ROME -- During a meeting at the Group of 20 summit, the French President Emmanuel Macron met with Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister. They agreed to strengthen ties in the Indo-Pacific.
Macron's office stated that India and France will hold a "strategic dialog" in Paris next week to establish a common agenda. These talks will discuss bilateral, regional, and international issues.
After the September announcement of a secretly negotiated submarine agreement between Australia, the U.S., and Britain, France said India was its "main partner" within the Indo-Pacific region.
Macron's office noted "trust" as well as "independence" among the principles that must guide France's and India's actions within the region shaken up by China's growing influence.
On Saturday, Macron met with Moon Jae-in and Joko Widodo in Indonesia to discuss similar issues.
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ROME-- Leaders expressed broad support for a landmark agreement to establish a global 15% corporate tax. This goal aims to deter multinational countries from using clever accounting techniques to avoid taxes.
Officials from Italy, the host country, stated that leaders discussed the proposal in the summit's opening session on Saturday. After Sunday's closing speech, formal approval will be given and countries will enact the minimum taxes on their own. If a firm's profits are not taxed enough in their home country, the headquarters countries will raise the company's tax by 15%.
Profits can be made in today's digital economy and global economy from intangibles like copyrights or trademarks. These can easily be transferred to countries with near-zero tax rates in the hopes of attracting more revenue.
The key question is whether or not the U.S. Congress will adopt legislation to comply with the directive, as the U.S. hosts 28% of the largest multinationals in the world.
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ROME -- Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, claims that he failed to press President Xi Jinping for China to meet its carbon-cutting targets ahead of a crucial United Nations summit on climate change.
China has released an updated version its climate targets, promising to reach net-zero carbon emission by 2060 and to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030.
Johnson said that he had "pushed" Xi towards moving the peak to 2025 during a phone conversation on Friday.
Johnson stated that he wouldn't have said that he had committed on those issues as he flew to Rome to attend the G-20 summit. Johnson, but not Xi will be hosting world leaders at the two-week climate conference that takes place in Scotland on Sunday.
Johnson stated that Xi had explained to him about China's dependence on coal power. Johnson replied that the U.K. had reduced its coal dependence from 40% in 2008 to 1% today. Johnson suggested that China embrace technology in order to accelerate the transition to renewable energy.
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ROME -- Jill Biden, the U.S. first Lady, claims that she and Brigitte, her French counterpart, enjoyed wine together as if it were their sisters.
The women spent an hour Friday at an Italian restaurant in Rome getting to know each other.
Their husbands, President Joe Biden of the United States and President Emmanuel Macron of France, met elsewhere in the city to end tensions that flared following France's rejection of a U.S. - U.K.-Australia military agreement.
Leaders are in Rome for the Group of 20 Nations summit.
Jill Biden, upon leaving the restaurant, said that the meeting with Brigitte was "wonderful".
She said, "It's nice to have two friends, just like sisters."
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ROME -- Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, has arrived in Italy to address a Group of 20 summit. He is adamant that if leaders around the world don't take action to combat climate change, modern civilization could be like Ancient Rome.
Johnson stated to reporters that Rome's ruins were a "fantastic reminder", a memento mori, for him and others today. He also said that the ruins of Rome are a "memento mori" that shows that society, humanity, and civilization can move backwards as well forwards. And that when things go wrong, they can happen with incredible speed.
Johnson will host a U.N. climate conference for two weeks in Glasgow, Scotland, after the G-20 meeting.
Johnson will call on the G-20 leaders to take action faster, stating that the burden of combating climate change must be shared by the rich nations, who have benefited from the use fossil fuels.
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ROME -- France donated 67,000,000 vaccine doses to the poorest countries in the world, becoming the second largest donor to UN-backed COVAX vaccine initiative.
Jean-Yves Le Drian, French Foreign Minister, stated that France has fulfilled its vaccine donation commitments, which have benefitted over 45 countries, with 30 of them in Africa. France has committed to donating another 60 million doses of vaccines by the middle of 2022.
This announcement was made as finance and health officials gathered in Rome ahead of the Group of 20 summit. They warned of a dual-track recovery plan for pandemics, with COVID-19 vaccine shortages slowing down poorer countries' ability to bounce back from the pandemic.
