Admirers and critics debate future of G8 summit as G20 grows in power

DEAUVILLE // The latest Group of Eight summit was "historic", the moment for the great powers to rally their wealth and arms behind the Arab people and staunch a gap in the spread of "western" values across the world.

Or was it a pointless, costly absurdity, a vanity project for leaders of nations in decline, marginalised by the rise of China and other big, industrialising nations, for whom the forum founded in the 1970s is a neo-colonial throwback?

G-8 Chiefs Say Strengthening Economies to Prompt Focus Shift to Debt Cuts

Group of Eight leaders said a strengthening global economy will pave the way to cuts in the debt built up during the recession that followed the 2008 financial crisis.

Europe vowed to fight its fiscal woes with “determination,” while President Barack Obama promised a “clear and credible” U.S. deficit-reduction strategy. Japan was allowed to put off savings measures until its economy rebounds from the March earthquake and tsunami.

G-20 suit settled for $170,000

The least complicated of four civil lawsuits against the City of Pittsburgh stemming from the G-20 Summit has settled for $170,000, officials said Wednesday.

The settlement in the case of Frank Beal, a Point Breeze man who said out-of-town police broke his kneecap, will be paid by the city's insurer, City Solicitor Daniel Regan said.

London police officer on trial for manslaughter

British police officer Simon Harwood faces charges of manslaughter over the death of London newspaper seller c during G-20 summit in April 2009.

When 47-year old newspaper vendor Ian Tomlinson died in April 2009 it was announced that of heart attack. Some time later the British mass media published a video, on which it is seen that a masked policeman hit the man with a baton and pushed him to the ground. The repeated examination proved that man died of internal hemorrhage.

G20 police officer to learn if he will be charged with manslaughter of Ian Tomlinson

The Director of Public Prosecutions will announce tomorrow if there is enough evidence to charge the Scotland Yard officer involved in the G20 protests death of Ian Tomlinson with manslaughter.

Keir Starmer QC vowed to launch a quick and ''thorough'' review of his decision not to prosecute Pc Simon Harwood after an inquest jury unanimously ruled earlier this month that the newspaper seller was unlawfully killed at the protests.

Sarkozy Says G-20 Priority Must Be Jobs, Protecting Rights

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said creating jobs must be the priority for Group of 20 nations while at the same time they must ensure respect for labor rights.

Sarkozy, speaking today in Paris at a conference on the social implications of economic development, said that countries with strong welfare systems did better during the recession that followed the 2008 financial turmoil.

The last jailed Toronto G-20 activist is released

Computer security expert Byron Sonne was granted finally bail after 330 days behind bars on May 16. He waited until Wednesday to be released, however, following the final bail hearing, when the crown attorney had the opportunity to contest the decision. Fortunately, the judge disagreed and he was free to go.

Sonne spent roughly 11 months in custody. The 38 year old was denied bail twice since his June 22, 2010 arrest, which took place just prior to the start of the G-20 Summit in Toronto.

Kingdom to host heads of Parliaments of Group- 20 states next year

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia will host the third G20 Speakers' Conference next year. Parliamentary leaders and delegates from 26 countries and unions that met for the final day of discussions for the conference on Friday adopted a joint communique that addressed global issues.

"We are very happy to be the next host of the speakers' consultation, and we look forward to seeing you again next year. We will do our best to make the meeting as productive as it can be," Chairman of the Shoura Council of Saudi Arabia Abdullah Al-Asheikh said Friday while addressing the conference.

Full text of G-20 Speakers' Consultation Joint Communique

The following is the full text of the G-20 Speakers' Consultation Joint Communique released after the three-day meeting of the world's parliamentary leaders ended in Seoul Friday.

1. We, the speakers of the G20 Parliaments, have gathered in Seoul, Republic of Korea, from May 18 to 20, 2011 under the theme of "Development and Growth for Common Prosperity," in the recognition that it is our common responsibility to seek a common approach toward shared growth in which all of humankind can lead prosperous lives and to secure the safety of the global community.

Defiant Sonne on a tight leash before G20 trial

Byron Sonne emerged from a Toronto courthouse Wednesday afternoon free of shackles and the centre of a media frenzy.

And after almost a year in police custody, accused of collecting explosives and plotting to attack the G20 summit in Toronto, he seemed to enjoy the attention.

