What You Need to Know About the G20 So Far

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By Daisy Luther

Survival Saturday is a round-up of the week’s news and resources for folks who are interested in being prepared.

This Week in the News

Welcome to the G20 Edition of Survival Saturday. This week, we’ll talk about the biggest stories from the G20 Summit, which is currently taking place in Hamburg, Germany.

What IS the G20 Summit?


First, let me provide some background for those who aren’t familiar with the event. G20 is short for The Group of 20. It is an international conference that represents the top 20 countries in the world based on GDP. In fact, 85% of the world’s GDP is represented at the forum. The first G20 was held in 1999 in Berlin. The countries which are part of the G20 are:

G20 is short for The Group of 20. It is an international conference that represents the top 20 countries in the world based on GDP. In fact, 85% of the world’s GDP is represented at the forum. The first G20 was held in 1999 in Berlin. The countries which are part of the G20 are:

  1. Argentina
  2. Australia
  3. Brazil
  4. Canada
  5. China
  6. European Union
  7. France
  8. Germany
  9. India
  10. Indonesia
  11. Italy
  12. Japan
  13. Mexico
  14. Russia
  15. Saudi Arabia
  16. South Africa
  17. South Korea
  18. Turkey
  19. United Kingdom
  20. United States of America

Spain is not a member but is perpetually invited. In fact, host countries can invite heads of state from any country they please. There are no formal votes or resolutions, in fact, the summits are notable for the informal meetings that end up influencing global policies.

This should be interesting since it’s expected that the main topic will be global warming, and we all know President Trump’s position on that particular subject.

Brutal anti-G20 protests are occurring in the streets of Hamburg.


Seriously, you have to wonder if the people who organize these events watch movies like London Has Fallen, when all the world leaders in one place become massive targets of terrorists intent on throwing the world into chaos. But I digress. A little.

The anti-G20 protesters, mostly said to be anti-capitalism activists, have the following bones to pick, according to the BBC:

According to Fox News’ Eric Bolling, the protesters “are angry that America isn’t footing the bill for every social justice issue the world can come up with”.

Speaking to experts and the protesters themselves, it is clear that is not true.

This isn’t about Trump (entirely)

In fact, protesters like these are at most G20 summits, not least during London in 2009 and Toronto in 2010 – both during Barack Obama’s presidency.

While the new US president’s attitude towards climate change may have angered some gathered in Hamburg, Donald Trump is certainly not the only leader to have invoked protesters’ ire.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intervention in Syria, Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s crackdown on dissidents in Turkey and the corruption allegations surrounding Brazil’s Michel Temer were just some of the issues brought up by one protester.

However, the big problem appears to be the very idea that 19 world leaders, plus the two top officials of the European Union, doing deals behind closed doors. (source)

The BBC also says out of about a hundred thousand protesters, all but approximately 8000 who are deemed to be violence risks, are there to peacefully protest capitalism. But, predictions for peace were rather grim:

Ahead of the protests, reports emerged suggesting demonstrators were planning to take advantage of the decision to hold the summit in a busy inner-city area and emulate police crowd control strategies to “kettle Trump, Putin and Erdogan”. (source)

(Kettling refers to a police tactic using large cordons of officers who walk in a direction meant to relocate groups of protestors to a smaller, more contained area.)

Of course, tell that “peaceful protester” story to the Hamburg police, who on Thursday night had to monitor the “Welcome to Hell” March. As if that wasn’t bad enough, things got worse on Friday night. It turned into a battle on the streets, with 200 police officers injured by rioters (because when you start setting things on fire, looting stores, and flinging Molotov cocktails you don’t get to be called a protester anymore.)

Here’s what it looked like in Hamburg during yesterday’s “protests.”

And here’s what local residents woke up to this morning.

The situation is expected to devolve even further today (Saturday.)

The First Lady was trapped in her hotel room after her security detail said they could not safely transport her to an event for the spouses of the leaders. (source)

The majority of the violent protesters are considered to be far-left extremists. Gosh, that sounds familiar. Here’s one statement issued by such a group:

“We are calling on the world to make Hamburg a focal point of the resistance against the old and new capitalist authorities,” a statement from one protest group with ties to the radical left-wing Rote Flora squat. (source)

Another report says:

Far-left extremism has become a feature of protests in recent years, and Hamburg – known for its squatter scene, which developed in the 1980s – is not stranger to violent protests.

They also carried out operations ahead of the summit, finding weapons they believe protesters would have used against officers.

But the city was not just on alert for extremists within its bounds. Police were expecting them to be joined by left-wing extremists from other German cities, including Berlin and Rostock, with others coming from further afield.

In particular, Hamburg’s police chief, Ralf Martin Meyer, was expecting anarchists to travel to Hamburg from Scandinavia, Switzerland and Italy. (source)

Remember that people don’t require passports to go from country to country in Europe, so it wouldn’t be difficult for many reinforcements to arrive.

The Long-Awaited Meeting of Trump and Putin


Finally, after all of the recently retracted hullaballoo about Trump and Russia, the presidents met yesterday at the G20 and it was like a real-life version of House of Cards. I mean, seriously, look at this picture.