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ROME -- Representatives from the health and finance sectors met in Rome ahead of the Group of 20 summit. They warned of a dual-track recovery. The COVID-19 vaccine, spending gaps and spending gaps would slow down the recovery of poorer countries.
Kristalina Georgieva (head of the International Monetary Fund) stated Friday that there was $20 billion short in efforts to accelerate vaccinations to reach the goal of having 40% of the world's population vaccinated by the end of this year and 70% by the middle next year.
Bruno Le Maire, French Finance Minister, stated that the growing divergence between developed and developing countries was a "major strategic risk" for the rest of the globe.
Ministers decided to establish a G-20 joint taskforce to fund efforts to fight the pandemic and prevent it from returning.
The UN-backed COVAX initiative has not been able to address severe shortages in poor countries. Summit negotiators are focusing on strengthening local health resources, vaccine supply chain and vaccine production in less wealthy countries.
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ROME -- Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, tried to calm turbulent waters regarding fishing with France while he flew to Rome to attend the G-20 Summit. He is scheduled to meet French President Emmanuel Macron.
He said that France was one of his oldest, best, and most trusted allies, friends, and partners. "The bonds that unify us and bind us together are stronger than any turbulence in our relationship.
He called Macron "a friend" and said that some people on either side may be trying to create discord between France and the U.K. but that he didn't believe Emmanuel shared that view.
Johnson stated that Johnson was "confused" about the situation. Johnson stated that there was an "implicit breach" of the legally binding Brexit Divorce Treaty by France and reiterated Britain’s willingness to respond.
He said, "We will stand ready to take the necessary action." "We would need to respond to any infraction of this agreement by France or any other partner."
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ROME -- U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that the forthcoming climate summit in Glasgow might not be the catalyst for global efforts to combat climate change as many hope.
Guterres spoke to journalists ahead of the G-20 summit in Rome and stated that "there is a serious danger that Glasgow will fail to deliver."
He stated that, despite many countries updating their climate targets, "we are still heading towards climate catastrophe."
Guterres stated that there are "serious doubts" about certain pledges, and pointed out that they won't be sufficient to reduce global temperature rise below 2° Celsius, which was the goal set by U.N. climate talks.
He stated that G-20 leaders in Rome, the countries responsible for most global greenhouse gas emissions, have the opportunity to "put things back on track" for the Glasgow negotiations, which will start as soon as the Rome summit is over.
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VATICAN CITY -- U.S. President Joe Biden arrived at the Vatican to meet privately with Pope Francis.
Two of the most prominent Roman Catholics in the world plan to discuss poverty, climate change, and COVID-19.
Biden and Jill arrived at Vatican in a convoy of over 80 vehicles. This was partly due to Italian COVID-19 restrictions that limit the number of people who can share a vehicle. To greet them, a dozen Swiss Guards stood in the San Damaso courtyard at the Apostolic Palace.
Biden is in Rome to attend the Group of 20 summit.
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VATICAN CITY -- South Korean President Moon Jae In has presented Pope Francis a statue depicting a cross made from barbed wire in the demilitarized area that separates North and South Korea.
Moon, a Catholic called Francis on Friday, before the Group of 20 summit in Rome.
According to the Vatican, independent media were not allowed in the audience. Francis presented Moon with a medallion that reconstructed Bernini's original design for St. Peter's Square. The design envisions that the two main colonnades in the piazza will embrace humanity within the church.
South Korean officials said that they expect Moon and the pope will discuss a possible papal trip to North Korea. This is because Francis has previously expressed his desire to do so. Moon suggested the idea of a papal trip to North Korea in 2018, after he disclosed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said that the pope would be welcomed with enthusiasm in the officially atheist North.
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ROME -- Italy will deploy 5,300 additional troops and officers to curb public transport and seal off entire neighborhoods of Rome during the Group of 20 summit.
As leaders arrived, police were already on the ground. Schools in Rome cancelled afternoon activities to allow students to return home in time. Protests and demonstrations were planned for the entire weekend.
The "Nuvola", a cloud-like convention center, was the main area of security in Rome's Fascist era EUR neighbourhood. Other areas were also being secured depending on the leader's location, such as around the presidential palace or the Trevi fountain.
Leaders of the 20 largest economies in the world are meeting in Rome to discuss COVID-19 economic recovery, and climate change, before they travel to Glasgow, Scotland for the U.N. Climate Conference.