Chancellor admits that the Treasury faces one email attack every day

The government is dealing with 20,000 ‘hostile' emails every month, with the Treasury facing an average of more than one attack per day.

Speaking at the Google Zeitgeist event, chancellor George Osborne said that the emails were sent by ‘hostile intelligence agencies' and in one instance, a legitimate email relating to the G20 was followed by an almost identical hostile replica.

Securing global economic security

Inflation is a significant factor of global economic security and has the innate capacity to upend carefully laid plans

Lee, Sarkozy agree to help G-20 deliver commitment

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and French President Nicolas Sarkozy agreed Friday to step up joint efforts to help the G-20 economic forum to deliver its commitment to bring stability to the world economy, including fighting speculation in food and energy markets.

G20 security still a question

Premier Dalton McGuinty has lost an opportunity to clarify the bizarre security regulations at last year’s G20 summit in Toronto by either apologizing for the secretly passed regulations or calling a broad inquiry.

Speaking last week, McGuinty declined to apologize for the regulations cabinet approved to the Ontario Public Works Protection Act that allowed police to search pedestrians in an area near the summit. The regulations caused confusion for demonstrators, particularly when police left the impression that the regulations applied to a five-metre zone near the summit’s fence. In fact, one may wonder if some police officers sincerely thought they did have the right to question pedestrians in that zone.

Leaked Report Urges G-20 Action on Food Price Volatility

A leaked report by top international food security experts urges the Group of 20 leading economies to tackle food price volatility by reforming biofuel policies, curbing the use of agricultural export restrictions, and rebuilding emergency food reserves.

Senior agriculture ministry officials from G-20 governments are meeting in Paris on 11-12 May to hammer out an action plan based on the experts’ recommendations.

G-20 holds key to Canada's diplomatic future

In a paper, released today by The School of Public Policy, Paul Heinbecker examines the G-20 as a major innovation in international governance.

The author suggests that Canada's foreign policy interests can be advanced through careful use of G-20 relationships.

Ian Tomlinson death: IPCC rules Met officer 'reckless' in conduct

A senior Metropolitan police officer has been found to have "recklessly" misled two pathologists over the possible cause of Ian Tomlinson's death at the G20 protests in London.

Detective Inspector Eddie Hall was investigated after it emerged he told two forensic experts Tomlinson had fallen to the ground in front of a police van before the newspaper seller later came into contact with PC Simon Harwood.

G-20 Seoul Speakers' Consultation seeks parliamentary action on global issues

Sharing experiences and know-how through parliamentary exchanges is key to tackling major problems the global community is facing, South Korea's parliamentary speaker said Wednesday as he prepared to host a conference of his counterparts from the Group of 20 countries later this month.

"We are now faced with many problems that threaten the global community as a whole, such as nuclear crisis, natural disasters, poverty, terror and financial crisis," National Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae said at a press briefing. "Not only efforts by individual countries alone, but also close cooperation among the global community is needed more than ever."

UUP peer’s fury at G20 death ‘fall guy’

Britain's most senior police officer has denied he was jumping to judgment and using the officer involved in the death of Ian Tomlinson during the G20 protests as a “fall guy”.

Sir Paul Stephenson was accused of being prepared to “surrender” Pc Simon Harwood by the Ulster Unionist peer Lord Maginnis, who added he was “horrified” by the police stance.

Oil Price Controls Are Advocated by UN in Proposal for G-20, OPEC Accord

The Group of 20 nations should negotiate a benchmark “fair” cost of oil with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and limit price movements within a band, the United Nations said.

The G-20 needs to “act decisively to moderate the volatility of oil and food prices,” the agency said in a statement as it released an annual report on Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok today.

G20 summit in Toronto

Britain's most senior prosecutor has said he was considering whether to prosecute the police officer who attacked Ian Tomlinson for manslaughter after an inquest jury found that the newspaper seller had been unlawfully killed.

Tomlinson, 47, had been trying to walk home from work through the G20 demonstrations near the Bank of England when he was attacked from behind by a Metropolitan police constable, Simon Harwood, a member of the Met's Territorial Support Group (TSG).

Paper Seller Unlawfully Killed During Protests, Jury Says

Newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson was unlawfully killed by a police officer during the April 2009 c protests in London, a coroner’s inquest found today.

A jury at the inquest into Tomlinson’s death said today that a policeman used “excessive and unreasonable force” when he hit Tomlinson and shoved him to the ground, a court official said.