World leaders arrive for G20 summit in Buenos Aires
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The G20 Summit in Argentina kicked off with world leaders huddling on the sidelines to discuss their response to the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was seen discussing the death with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who appeared to be ignored during the group’s official “family photo” portrait session.
Meanwhile, confusion remains over whether Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will meet during the summit.
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The president kicked off Friday morning with a series of angry tweets after the White House reaffirmed he had cancelled an expected discussion with Mr Putin, despite the Kremlin claiming otherwise.
“Oh, I get it! I am a very good developer, happily living my life, when I see our Country going in the wrong direction (to put it mildly). Against all odds, I decide to run for President & continue to run my business-very legal & very cool, talked about it on the campaign trail...,” he tweeted.
“....Lightly looked at doing a building somewhere in Russia. Put up zero money, zero guarantees and didn’t do the project. Witch Hunt!”
Reports suggest Mr Trump is in a “terrible mood” and “completely distracted” as he headed to the event.
The president responded to news of Mr Cohen’s plea deal by saying he was a “weak person and not a very smart person.”
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Mr Trump will be having a number of meetings at the summit in Buenos Aires starting the day at 6.50am local time and finishing 10.10pm. He said on Thursday he had cancelled a meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, due to the country’s conflict with Ukraine.
The president has downgraded a number of his bilateral meetings as he feels “there’s nothing in them for him”, according to CNN.
Issues such as the trade war between the US and China and the conflict over Ukraine are likely to dominate the agenda.
Ahead of the summit Mr Trump said current tariff levels on Chinese imports would rise as planned.
The summit is being held in South America for the first time and Michael Shifter, head of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank, said G20 summits wer once considered an opportunity for Latin American members Argentina, Brazil and Mexico to shape the global agenda.
“That turned out to be a fleeting aspiration,” Mr Shifter said.
“...Argentine president Mauricio Macri, the summit’s host, has lowered expectations. ... Now a success would be a summit meeting that goes smoothly, without any major disruption.”
It is a forum which sees 19 leading countries and the European Union meet annually to discuss policies to address the world's "most pressing challenges".
The member countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The 19 members and the EU account for around 66 per cent of the global population and nearly 80 per cent of world trade.
The idea for the G20 started within the G7 meeting of finance ministers in 1999 who felt they needed a more broad group to address the world's financial challenges.
After the financial crisis of 2008, the G20 worked on stabilising the world's economy and also looks at markets, trade and development.
Argentinian president Mauricio Macri said the slogan of the summit is a "fair and sustainable future" with a focus on "putting people first" and "building consensus".
Discussions at the event take place behind closed doors, but the aim is to create a final document which all members agree on to promote "fair and sustainable development".
Russia believes Donald Trump cancelled his meeting with Vladimir Putin due to domestic issues rather than the Ukraine situation, its foreign ministry said.
An electronic failure caused a plane carrying Chancellor Angela Merkel to the G20 summit to make an unscheduled landing, a German Air Force spokesman said.
"The (electronic) distribution box was the cause," the spokesman said.
Human rights group Amnesty International has urged Theresa May to raise concerns about abuses in Turkey, India and Saudi Arabia when she meets their leaders at the G20 summit
The director of Amnesty International UK, Kate Allen, said:
Mrs May is obviously heavily focused on Brexit, but the G20 should also be an occasion for reaffirming the UK's commitment to human rights
In discussions with President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan, we'd like Mrs May to denounce the brutal crackdown on Turkey's independent civil society, including the detention of hundreds of activists, journalists and academics.
With Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi, we'd like Theresa May to ask for assurances that NGOs like Amnesty India and Greenpeace India will be able to continue their operations unhindered by politically-motivated restrictions.
And face to face with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Theresa May should politely but firmly insist that only a UN investigation into the grisly murder of Jamal Khashoggi is going to be sufficient.
The PM should also inform the Crown Prince that it is in his international interest to order the release of Loujain al-Hathloul and other jailed women rights activists in Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, he should ensure that there is an urgent investigation into deeply disturbing reports that some activists have been tortured in detention.
French President Emmanuel Macron will discuss the Renault-Nissan alliance with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a bilateral meeting at the G20 summit.
The 19-year partnership between Renault and Nissan is facing its biggest test to date after the arrest this month of Carlos Ghosn, its larger-than-life leader, for suspected financial misconduct.
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