G20

No US-Russia deal on Syria as Obama, Putin meet privately

The two leaders were conversing on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit here, according to a US National Security Council spokesman. More details about their discussion were expected later Monday, but US officials said before the summit that Syria and Ukraine would likely be on the agenda of an Obama-Putin huddle.

G20: Is Theresa May changing the language of Brexit?

The same could be said about the post-referendum debate. The phrase "Brexit means Brexit" has seen the government through the summer, but has now reached the end of its usefulness.

It was designed to persuade doubting Remainers that the UK really will leave the EU, something Theresa May was once again forced to confirm during her news conference with President Obama here in China.

But over the months the slogan has inverted into something different, a symbol of the government's uncertainty about what Brexit will actually mean for our relationship with the EU.

 

G20: Obama downplays significance of Hangzhou airport row

"I wouldn't overcrank the significance" of tensions at the airport, Mr Obama told a news conference in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, where global leaders are convening for a summit.

Mr Obama's last scheduled trip to China before leaving office got off to an awkward start soon after Air Force One landed in Hangzhou when a Chinese security official blocked National Security Adviser Susan Rice on the tarmac.

He prevented her from walking to the motorcade as she crossed a media rope line, speaking angrily to her before a Secret Service agent stepped between the two.