CNN
“Germany: 18 killed in Bavaria bus crash”
Eighteen people are feared dead following a bus crash in Germany on Monday, police have confirmed. German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt told reporters that emergency services had recovered 11 bodies so far from the crash in Bavaria and the search was underway for seven other people. After the collision, the bus caught on fire and the flames were «so strong that only steel parts» were still recognizable, Dobrindt added.
The collision occurred at 7 a.m. local time (1 a.m. ET) on the A9 road in the eastern part of the country, near Nuremberg. Earlier Monday, police said 17 people were missing after the bus, which was carrying 46 people at the time, collided with a truck and then burst into flames. Police also said that 31 people were seriously injured in the crash, which took place near Münchberg, Bavaria.
The Guardian
“Protesters plan to ‘kettle’ leaders at G20 summit in Hamburg”
Protesters plan to take advantage of the decision to hold this week’s G20 summit in a crowded inner-city area of Hamburg and copy police crowd control tactics to “kettle Trump, Putin and Erdoğan”. Authorities in Germany’s second-largest city are preparing for the arrival of an unprecedented line-up of controversial world leaders, as well as protest groups eager to voice dissent on 7 and 8 July.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will meet at the summit, and Germany will try to push climate change and free trade to the top of the agenda. The chancellor, Angela Merkel, has argued that her birthplace, a wealthy port city and a “beacon of free trade”, was “almost predestined” to host the gathering of the world’s leading industrialised and developing economies.
But the decision to hold it at a congress centre in a densely populated part of the inner city, bordering a district with a long-running history of anti-establishment protests and annual May Day riots, has put police services on high alert.
On Sunday night, the first of a series of protest marches culminated in clashes with police over a disputed campsite in one of the city’s park areas. Several people were reportedly injured and one person was arrested. Organizers behind the Block G20 protests have dismissed such concerns as scaremongering, arguing that their activities will not directly target politicians but aim to disrupt the proceedings of the summit.
BBC
“Qatar is given a further 48 hours to meet Gulf demands”
Saudi Arabia and three other Arab states have extended the deadline for Qatar to accept a list of demands by 48 hours, or face further sanctions.
The initial deadline for Qatar to agree to the group’s 13 demands, including the shutting down of the Al Jazeera news network, expired on Sunday.
The Gulf state, which denies funding extremism, has given a formal response, but details have not been released. It has already called the demands an «affront to international law».
The requirements include the closure of a Turkish military base in Qatar and the curbing of diplomatic relations with Iran. Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani was in Kuwait on Monday to hand over a formal response in the form of a letter from the emir of Qatar to the emir of Kuwait, the main mediator in the Gulf crisis.
In a statement released shortly beforehand, lawyers for Qatar denounced the demands and called for international condemnation.
An unnamed official from one of the four countries told Reuters news agency that Qatar was also being asked to sever links with so-called Islamic State, al-Qaeda and Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah.
Zero Hedge
“Trump Calls China, Japan Leaders to Discuss North Korea, Gets a Warning from Beijing Instead”
Ahead of this week’s G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, Donald Trump called the leaders of China and Japan to discuss the «threat posed by North Korea’, along with trade issues, the White House said on Sunday. Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose LDP had just suffered a devastating loss in the Tokyo Assembly elections, and according to the White House read out, «both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to a denuclearized Korean Peninsula» adding that «President Trump reiterated his determination to seek more balanced trade relations with America’s trading partners.»
The terse statement did not provide further details of the call or say if Trump managed to persuade Xi to endorse his approach of exerting maximum pressure on North Korea, including a slew of further economic and trade sanctions.
According to Reuters, the call may have been prompted by Trump increasing frustration with China’s inability to rein in North Korea, and the reference to trade was an indication the president may be ready to return to his tougher-talking ways on business with Beijing after holding back in hopes it would put more pressure on Pyongyang. Trump and Xi discussed the «peace and stability of the Korean peninsula», China’s Foreign Ministry said, without elaborating.
Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang later told a daily briefing that the United States was «very clear» about China’s position on North Korea. Geng did not elaborate on what Xi told Trump about North Korea.