G20: Rishi Sunak to set out global economic plan at summit – where he will face Putin’s right-hand man
Rishi Sunak will set out a five-point economic action plan to address global instability and the rising cost of living at this week’s G20 summit – where he will face Russia’s foreign minister and call out Vladimir Putin’s regime.
The prime minister is travelling to Bali for talks with leaders of the world’s biggest economies in his second test on the world stage since gaining office less than a month ago, following his swift visit to the COP27 climate talks in Egypt.
US President Joe Biden, France’s Emmanuel Macron and China’s Xi Jinping will all be present at the talks on Tuesday and Wednesday.
They are all expected to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and confront him. President Putin will likely skip the meeting despite Russia being a G20 member, in the face of condemnation of his war in Ukraine.
Mr Sunak warned this year’s meeting will not be “business as usual” as the world confronts the most significant set of economic challenges since the first G20 meeting in 2008, which took place in response to the financial crisis at the time.
The prime minister said he will “call out Putin’s regime” during the first encounter between a British prime minister and Russian government officials since the invasion began in February.
Ahead of the trip to Indonesia, Mr Sunak’s official spokesman said: “We will absolutely use every opportunity to confront Russia about their continued illegal actions.
“We will speak with our allies in one voice on this.”
It is likely to be the most fractious G20 meeting ever as divisions between the world’s 20 major economies are so deep the traditional “family photo” of all the leaders has been called off because many leaders will not want to be pictured with anybody from Putin’s regime.
Diplomats have raised doubts leaders will be able to issue a joint communique at the end of the summit, as usually happens.
While most would like to agree on a statement condemning Russia, that will not happen as Russia would have to agree to it.
Mr Sunak’s spokesman said whether there is a communique or not will make no difference to the UK’s position, adding; “We will ensure the UK’s position is heard loud and clear throughout the summit and we are confident that we will be speaking in line with a wide range of allies.”
Rishi Sunak laid a wreath at the Cenotaph for Remembrance Sunday, with former PMs and Sir Keir Starmer present
Mr Sunak will lay out a five-point economic plan calling for:
• His fellow leaders to direct government support to where it is most needed – in their own countries and internationally
• The end to the weaponisation of food production and distribution, including calling for the Black Sea Grain Initiative to be renewed on 19 November and a G20-wide commitment to never use food as a weapon
• Each country’s energy security to be strengthened and to reduce energy dependence on Russia by working with partners to unlock investment needed to accelerate to green energy
• The opening up of global trade, including advancing bilateral free trade agreements and reform of the World Trade Organisation to “release the opportunities of the 21st Century while tackling the manipulation of global markets by malign actors”
• Honest, reliable finance to help developing countries grow sustainably by ensuring the international financial system can help those countries grow without becoming dependent on lenders.
Read more: Analysis – Sunak’s premiership is about to start for real – he faces a huge week at home and abroad
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Chancellor: ‘We’ll be asking everyone for sacrifices’
Mr Sunak will meet Mr Biden for the first time, with the pair due to hold bilateral talks, but the US president’s priority is likely to be talking to President Xi to establish “red lines” as US-Chinese relations remain fraught.
The PM is also set to have one-on-one meetings with India’s PM Narendra Modi, Japan’s premier Fumio Kishida, new Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
After a rocky few months in UK politics, with three PMs in two months, Mr Sunak will be keen to use the summit to restore Britain’s reputation for reliability and stability.
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The summit will also be an opportunity to influence an international agenda ahead of the chancellor’s autumn statement this Thursday, Mr Sunak’s spokesman said.
The PM said: “Later this week the autumn statement will set out how we will get this country on the right path, put public finances on a stable footing and get debt falling.
“Creating a stable international system that protects the most vulnerable will be a core part of that work.
“But addressing the biggest economic crisis in a decade will require a concerted effort by the world’s largest economies – these are not problems we can solve alone.
“At the G20, leaders need to step up to fix the weaknesses in the international economic system which Putin has exploited for years.”
World
‘Widespread sexual violence’ took place during Hamas’s 7 October attacks, report by Israeli experts says
A newly released report led by Israeli legal and gender experts presents detailed evidence alleging “widespread and systematic” sexual violence during the Hamas-led terror attack on 7 October.
Warning: This story contains descriptions of rape and sexual violence
The findings, published by the Dinah Project, argue that these acts amount to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), and assert that “Hamas used sexual violence as a tactical weapon of war”.
The report draws on 18 months of investigation and is based on survivor testimonies, eyewitness accounts, and interviews with first responders, morgue personnel and healthcare professionals.
