks a trade deal with the UK will be completed very, very quickly. Trump made the comments while speaking today at the G20 summit in Hamburg, where he met the Prime Minister for talks. Theresa May is discussing her ambitions for post-Brexit trade deals with the US and Japan on the final day of the G20 summit, as leaders battle through very difficult talks. Trump said he anticipates an agreement on new trading arrangements with Britain to be a "very powerful" one that would work "great for both countries". May and Trump's bilateral meeting today is expected to span trade, climate change, and terrorism. The President did not provide more detail on when he'll be coming to the capital, s...

    The growing international isolation of the United States under President Trump was starkly apparent Friday as the leaders of major world economies mounted a near-united opposition front against Washington on issues ranging from climate to free trade. At a gathering of the Group of 20 world economic powers normally a venue for drab displays of international comity there were tough clashes with the United States and even talk of a possible transatlantic trade war. The tensions were a measure of Trump’s sharp break with previous U.S. policies. They were also a warning signal of Washington’s diminished clout, as the leaders of the other 19 nations gathered in Hamburg mulled whether to fix their signatures to statements that would exclude Trump or to find some sort of compromis...

    Angela Merkel was visibly irritated by Vladimir Putin as he tried to lecture her at the G20 summit in Hamburg today (7 July). The German Chancellor was filmed rolling her eyes as the Russian president reeled off a short monologue while gesticulating wildly with his finger. The incident was captured by cameras as the leaders interacted after a meeting with the 18 other heads of the world's most powerful industrial nations. It is not known what the pair were discussing, but the relationship between Russia and western European nations is at a low following the Russian annexation of the Crimea. The Syrian conflict and the remilitarisation of the Crimea are also bones of great contention between Germany, the most influential EU nation, and Putin's country. The G20 summit has be...

    President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have had their first official meeting before a more formal sit-down later Friday. The two leaders shook hands away from the press at the Group of 20 (G-20) summit, but the moment was captured in a video posted on the German Cabinet's Facebook page. In it, Putin is seen genially smiling at Trump before reaching out to meet the president's handshake. Trump firmly pats him on the back. Trump and Putin shake hands for first time The handshake came as Trump and Putin prepare for their first bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting in Hamburg. Trump tweeted about the upcoming talks Friday morning, saying they had much to discuss. While Trump is also set to hold meetings with other leaders, including Mexican Presi...

    With more than 200 NGOs from around the world, the King Khalid Foundation (KKF) has represented NGOs in Saudi Arabia in an open meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, ahead of the G20 summit in Hamburg, to discuss economic and development issues that concern the world today. The KKF has been invited to take part in civil society discussions C2017 on issues like global health, climate, agriculture, finance systems reform, protection in labor market and other issues. The KKF›s participation in these discussions was in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 objectives and outputs, mainly highlighting those fundamental recommendations aiming at restructuring Saudi economy, maximizing resources, and providing a stimulating and safe environment in the labor market. Vision 2030 h...

    Suspects in the shooting down of the MH-17 passenger jet will be prosecuted in a Dutch court, the country's foreign ministry has announced. The ministry said international cooperation would continue during the prosecution. Nearly 300 people died when MH-17 was downed in 2014. Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said in a statement on Wednesday that the decision had been made by the countries jointly investigating the crash Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, Ukraine and the Netherlands. The decision follows attempts, blocked by Russia in 2015, to set up an international court over the incident, which killed all 298 people aboard the Malaysia Airlines flight. Victims came from 17 countries, and included 196 Dutch. The Dutch Safety Board, which investigated the incident, concluded in O...

    The charred structure of the coach remains as firefighters put out the blaze Up to 18 people are believed to have been killed after a coach collided with a lorry in southern Germany - causing it to catch fire. The accident happened on the A9 motorway near the town of Bayreuth in Bavaria at around 7am local time. Around 46 passengers, plus two drivers, were on board the tour bus at the time of the smash in which 30 people were hurt, some suffered serious injuries. Images of the scene showed both vehicles completely gutted by the blaze. Related video: Several feared dead after bus crash in Germany (Provided by PA) "Unfortunately, numerous people... lost their lives in this burning bus, said Steffen Seibert, a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Police spokesman Ju...

    A man has been arrested after trying to ram a car into a crowd of people in front of a mosque in Paris, police have said. No one was injured in the attack in the Parisian suburb of Creteil. According to Le Parisien newspaper, the man - understood to have been of Armenian origin - said he had wanted to avenge attacks linked to the Islamic State. Paris police said he tried to flee the scene on foot, but was arrested. Test showed he was neither under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The man cited the November 2015 attack on the Bataclan nightclub in which 90 people died and an incident earlier this month when a heavily armed driver died in a botched suicide attack at the Champs-Elysées roundabout A statement released by police said: "An individual driving a 4x4 vehicle hit ...

    Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, has said he still holds out hope that Brexit can be reversed, despite official talks starting this week. The senior politician said he had been asked by British friends if there was a way to stop or reverse Britain’s exit from the EU. Mr Tusk said: I told them that in fact the EU was built on dreams that seemed impossible to achieve. So who knows? You may say I am a dreamer but I'm not the only one, he added, quoting John Lennon's song, Imagine. His remarks came hours before EU leaders meet in Brussels to discuss terrorism and security. But Brexit is also likely to dominate, with Theresa May set to update her European colleagues on the future for EU citizens living in the UK. The two-day summit, Ms May’s first outing with EU ...

    Belgian counter-terrorism police are investigating the motives of a suspected suicide bomber shot dead by troops guarding a Brussels railway station after he set off explosives that failed to injure anyone. We consider this a terrorist attack, prosecutor Eric Van Der Sypt told reporters, declining to comment on witness accounts that the man had shouted Islamist slogans before detonating what witnesses said were one or two devices in luggage. Broadcaster VTM quoted Interior Minister Jan Jambon as saying investigators had identified the man but were not releasing his name. A larger bomb failed to go off, VTM said. Public broadcaster VRT said investigators believed the man had a nail bomb that failed to detonate completely. Although no one was hurt, billows of smoke pouring t...