US president says media and Democrats forced him to scrap plan to award himself the opportunity to host summit
Donald Trump has been forced into a humiliating climbdown over plans to host the G7 meeting at his own luxury resort following a political outcry.
The US president announced in a Saturday night tweet that he had reversed his decision and would seek an alternative venue to host world leaders next June.
Continue reading...The White House says it has chosen Donald Trump’s golf resort near Miami as the site for next year’s Group of Seven summit.
The announcement on Thursday comes at the same that the president has accused Joe Biden’s family of profiting from public office because of Hunter Biden’s business activities in Ukraine when his father was vice-president.
Continue reading...Senior official says funds should be spent on reforesting Europe and not on ‘colonialist practices’
A senior Brazilian official has told Emmanuel Macron to take care of “his home and his colonies” as Brazil rejected an offer from G7 countries of $20m (£16m) to help fight fires in the Amazon.
“We appreciate [the offer], but maybe those resources are more relevant to reforest Europe,” Onyx Lorenzoni, the chief of staff to President Jair Bolsonaro, told the G1 news website.
Continue reading...Leaders put on a show of common endeavor with awareness that meeting could be a lot worse next year when Trump will be circus master
If next year’s G7 summit turns out to be a branding event at a Trump golf resort in Florida, with Vladimir Putin as de-facto co-chair, the old guard among America’s allies will look back on this year’s meeting in Biarritz with some nostalgia.
Related: Trump defends bid to host G7 at his Miami resort: 'I don't care about money'
Continue reading...Donald Trump has insisted he is not seeking to profit from the US presidency after revealing a resort he owns in Miami is in the running to host the next G7 summit in 2020. Trump claimed it had cost him '$3bn to $5bn' to be president and suggested hosting the event at his Trump National Doral Miami resort would not make him any money, before reeling off a list of facts about the property
Continue reading...World leaders offer $20m now plus reforestation plan, but critics want major policy shifts
The G7’s pledge of $20m (£16m) to douse the fires in the Amazon has been dismissed as “chump change” by environmental campaigners, as concerns grow about political cooperation on deforestation and other climate issues.
The summit host, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, told reporters he would try to deal with the long-term causes by creating an international alliance to save the rainforest, with details of a reforestation programme to be unveiled at next month’s UN climate meeting in New York.
Continue reading...PM repeatedly declines to rule out proroguing parliament if MPs try to thwart his Brexit policy
Boris Johnson has repeatedly refused to rule out proroguing parliament to try to push through his Brexit policy.
Pressed repeatedly at a press conference at the end of the G7 summit about what he would do if MPs tried to thwart his policy, the British prime minister declined to rule out shutting down parliament.
Continue reading...PM said EU leaders would be blamed for their ‘obduracy’ and that UK could keep much of £39bn settlement
Britain could “easily cope” with a no-deal Brexit, which would be the fault of EU leaders’ “obduracy”, Boris Johnson claimed at the summit of G7 countries in France, as he continued to resist mounting pressure to spell out his own plans for breaking the deadlock.
“I think we can get through this, this is a great, great country, the UK, we can easily cope with a no-deal scenario,” Johnson insisted in Biarritz, as he made his debut on the international stage as prime minister with a series of bilateral meetings with world leaders including Donald Trump, the EU council president, Donald Tusk, and the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi.
Continue reading...US president argues Putin should be included in discussions on Iran, Syria and North Korea
Donald Trump has rowed with his fellow G7 leaders over his demand that Russia be readmitted to the group, rejecting arguments that it should remain an association of liberal democracies, according to diplomats at the summit in Biarritz.
The disagreement led to heated exchanges at a dinner on Saturday night inside the seaside resort’s 19th-century lighthouse. According to diplomatic sources, Trump argued strenuously that Vladimir Putin should be invited back, five years after Russia was ejected from the then G8) for its annexation of Crimea.
Continue reading...Visit comes during summit at which policy on Iran has been one of most contentious issues
Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, has made a surprise appearance in Biarritz meeting Emmanuel Macron, in the midst of a G7 summit where western policy towards Iran has been one of the most contentious issues.
On Sunday evening, Zarif posted a picture on Twitter of his meeting with the French president and the foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, reportedly in the office of the Biarritz mayor, across the road from a building where G7 leaders had been meeting. The Iranian foreign minister said he had also provided a briefing for British and German officials.