According to the Dinah Project, the documented patterns – such as forced nudity, gang rapes, genital mutilation, and threats of forced marriage – indicate a deliberate and coordinated use of sexual violence by Hamas operatives during the attack.
Reported incidents span at least six locations, including the Nova music festival, and several kibbutzim in southern Israel.
A destroyed car near the police station in Sderot, following the 7 October attacks by Hamas. Pic: AP
One section of the report describes victims “found fully or partially naked from the waist down, with their hands tied behind their backs and/or to structures such as trees and poles, and shot”.
At the Nova music festival and surrounding areas, the investigators found “reasonable grounds to believe” that multiple women were raped or gang-raped before being killed.
The report’s findings are consistent with earlier investigations by the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Read more:
What is the possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal?
Israeli soldier describes arbitrary killing of civilians in Gaza
The UN’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict previously concluded that there were “reasonable grounds to believe” CRSV took place during the attack.
Destroyed vehicles near the grounds of the Supernova electronic music festival. Pic: AP
Significantly, the Dinah Project urges the international community to officially recognise the use of sexual violence by Hamas as a deliberate strategy of war and calls on the United Nations to add Hamas to its list of parties responsible for conflict-related sexual violence.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
The nature and scale of sexual violence on 7 October have been a subject of intense controversy, with some accusing parties of weaponising the narrative for political ends.
This report seeks to confront what its authors call “denial, misinformation, and global silence,” and to provide justice for the victims.
Hamas has denied that its fighters have used sexual violence and mistreated female hostages.
World
Israeli soldiers ‘psychologically broken’ after ‘confronting the reality’ in Gaza, UN expert says
A UN expert has said some young soldiers in the Israeli Defence Forces are being left “psychologically broken” after “confront[ing] the reality among the rubble” when serving in Gaza.
Francesca Albanese, the UN Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, was responding to a Sky News interview with an Israeli solider who described arbitrary killing of civilians in Gaza.
She told The World with Yalda Hakim that “many” of the young people fighting in Gaza are “haunted by what they have seen, what they have done”.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Ms Albanese said. “This is not a war, this is an assault against civilians and this is producing a fracture in many of them.
“As that soldier’s testimony reveals, especially the youngest among the soldiers have been convinced this is a form of patriotism, of defending Israel and Israeli society against this opaque but very hard felt enemy, which is Hamas.
“But the thing is that they’ve come to confront the reality among the rubble of Gaza.”
An Israeli soldier directs a tank near the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel. Pic: AP
Being in Gaza is “probably this is the first time the Israeli soldiers are awakening to this,” she added. “And they don’t make sense of this because their attachment to being part of the IDF, which is embedded in their national ideology, is too strong.
“This is why they are psychologically broken.”
Jonathan Conricus, a former IDF spokesman who is now a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, said he believes the Sky News interview with the former IDF solider “reflects one part of how ugly, difficult and horrible fighting in a densely populated, urban terrain is”.
“I think [the ex-soldier] is reflecting on how difficult it is to fight in such an area and what the challenges are on the battlefield,” he said.
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Ex-IDF spokesperson: ‘No distinction between military and civilians’
‘An economy of genocide’
Ms Albanese, one of dozens of independent UN-mandated experts, also said her most recent report for the human rights council has identified “an economy of genocide” in Israel.
The system, she told Hakim, is made up of more than 60 private sector companies “that have become enmeshed in the economy of occupation […] that have Israel displace the Palestinians and replace them with settlers, settlements and infrastructure Israel runs.”
Israel has rejected allegations of genocide in Gaza, citing its right to defend itself after Hamas’s attack on 7 October 2023.
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‘Israel has shifted towards economy of genocide’
The companies named in Ms Albanese’s report are in, but not limited to, the financial sector, big tech and the military industry.
“These companies can be held responsible for being directed linked to, or contributing, or causing human rights impacts,” she said. “We’re not talking of human rights violations, we are talking of crimes.”
“Some of the companies have engaged in good faith, others have not,” Ms Albanese said.
Read more:
Israeli soldier describes arbitrary killing of civilians in Gaza
British surgeons on life in Gaza
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
The companies she has named include American technology giant Palantir, which has issued a statement to Sky News.
It said it is “not true” that Palantir “is the (or a) developer of the ‘Gospel’ – the AI-assisted targeting software allegedly used by the IDF in Gaza, and that we are involved with the ‘Lavender’ database used by the IDF for targeting cross-referencing”.
“Both capabilities are independent of and pre-ate Palantir’s announced partnership with the Israeli Defence Ministry,” the statement added.
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