VoV Web Desk

G-20 Protests Resume in Hamburg, as Trump and Putin Prepare to Meet

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RIGHT NOW Protesters have taken to the streets of Hamburg, Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany opened the Group of 20 summit meeting.

Several high-profile issues are on the agenda of the gathering, including climate change, global trade, North KoreaSyria and Ukraine. Leaders will also be meeting in smaller groups.

• The focus is likely to be on one particular face-to-face encounter: between President Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir V. Putin. The two men have already shaken hands, though their meeting starts only around 3:45 p.m. local time.

• Mr. Trump was active on Twitter on Friday morning. He described the reaction to his speech in Poland and a meeting with Mrs. Merkel of Germany as “great,” and then said “everyone here” is talking about John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager.

 Mr. Trump wants the United States to wield its economic dominance to dictate the rules of global trade, but other countries seem unwilling to follow. As if to make that point, the European Union and Japan agreed on Thursday to the outlines of a trade deal that would diminish opportunities for American companies.

Hamburg awoke on Friday to the buzz of helicopters and the wailing of sirens, as police officers rushed to keep up with protesters who had gathered at the city’s major intersections in an effort to block the routes G-20 leaders were to take to the Messehallen Convention Center, the site of the meeting.

Protesters burned several vehicles and set fire to trash hauling bins overnight, and columns of smoke could be seen rising over the city again early Friday. Taxi drivers were avoiding the city center, some in protest, others to protect their vehicles.

“We remind you that gatherings in the transit corridors will not be tolerated,” the police said on Twitter. The authorities used water cannons to stop the protesters from advancing.

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