Photo op aside, the biggest and best news from this meeting was that Trump and Putin committed to a ceasefire in Syria.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told the media about the agreement:

Tillerson, who sat in on the discussion between the two leaders, told reporters the ceasefire was a “defined agreement” and could be a precursor to further cooperation in Syria.
“This is our first indication of the US and Russia being able to work together in Syria,” Tillerson said.
The two leaders had a “lengthy discussion of other areas in Syria where we can work together,” he added.
After the meeting concluded, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who was also present at the meeting, said that the US, Russia and Jordan have issued a joint memorandum on establishing a de-escalation zone in southwest Syria, in the regions of Daraa, Quneitra and Suwayda.
A ceasefire will come into effect in this de-escalation zone starting at noon Damascus time on July 9.
The US and Russia “promised to ensure that all groups there comply with the ceasefire” and “provide humanitarian access” Lavrov said. Russian military police — coordinating with the US and Jordan — will initially ensure security around the de-escalation zone.  (source)
I’m not a huge Trump fan, but I can look at things with an open mind and I think this is great progress. Not like some members of the mainstream media. To them, Trump can do no right.
Unsurprisingly, the American MSM pooh-poohed the meeting as irrelevant, with headlines like Trump Emerges from Putin Meeting with Ceasefire and Little Else (because you know, no big, we’ll just stop a proxy war and potential actual war)
Democrats were mad that Trump didn’t nail Putin to the wall about the (retracted) Russia-interfered-with-the-election story.
Trump, a Republican who called it an “honor” to meet with the Russian president, drew swift criticism from Democrats at home, who accused him of dismissing U.S. intelligence and giving Putin’s denial, reiterated on Friday, of Russian interference too much weight.

He opened their discussion by pressing Putin about “the concerns of the American people regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election” and had a robust exchange, Tillerson said.

The Russian president has denied any meddling in the U.S. democratic process last year and Moscow has asked for proof that it took place. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Trump accepted Putin’s assertions that the allegations, backed by U.S. intelligence agencies, were false.

Tillerson said they both sought to move on.

“The presidents rightly focused on how do we move forward from what may be simply an intractable disagreement at this point,” Tillerson said.

That explanation did not sit well with Democrats.

Working to compromise the integrity of our election process cannot and should not be an area where ‘agree to disagree’ is an acceptable conclusion,” said U.S. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer in a statement. (source)

Also, one guy didn’t like how Trump sat when he talked to Putin.

Andrew Weiss, a former National Security Council official responsible for Russia, said Trump had sent the wrong signal with upbeat body language and by not pushing Putin harder on alleged Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election.

“The atmospherics were chummy,” said Weiss, who is now at Washington’s Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank in Washington. “The clear push from Trump to normalize U.S.-Russian relations was on display in the meeting.” (source)

Trump and Putin met for two hours and 15 minutes and were said to have had “positive chemistry.”

Really, I’d much rather the United States have “positive chemistry” with one of the few countries that have similar military might than to see us tick off that country, but then again, I’m not a Democrat, so what do I know?

This Week in Preparedness…

One big preparedness concern this week has to be North Korea’s successful missile launch.

During a test on Tuesday, a Hwasong-14 missile went 580 miles and reached an altitude of 1,741 miles during a 37-minute flight.

North Korea’s government-run Korean Central News Agency said the test showcased the missile’s propulsive phases and durability during re-entry. The North Koreans fired the missile at an exceedingly steep trajectory, but experts said its altitude, distance, and flight time leads them to believe the Hwasong-14 could have a range of 4,039 miles or more. That places much of Alaska at risk, along with US allies like Japan and targets as far away as Moscow. (source)

Not. Cool.

Many experts do not believe that North Korea has any nuclear warheads small enough to be transported on their ballistic missiles. Yet. So that is some relief. However, the country is very secretive and they’ve made immense progress in their military recently. Frank Aum, a former Department of Defense senior advisor on North Korea, made a chilling observation:

“Any country that conducts a successful ICBM test, they’ve all been ultimately able to achieve a successful reentry vehicle and miniaturization. So it’s just a matter of time.” (source)

In fact, some experts believe that NK may already have this capability, based on one tiny detail seen in a photo: a “shroud” on the tip of the missile.

ICBMs generally use shrouds if one is “planning on launching multiple reentry vehicles or added countermeasures,” David Schmerler, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies told Business Insider.

Shrouds usually indicate that a missile has multiple, independent nukes for a payload, according to Schermler. A missile with multiple nuclear warheads can not only do more damage to its target, but also pose a greater challenge for missile defenses. (source)

Remember, though, if you are not in the immediate blast zone, a nuclear strike of the type that would be delivered by a ballistic missile would be very survivable as long as you know what to do. This article explains what steps you should take to survive a nuclear strike.

Prepping Articles of Interest This Week

Other Articles of Interest

Anything to add to Survival Saturday?

Do you have any news links you want to share? What are your thoughts on the topics above? Now’s the time! Please post your links in the comments section below and join the discussion!

Daisy Luther

Daisy Luther

Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites.  1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty on her website, 2)  The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived, and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. She is widely republished across alternative media and  Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses. You can find her on FacebookPinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter.

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  • You stated that EU members don’t need a passport to move from country to country within the European Union.Technically you are correct..In practice you need a passport or you don’t get in! I am English. ,and I HAVE to have a passport to travel in Europe.

      • Allegedly we will be gone in 2 years. I guess there will be no visa free travel for the U.K., but right now nobody knows. We have a government that could not organise a party in a brewery , and that is polite!

  • The file footage from the morning after proves what all of us Deplorables already know: the SJWs, the Leftists, the Antifa Folks are all nothing but thieves and liars. It is too bad that guns are outlawed in Germany. One well placed shot would have stopped the looting. And look at the filth and garbage that they leave behind. Unreal.

  • Looking from the future (Monday), I must note that now the big deal is that Trump wanted to form a cyber defence organisation between the US and Russia. Which might mean many different things.

    Also, if North Korea wants to kill everyone, why not just melt the ice caps with a nuke?
    Then rising sea levels could very well kill most people (more than 50% live below 300 ft).

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