Snowmail: G20 economic gathering
Updated on 15 November 2008
What's in store tonight: the G20 talks, a look at Hillary Clinton's chances of becoming secretary of state and more on the Baby P row.
The biggest beasts in the global political jungle are, at this moment, convening in Washington. They're looking for a way out of thick economic undergrowth. Talk of extending worldwide financial regulation has receded but Gordon Brown says coordinated global action is needed to stave off a huge economic slump. Faisal Islam will report from Washington.
The scale of the gathering may be as significant as anything that is eventually agreed; the G20 includes the leaders of all the big economies not represented in the more western, more northern looking G8. Eighty-five per cent of world GDP will be represented at the table.
Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times and Will Hutton, chief executive of The Work Foundation, will join me live to talk about the big beasts, the elephant in the room and the lame duck at the centre of it all.
Will Hillary be secretary of state?
By the time the G20 next meets - quite possibly in the UK - the lame duck (George Bush) will have hobbled off to a new pond and Barack Obama will be in charge. There is speculation today that by then, his representative to the rest of the world, America's chief diplomat, may well be Hillary Clinton. We'll assess her chances and how the world might view Secretary Clinton.
Baby P row rumbles on
More than sixty head teachers from Haringey have come out in support of the embattled head of children's services in the borough, Sharon Shoesmith. They say she is an outstanding public servant, despite calls for her to resign over the death of Baby P. And we've been looking at how government reforms since his death could mean even fewer vulnerable children are being taken into care.
