G-20 leaders promise to step up campaign against IS

At the G-20 summit in Turkey on Sunday, there was universal condemnation of "Islamic State" (IS) terrorists in the wake of recent attacks in Beirut and Paris, but little in the way of concrete plans to take down the jihadist network. Turkish President and summit host Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the leaders would produce a "strong message" without elaborating further.

Putin-Obama sit-down

US President Barack Obama also slammed the "twisted ideology" that create this "attack on the civilized world," but outside of tough talk, little in the way of concrete solutions was offered up at a meeting of many of the world's most powerful leaders.

Indeed, a sideline meeting between Obama and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was as productive as most such talks have been in recent months. Huddled alone together for 35 minutes, both parties announced afterward that while they had the same "strategic goals," unfortunately "tactical differences remain" - meaning Putin will not step down from his support of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, nor will Obama from his support for the opposition.

Despite this, Putin told the press that the Kremlin recognized "that it's only possible to deal with the terror threat and help millions of people who lost their homes by combining efforts of the entire global community."

Merkel urges people not to target refugees

Also speaking from the seaside resort of Antalya, a few hundred kilometers from the Syrian border, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel said indentifying the perpetrators of the recent attacks was an important first step. She also warned against displacing anger towards "the many refugees who are fleeing war and terrorism."

She used the opportunity to once again push for an even distribution of the refugees across Europe as her country bears the brunt of the continent's crisis, saying "of course we also face the expectation that there will be a fair distribution of refugees in Europe."

EU President Donald Tusk seemed to catch the theme of the meeting by declaring "This cannot be just another summit. Words are not enough. Today it is time to act."

Yet for all the pronouncements, as millions of people seek to enter Europe and the jihadists coldly take 44 lives in Beirut and over 130 in Paris, the leaders meeting in Turkey on Sunday seemed as far as ever from a common plan to stamp out IS terrorism.

es/sgb (AP, AFP, dpa)