Continue reading...Gender equality advisory council says states must begin enshrining equal rights in law
The G7 leaders have been told to get rid of discriminatory gender laws that still exist on their statute books and begin enshrining equal rights in the legal system.
All G7 countries, including the UK, still have discriminatory laws on their statute books or substantial loopholes that allow discrimination, the G7’s gender equality advisory council said at a key summit session attended by all leaders, including the US president, Donald Trump.
Continue reading...Marchers carrying inverted portraits of president demand more action on climate crisis
Hundreds of climate activists have marched in south-western France carrying portraits of President Emmanuel Macron that they had illegally removed from town halls and which police had been seeking to recover amid a judicial crackdown.
As the G7 leaders met in Biarritz, demonstrators from a nationwide civil disobedience movement demanding more action on the climate emergency appeared in nearby Bayonne brandishing dozens of portraits the state accuses them of stealing from civic buildings.
Continue reading...Donald Trump has admitted he may rethink his deepening trade war with China after criticism from fellow world leaders at the G7 summit in Biarritz. Asked at a working breakfast with Boris Johnson if he had had second thoughts about the standoff, the president replied: 'Yeah, sure. Why not? … I have second thoughts about everything'
Continue reading...The G7 thought it had solved Africa’s problems, but rising child poverty is a ticking time bomb
Time was when Africa dominated gatherings of the G7. In the period between two summits held in the UK – Birmingham in 1998 and Gleneagles in 2005 – the talk was of little else. There was public activism and it led to political action.
In part, that was because the big developed countries were enjoying a spell of low-inflationary growth and could look beyond their own problems to see a bigger picture. There was the occasional financial panic, but the G7 thought the problems of economic management had largely been solved and all that was needed was a bit of tinkering by technocratic central bankers.
Continue reading...The US president talks up the prospects of a US-UK trade deal after meeting Boris Johnson at the G7 summit in Biarritz, praising the PM as 'the right man' to deliver Brexit and suggesting a trade agreement between the two countries could be struck quickly
Continue reading...Australia’s PM flies into Biarritz, where he will have talks with world leaders – and a chat with Donald Trump
Scott Morrison will try to push countries further on taking action against terrorist and violent extremist material on social media during a series of meetings on the sidelines of the G7 summit.
Australia’s prime minister arrived in the French surfing town of Biarritz on Saturday night (early Sunday AEST) for the high-powered international forum.
Continue reading...French president Emmanuel Macron has said he hopes to convince world leaders to pull back from trade war and heal growing divisions at the G7 summit in Biarritz, despite signs that will be a daunting task.
Related: Boris Johnson prepares for Biarritz balancing act with Donald Trump
Continue reading...Emmanuel Macron has asked for world powers to help Brazil and its neighbours fight the fires raging in the Amazon and to plan huge replanting programmes. The appeal came as the French president piled pressure on Brazil’s far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro, who has been accused of fuelling the burning of the rainforest.
As environmental protesters marched nearby, the G7 summit’s, opening meeting was dominated by the spectre of economic repercussions for Brazil and its South American neighbours and showed how the Amazon is becoming a battleground between Bolsonaro and the west. Many governments have become alarmed that vast swathes of the Amazon are going up in smoke, affecting biodiversity and worsening the climate crisis.
Continue reading...More than 13,000 police arrive in town with authorities saying any unrest will not be tolerated
The French seaside resort of Biarritz is under lockdown by security forces ahead of the G7 summit, with more than 13,000 police as well as a special magistrates court set up to try anyone committing offences.
The historic centre of the Basque town was emptied of tourists on Friday before the arrival of leaders of the world’s advanced economies including the US president, Donald Trump, and the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, who will hold three days of talks on global issues from the climate emergency to trade wars.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson also expected to discuss Iran with Donald Trump at summit in Biarritz
Britain will continue to be an “energetic partner” to its international allies after Brexit, Boris Johnson has said, as he prepared to fly to Biarritz for the G7 summit – his first major appearance on the world stage as prime minister.
Fresh from Brexit discussions in Berlin and Paris this week, Johnson will use a string of bilateral meetings with world leaders in the French resort to underline Britain’s determination to remain internationalist.
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