G20: Trump and Putin debate US election hack at first meeting

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have discussed the alleged Russian hacking of last year's US presidential election during their first meeting.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson described the exchanges as "robust".

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Mr Trump had accepted Mr Putin's assertions that his country was not responsible.

But Mr Tillerson said it was not clear whether the two countries would ever come to an agreement on what happened.

"I think the president is rightly focused on how do we move forward from something that may be an intractable disagreement at this point," he added.

The US and Russian presidents held their first face-to-face talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the German city of Hamburg, which is being held amid sometimes violent protests.

Other topics discussed during their meeting - which lasted nearly two-and-a-quarter hours, longer than originally planned - included the war in Syria, terrorism and cybersecurity.

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"The president opened the meeting with President Putin by raising the concerns of the American people regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election," Mr Tillerson, part of the US delegation, told reporters afterwards.

"They had a very robust and lengthy exchange on the subject. The president pressed President Putin on more than one occasion regarding Russian involvement.

"President Putin denied such involvement, as I think he has done in the past."

Mr Tillerson said the two leaders had "connected very quickly", adding: "There was a very clear positive chemistry between the two. There are so many issues on the table... Just about everything got touched upon... Neither one of them wanted to stop.

"I believe they even sent in the First Lady [Melania Trump] at one point to see if she could get us out of there, but that didn't work either... We did another hour. Clearly she failed!"

Mr Lavrov said: "President Trump said he heard clear statements... that Russian authorities did not intervene [in the US election], and he accepted these declarations."

Mr Tillerson was asked as he was leaving the news conference if this was accurate, but declined to answer.

Media caption

Police fired water cannon as anti-G20 protesters lit fires

Earlier, as the talks began in front of the media before going into private session, Mr Trump told Mr Putin: "It's an honour to be with you."

Mr Putin replied: "I'm delighted to meet you personally."

Mr Trump added: "Putin and I have been discussing various things, and I think it's going very well.

"We've had some very, very good talks. We're going to have a talk now and obviously that will continue. We look forward to a lot of very positive things happening for Russia, for the United States and for everybody concerned."

Mr Putin, via a translator, said that while they had previously spoken by phone, that would never be as good as meeting face to face.

The two men had staked out opposing views on major international issues in the run-up to the summit:

• On Thursday, Mr Trump used a speech in the Polish capital Warsaw to call on Russia to stop "destabilising" Ukraine and other countries, and "join the community of responsible nations"
• Setting out his own G20 agenda in German financial newspaper Handelsblatt, Mr Putin called for US-led sanctions on his country, imposed in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, to be lifted
• Mr Putin also argued strongly in favour of the Paris climate agreement, saying it was a "secure basis for long-term climate regulation" and Russia wanted to make a "comprehensive contribution to its implementation"
• President Trump has taken the US out of the Paris agreement

Russian side happy - analysis by BBC Moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg

Based on the tone and the results of the US-Russia discussions, this meeting is being lauded here in Moscow as a breakthrough.

The head of the Russian parliament's foreign affairs committee predicted it would "stop the rot in US-Russian relations".

Essentially, Vladimir Putin has got what Vladimir Putin wanted: a US president who is focused not on confrontation but on mutually beneficial co-operation; as American leader who is not going to sit there for two hours lecturing his Russian counterpart on democracy, but instead do deals with him.

And there were several agreements: to co-operate in Syria, over Ukraine, and in the area of cyber security. The Kremlin will see all of this as a first step towards a bigger goal: much wider co-operation with America and the scrapping of Western sanctions.

But remember - Donald Trump is under intense pressure back home over his team's alleged links to Moscow. It's far from certain he'll be able to deliver what Russia wants.

First Lady 'trapped'

Climate change and trade are set to dominate the rest of the two-day G20 meeting, taking place amid clashes between protesters and police in the streets outside the venue that have left dozens injured.

