Japan

OSAKA /Japan/, June 28. /TASS/: The leaders of the BRICS member-countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have highlighted the need for cooperation between businesses and government to prevent the use of digital platforms for recruitment by terrorists, the association said in a statement for the media following its meeting held on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

OSAKA /Japan/, June 28. /TASS/: Russia will host the BRICS summit in the summer of 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday at a meeting with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

"In November, we will have to work together in Brazil within BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa - TASS], and next summer we will hold another meeting of the group of five nations in Russia," Putin noted.

OSAKA /Japan/, June 28. /TASS/: The meeting between the President of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, on the sidelines of the G20 summit lasted 80 minutes, TASS reports.

Earlier, it was suggested that the conversation will take up between 60 and 90 minutes.

OSAKA, Japan (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump’s trip to Asia (all times local):

11:00 a. m.

President Donald Trump says German Chancellor Angela Merkel is a “fantastic person” and he’s “glad to have her as a friend.”

Trump commented Friday as he and Merkel met on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Japan. Merkel said last year that she won’t seek a fifth term as chancellor and Trump has complained outside of her presence that Germany is taking advantage of the U.S. on support for NATO.

OSAKA, Japan (AP) — The Latest on the Group of 20 summit meetings in Osaka, Japan (all times local):

1:50 p.m.

Pro-democracy activists are urging Group of 20 leaders at the summit in Osaka to pressure Chinese President Xi Jinping to improve the human rights of his people, including minorities and those in Hong Kong.

OSAKA, Japan (AP) — World leaders attending a Group of 20 summit in Japan are clashing over the values that have served for decades as the foundation of their cooperation.

European Union President Donald Tusk on Friday blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin for suggesting in an interview with the newspaper Financial Times that liberalism was “obsolete.”

In a statement to reporters, Tusk said, “We are here as Europeans also to firmly and unequivocally defend and promote liberal democracy.”

OSAKA, Japan (AP) — With an eye on the race back home to challenge him, President Donald Trump opened his most consequential trip of the year Friday by pushing allies on trade and defense spending at an international summit.

Trump opened the G20 summit in Japan by meeting with the host, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, followed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He sounded optimistic about inking trade deals with all three and praised alliances he has strained in the past.

OSAKA, Japan (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping and other world leaders are gathering in Osaka for a summit of the Group of 20 major economies that is likely to be overshadowed by both trade and geopolitical tensions.

President Donald Trump was due to arrive later Thursday, and to meet with Xi on Saturday as the G-20 meetings conclude.

Xi was also expected to hold talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, seeking a breakthrough after years of strain over territorial disputes. It is his first visit to Japan since he became communist China’s top leader in 2013.

Sydney, Jun 26 (AFP/PTI) Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday warned that "collateral damage" from trade spats between China and the United States were hurting smaller countries and threatening the global economy.

In an usually public warning to allies in Washington, Morrison said the "world's most important bilateral relationship -- the US-China relationship" had become "strained".

TOKYO (AP) — Japan has a plastic problem.

In a country where cleanliness and neat packaging have long been considered good service, almost everything, from single bananas to individual pieces of vegetables, pastries, pens and cosmetics is sold plastic-wrapped.

But as world leaders descend on Osaka for the two-day G-20 summit that starts Friday, Japan will attempt to become a leader in environmental policy at the same time it plays catch-up with countries that already have well-defined goals in place.