Indonesian president Joko Widodo has invited Jack Ma, the founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, to be an economic advisor, during his visit to Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, for the G20 summit, on Friday.

Indonesia has 56 million small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Widodo said. He wished to boost the co-operation between SMEs in Indonesia and Alibaba and help them enter the Chinese and the global market.

The Indonesian government’s support to and vision of the SMEs are consistent with Alibaba’s, said Ma, who accompanied Widodo and his wife during the visit to Alibaba Xixi headquarters.

Indonesia holds great potential in e-commerce with its large population and numbers of SMEs, he said, adding that Alibaba’s business model is suitable for the Indonesian market and he is confident Alibaba can help Indonesian companies.

The G20 summit is scheduled to run from September 4-5 in Hangzhou.

World leaders arrive for the G20 Summit in Hangzhou

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Reuters, MCI

Under the theme of “Toward an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy,” this year’s G20 Summit is scheduled on Sept 4-5 in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.

Let’s take a look at six things you should know about the summit.

1. President Xi’s G20 schedule

President Xi Jinping will attend a series of meeting prior to, during and after the G20 Summit.

Xi will deliver a keynote address at the opening ceremony of the B20 business forum on Sept 3 and preside over and chair more than 10 events during the G20 Summit, including the welcoming and opening ceremonies, five key section meetings and the closing ceremony.

The president will also hold bilateral talks with leaders of various countries, attend and address an informal meeting with other leaders of the BRICS countries.

2. First of G20 Hangzhou summit

G20, which represent 85 percent of global GDP, 80 percent of international trade and 65 percent of the world population, is considered one of the most influential platforms for global financial governance.

Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Li Baodong said earlier that discussions will focus on many issues, including breaking new paths for growth, effective global economic and financial governance, robust international trade and investment, as well as inclusive and interconnected development.

G20 has held 10 summits since the 2008 global financial crisis. Chen Fengying, a research fellow with the China Institute for Contemporary International Relations, said the summit will enable China to approach world issues with Chinese concepts, wisdom and ideas.

World leaders arrive for the G20 Summit in Hangzhou

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3. Bilateral diplomacy

The G20 Summit is not only a key multilateral meeting but also important for bilateral diplomacy. G20 leaders, eight state guests of honor and leaders of seven international organizations will attend the summit. On the sidelines of the summit, President Xi will meet leaders from several countries, including his US counterpart Barack Obama.

In addition, Brazil’s new President Michel Temer, and Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May will visit China for the first time. Experts said these “first times” will create new opportunities for bilateral development. This is also Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s first visit to the country.

4. Why so many developing countries?

Laos, Chad, Senegal, Thailand, Kazakhstan and Egypt are developing countries without G20 membership, but their participation will enable the G20 Hangzhou summit to become one attended by the most number of developing countries in G20 history.

Ruan Zongze, executive deputy president of the China Institute of International Studies, said the G20 is set to address development issues. While developing countries are less represented in some international institutions, the Group of 20, which acts as a major forum for global economic governance, should allow developing countries to have a bigger say.

5. B20 summit topics

More than 800 business leaders around the world will join the Business 20 summit on Saturday and Sunday. Multinationals, small and medium-sized enterprises, and heads of states will join the summit.

The B20 summit has six major topics: financing growth, trade and investment, infrastructure, small and medium-sized enterprises, employment and anti-corruption.

B20 policy recommendations will be submitted to the G20 summit. With more than half of the business representatives coming from China, Chinese entrepreneurs will be deeply involved in making international rules.

6. Anti-corruption network

With China’s efforts, anti-corruption will become a major topic at the summit.

Li Chengyan, head of the Center for Anti-Corruption Studies at Peking University, said one of the expected achievements of the summit will be the creation of a three-in-one anti-corruption system: all members’ unified agreement on the legal identification of corruption; the building of a coordinated mechanism to pursue fugitives and stolen assets; and the coordinated actions of members in law implementation.

The summit will also implement the UN Convention Against Corruption, according to Li.

A young construction worker has shot to fame on the internet after videos of him performing death-defying acrobatics on construction site equipment wowed Chinese netizens.