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A huge police operation is trying to keep demonstrators - who are protesting against the presence of Mr Trump and Mr Putin, climate change and global wealth inequalities - well away from the summit venue, and water cannon have been deployed.

The US First Lady was at one point unable to leave her hotel in Hamburg because of the protests.

Mrs Trump had been due to take part in an excursion with other leaders' spouses, but her spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said: "The Hamburg police could not give us clearance to leave."

Mrs Trump herself tweeted about her concern for those injured in the protests.

The G20 (Group of Twenty) is a summit for 19 countries, both developed and developing, plus the EU.

Cyprus talks end without a peace and reunification deal

The latest talks aimed at reunifying Cyprus have ended without a deal.

The Greek- and Turkish-Cypriot communities have been split since conflict erupted in 1974. A UN buffer zone separates the two sides.

A round of UN-backed talks in Switzerland, which began in January, were seen as the best chance to move towards a two-state federation.

But despite some signs of progress, the negotiations were deadlocked and called off early on Friday.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters: "Despite the very strong commitment and engagement of all the delegations and the different parties... the Conference on Cyprus was closed without an agreement being reached."

The admission came hours after he flew in to meet Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, and after US Vice-President Mike Pence had phoned the leaders urging them to "seize this historic opportunity".

At the start of the talks, Mr Guterres had said he was hopeful a deal was "very close".

One of the sticking points was over whether 30,000 Turkish troops could stay on after reunification.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said removing them was "out of the question" unless Greece committed to removing its 1,000 troops.

Another obstacle to the deal was the question over how to return property to tens of thousands of Cypriots who fled their homes when Turkey invaded the north of the island in 1974.

That invasion was in response to a military coup on the island which was backed by the Athens government.

The UK, Greece and Turkey currently maintain Cyprus's security.

The two British military bases on the island would not have been affected by the negotiations.

• 1955 - Greek Cypriots seeking unification with Greece begin guerrilla war against British rule
• 1960 - Independence from British rule leads to power-sharing between Greek Cypriot majority and Turkish Cypriot minority
• 1963 and 1964 - inter-communal violence
• 1974 - Cypriot President, Archbishop Makarios, deposed in a coup backed by Greece's military junta - Turkey sends troops to the island, who then occupy a third of it in the north
• 1983 - Rauf Denktash declares breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognised only by Turkey
• 2004 - The internationally-recognised Cyprus joins the EU, after a UN peace plan was backed by Turkish Cypriots but rejected by Greek Cypriots
• BBC NEWS

China hits back on Trump N Korea trade claim

China has issued data suggesting trade with North Korea was not as strong as implied by the United States.

It follows a tweet from Donald Trump that highlighted an "almost 40%" rise in bilateral trade between the two nations in the first quarter of 2017.

China didn't dispute that number, but state media suggested the president's comment was unfair and selective.

The US has been urging Beijing to put pressure on Pyongyang as tensions mount over Kim Jong-un's nuclear ambitions.

China is North Korea's only major ally, trading partner and aid donor.

An exception

Figures from China's Ministry of Commerce show that bilateral trade with North Korea was up 37.4% in the first three months of 2017, compared with the same period a year earlier.

That is roughly the figure President Trump quoted. But the ministry said that when the first five months of the year were taken into account, trade grew by only 13.7%.

And over the same period, imports of North Korean goods into China fell 9.3% to $720m the ministry said.

A report in the state-controlled Global Times suggested the first three months of 2017 were an exception, and came after three consecutive years of declining trade between the two countries.

Responding to Mr Trump's tweet, the paper's editorial said: "First quarter data cannot speak for the whole year".

It added China's trade with North Korea was now roughly equal to its trade with Mongolia, which has an eighth of the population.

China has banned the import of coal, iron ore, gold and rare earth minerals, and several other raw minerals from North Korea. It has also banned sales of jet fuel to North Korea.

Sanctions

The fresh trade data was released as tensions rose following North Korea's latest test of a long-range missile, which it is believed was capable of reaching Alaska.

