Extreme-left rioters have caused havoc in a second night or rioting in Hamburg, Germany, as they protest against the G20 meeting of world leaders in a violent demonstration dubbed ‘Welcome to Hell’.
Over 200 police officers have been injured in the rioting, which have seen officers deploy squadrons of water-cannon trucks, baton charges, and tear gas to disperse rioters.
As well as looting shops and burning cars, individuals appeared to be deliberately trying to injure — and even kill police officers. Hamburg police said in a statement Friday night that a 27 year odl German citizen had been arrested after using a laser to temporarily blind two crew members flying a police helicopter over the city. Both men have been unable to return to work due to their injuries.
Police said riots were extremely aggressive in the early hours of Saturday in the city’s Schanzenviertel neighborhood, which is only a few hundred meters (yards) away from the summit grounds. Hundreds of officers went into buildings to arrest rioters wearing black masks from rooftops while being attacked with iron rods and Molotov cocktails. Thirteen activists were arrested when special units stormed one building.
About 500 people looted a supermarket in the neighborhood as well as smaller stores. Cars were torched and street fires lit as activists built barricades with garbage cans and bikes.
On Saturday morning, city cleaners took to the streets sweeping up rubble and using heavy construction equipment to haul away the leftovers of last night’s barricades and fires, while in other parts of Hamburg, peaceful protesters started new marches holding up red balloons and dancing through the streets to live music.
So far, 114 have been arrested and 89 protestors have been temporarily detained.
President Donald Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit on Saturday in Hamburg, where reports reveal the two leaders spoke about trade and North Korea.
In a brief encounter with the press during a photo opportunity, President Xi spoke in Chinese without a translator, according to pooled press reports.
Trump said it was an “honor to have gotten to know” Xi and added the two leaders had “developed a wonderful relationship.”
Trump also remarked on North Korea in the wake of that communist regime’s recent launch of a ballistic missile, which showed it could have the capability of reaching Alaska, according to military experts.
“I appreciate the things that you have done relative to the very substantial problem that we all face in North Korea, a problem that something has to be done about,” Trump said.
“It may take longer than I’d like. It may take longer that you’d like,” Trump said, “but there will be success in the end one way or the other.”
Trump also highlighted trade in his brief remarks.
“Trade, as you know, is a very, very big issue for the United States,” Trump said.
President Donald Trump said that his first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, and which lasted for more than two hours on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, was “tremendous.”
“I had a tremendous meeting yesterday with President Putin,” Trump said while speaking with UK Prime Minister Theresa May on Saturday; the US president did not give further details regarding his meeting with Putin.
The leaders had “positive chemistry” and “connected quickly,” US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said after the meeting on Friday. The leaders discussed many topics, including Ukraine, Syria, and cybersecurity and fighting terrorism, according to Putin; after the meeting US and Russian officials announced a ceasefire agreement in southwest Syria, set to take effect on July 9, and applies to the southern Daraa, Quneitra, and As-Suwayda provinces.
Although the highly-anticipated meeting on Friday lasted more than two hours - 90 minutes longer than it was scheduled - details about what the two world leaders discussed have been scant. Accounts shared by Russian and U.S. officials significantly differ.
Although the highly-anticipated meeting on Friday lasted more than two hours - 90 minutes longer than it was scheduled - details about what the two world leaders discussed have been scant. Accounts shared by Russian and U.S. officials significantly differ.
Tillerson said Trump repeatedly pressed Putin regarding possible Russian interference in the 2016 election. “The two leaders agreed that this is a substantial hindrance on the ability of us to move Russian-U.S. relationships forward and agreed to exchange further work regarding commitments of noninterference in the affairs of the United States and our democratic process as well as those of other countries,” Tillerson said.
On the other hand, in his post-conference briefing, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov implied the topic was brief and not contentious.
"U.S. President Trump said that he heard firm assertions from Russian President Putin that it is not true and that Russian authorities have not meddled in the elections," Lavrov said. “[Trump] said that he accepts these assertions. That's it.”
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