Xiao Wei, from Dazhi in Central China’s Hubei province, uploaded many videos on his personal account on Weibo, China’s equivalent to Twitter, of himself performing moves that would put some of China’s gymnasts to shame.

He demonstrates amazing balance, flexibility and strength in the clips as he twirls, climbs and swings sometimes dozens of feet from the ground. But instead of using a horizontal bar, he makes use of scaffolding poles at his worksite.

The clips have been shared thousands of times on Weibo and his acrobatic feats are so impressive that some netizens wondered why he had chosen a life as a construction worker, earning a relatively low wage.

In one video he uploaded to his personal account, Xiao Wei admitted that he was extremely shy when talking to people, and would only try to perform when his workmates were not around. His strange phobia was why he did not become a gym coach.

DAVAO CITY, Philippines-President Rodrigo Duterte will enforce the full might of the government as response to the deadly blast here with him declaring a state of lawlessness in the country on Saturday dawn.

“I have this duty to protect this country. So I am declaring now a state of lawlessness,” Duterte said.

Duterte granted an interview with the press at the blast site where at least 14 were killed and 69 others were hurt on Friday evening. But Duterte quickly explained that this is not a declaration of martial law . “This is not martial law. This is not about the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus,” Duterte asserted.

The declaration of state of lawlessness would however give more power to state security forces to go after threat groups in the country. There will be more checkpoints and security searches on vehicles.

Deadly market bomb attack in Davao

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Reuters, AFP

Duterte said any punitive actions conducted by security forces would be for the furtherance of the government’s campaign to end terrorism. “They can do what they really need to do until such time that I can say it is safe,” Duterte said.

The President said the authorities are looking at several angles behind the blast including the threat of Abu Sayyaf.

The government is presently on the peak of its campaign against the militant group with thousands of military forces now operating in Sulu. Earlier, the ASG responded that it will match the government’s operations and will launch a retaliatory action to “test Duterte’s soldiers.”

Duterte, however, did not discount the possibility of the involvement of drug syndicates in the attack following his massive crackdown on the illegal drug trade.

DHAKA – Bangladesh police on Friday killed the man they believe trained the militants who attacked a Dhaka cafe on July 1 killing 22 people, a senior police official said.

The man, known as Murad, was the head of the military wing of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State, Additional Inspector General of Police Mokhlesur Rahman said.

“He trained the attackers who carried out the July attack,” Rahman told reporters, adding police were still trying to identify his actual name.

He was killed in a shootout when police launched a raid after being tipped-off to his whereabouts just outside the capital.

Four police officers were wounded when the militant attacked them with machetes, a pistol and grenades, Rahman said.

Gunmen take hostages in Dhaka cafe

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The raid came six days after Bangladesh-born Canadian citizen Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, accused of masterminding the cafe attack, was killed when police stormed a militant hideout.

Analysts say Islamic State in April identified Chowdhury as its national commander.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the cafe attack where militants singled out non-Muslims and foreigners, killing Italians, Japanese, an American and an Indian.

The attack in Dhaka’s diplomatic quarter was one of the most brazen in Bangladesh, where Islamic State and al Qaeda have claimed a series of killings of liberals and members of religious minorities in the past year.

The government denies that Islamic State or al Qaeda have a presence in the Muslim-majority nation of 160 million people.

But security experts say the scale and sophistication of the cafe assault suggested links to a trans-national network.

The scale of that attack and the targeting of foreigners has could hurt foreign investment in the poor South Asian economy, whose $28 billion garments export industry is the world’s second largest.

On July 26, police killed nine militants believed to be plotting a similar assault.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday cancelled his scheduled trip to Brunei, a Palace official said.

“The Brunei trip is cancelled,” Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar told reporters in a text message. Duterte’s trip to Brunei was scheduled on September 3 to 5.

The President cancelled his trip following the deadly blast at the crowded night market on Roxas Boulevard in Davao City on Friday night.

Brunei would have been Mr. Duterte’s first foreign trip as President, and the first leg of his three-country swing through Southeast Asia.

Malacañang, however, has not confirmed whether Duterte would also cancel his attendance to the ASEAN Summit in Laos and his trip to Indonesia all scheduled next week.

Deadly market bomb attack in Davao

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Reuters, AFP