What You Need to Know About the G20 So Far

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.

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.

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

• How to Survive a Nuclear Strike
• What You Can Do to Repel Mosquitoes (And Why They Bite Some of Us More Than Others)
• Independence Is Still a Revolutionary Act
• The Last Minute Shopper’s Guide to Panic Prepping

Other Articles of Interest

• 7 Fast Facts About the Economic Collapse of Illinois
• It’s Official: Michael Snyder Is Running For Congress And He Wants To Turn Over The Tables In Washington D.C.
• FEMA: ‘The Threat Is Real’ – Unpublished Internal Report Warns 4-10 Years Without Electricity After Major Solar Storm
• Freedom is Not Necessarily the Absence of Tyranny
• Trump Sends in the Gun Confiscation Cops
• Loretta Lynch Plot Thickens As New Details Emerge Of Her Dealings With The Hillary Campaign

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!