President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are preparing for meetings at the G20 summit in Hamburg, where North Korea's nuclear aspirations are expected to be high on the agenda.

At a press conference in Poland before the summit, Mr Trump promised to confront North Korea "very strongly" and said the US was considering "severe things".

US Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, has indicated the US might take a tougher line on countries that have economic ties to North Korea.

China has called for restraint and made clear it did not want to be targeted by US sanctions.

Last week Washington imposed sanctions on several Chinese businesses that it claimed were supporting Pyongyang.

US authorities have also tried to seize millions of dollars from major US and European banks that might be linked to North Korea.

Prosecutors allege the banks have processed more than $700m of "prohibited" transactions since 2009.

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Niger army kills 14 civilians mistaken for Boko Haram fighters

Niger's army has killed 14 civilians who were mistaken for militants of the Islamist group Boko Haram in the remote southeast, officials say.

The victims, all unarmed farmers, were in a restricted zone around the village of Abadam, next to the Nigerian border.

Two were from Niger, and the rest were from Nigeria. Details of how the operation unfolded and why the civilians were there were not clear.

Boko Haram is based in Nigeria but has carried out cross-border attacks.

Thousands of people have been displaced from the south-eastern Diffa region and civilians have been banned from many areas.

Many, however, have been returning to tend their crops, correspondents say.

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There were conflicting reports about the army's operation. The AFP news agency said an air strike had killed the group after they returned to check on their crops. But Reuters said soldiers were patrolling the area when they opened fire.

Yahaya Godi, Diffa's secretary general, said: "Abadam is a village located in the red zone and has been prohibited for a very long time... Any individual seen in the area is considered Boko Haram."

The Diffa region has seen a series of attacks by Boko Haram fighters in recent years. Just three days ago, suspected militants killed nine people and kidnapped dozens more there, including children.

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Qatar crisis: Saudi-led bloc vows new measures

The four Arab states leading a boycott against Qatar have condemned its rejection of their demands and warned of unspecified new measures against it.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates said Doha was intent on continuing a "policy aimed at destabilising security in the region".

New measures would be enacted in an "appropriate and timely manner".

They cut links with Qatar in June over its alleged support of terrorism and ties with Iran. It denies wrongdoing.

The oil- and gas-rich nation was presented with a list of demands, including shutting down the Al Jazeera news network, closing a Turkish military base, cutting ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, and downgrading relations with Tehran.

Qatar vigorously denied supporting terrorism, and insisted it would not agree to any measures that threatened its sovereignty or violated international law.

The air, sea and land restrictions have caused turmoil in the country, which is dependent on imports to meet the basic needs of its population of 2.7 million.

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In a joint statement issued late on Thursday, the four countries expressed their "deep surprise over the unjustified refusal by the Qatari government to the legitimate list and logical demands" aimed at fighting terrorism, combating extremism and safeguarding Arab and international security.

They stressed that the list of demands was now "null and void" and vowed to take further "political, economic and legal measures" in a manner that "preserves their rights, security and stability towards a hostile Qatari government policy".

They did not specify what the measures might include, although officials have suggested financial restrictions could be placed on flows of Qatari money or that third parties could be forced to choose between doing business with the four or with Qatar.

On Wednesday, Qatar's foreign minister accused them of imposing "a siege that is a clear aggression and an insult" and said the accusations were "clearly designed to create anti-Qatar sentiment in the West".

"The answer to our disagreement is not blockades and ultimatums, it is dialogue and reason," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani added.

He also noted that Qatar was prepared to pay inflated prices for food supplies to be shipped in by sea or air from Turkey and Iran "indefinitely".

The US, which has a major airbase in Qatar that is crucial for the campaign against so-called Islamic State, has called for the dispute to be resolved.

"We've become increasingly concerned that that dispute is at an impasse at this point. We believe that this could potentially drag on for weeks. It could drag on for months. It could possibly even intensify," a state department spokeswoman said.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is expected to travel on Monday to Kuwait, which is acting as a mediator.