US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had spoken to Syria‘s Ahmed al-Sharaa about combatting Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Asked at the G7 summit in France if Sharaa was willing to take on the Shia group, Trump said he would talk about that later.
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„I consider that [Lebanon] the minor war, Iranâs a big one, but we have that little pinprick out there that constantly rears its head, and that‘s Hezbollah,“ Trump told reporters on the sidelines of the summit.
The spokesperson for President Cyril Ramaphosa said they have learned that Paris has had to withdraw its invitation due to sustained pressure from the United States.
Vincent Magwenya said they have been told that the Americans threatened to boycott the G7 if South Africa was invited.
French President Emmanuel Macron personally asked Ramaphosa to take part in the G7 during the G20 summit in South Africa in November.
(July 29, 2025)
„Over the past few weeks, we have quickly synchronized the previous EU sanctions packages. This work continues. We are also taking measures together with our allies to eliminate loopholes and impede Russia‘s access to technology. In the coming weeks, maximum synchronization of sanctions by all partners against Russia should take place in order to increase the cost of war for the aggressor. We are actively working with partners to achieve this goal,“ the minister said.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Tuesday that the US would work with Israel to ensure Iran faces âsevere consequences.â President Biden has also said he is working with Israel on a response but said Wednesday that he wouldnât support strikes on Iranâs nuclear facility.
âAll seven of us agree that they have a right to respond, but they have to respond proportionally,â he said, referring to the Group of Seven nations.
US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he does not support strikes on Iran‘s nuclear sites in response to its missile attack against Israel.
„We‘ll be discussing with the Israelis what they‘re going to do, but all seven of us (G7 nations) agree that they have a right to respond but they should respond proportionally,“ Biden told reporters before boarding Air Force One.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said on Friday that the United States âhas not been involved in any offensive operationsâ in Iran when asked about Israelâs strike on the country on Friday, but he declined to comment further.
Mr. Blinken spoke on the last day of a meeting of Group of 7 ministers in Capri,
Over the next decade, IBM plans to work with university partners and its worldwide quantum ecosystem to evolve how its quantum processors can be connected via quantum interconnects. This work will aim to enable high-efficiency, high-fidelity inter-processor quantum operations and a reliable, flexible, and affordable system component infrastructure to allow scaling to 100,000 qubits.
IBM‘s collaboration with the University of Chicago will build upon the Chicago area‘s strengths in quantum research. The University of Chicago seeded the region‘s quantum ecosystem more than a decade ago with the decision to make quantum technology a focus of what is now the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering.
Biden told Group of Seven leaders Friday the U.S. would assist with training Ukrainian pilots on modern fighter aircraft, including American-made F-16s, in a possible signal that Washington is closer to arming Ukraine with the planes.
The agreement came after the European Union, which participates in the G7, inched closer this month to passing legislation to regulate AI technology, potentially the world‘s first comprehensive AI law that could form a precedent among the advanced economies.
„We want AI systems to be accurate, reliable, safe and non-discriminatory, regardless of their origin,“ European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.
Clockwise from left, U.S. President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attend a meeting during the G7 Leaders‘ Summit in Hiroshima on Friday.
India, which as chair of the Group of 20 (G20) economies was hosting a meeting in the city of Bengaluru, was reluctant to raise the issue of the war but Western nations insisted they could not back any outcome that did not include a condemnation.
The lack of consensus among G20 members meant India resorted to issuing a âchairâs summary and outcome documentâ in which it simply summed up the two days of talks and noted disagreements.
(03.12.2022)
âThis is an eight decades long relationship and we will continue to assess relations with Saudi Arabia methodically and strategically, and in line with whatâs in our interests,â one official said in a statement.
âWe will judge the way forward based on their actions as well as our ongoing consultations with partners and allies, the new Congress, and the Saudis.â
Senior diplomatic officials shared with i24NEWS that the Gulf state is looking to normalize relations with Israel, but that this will take time.
„The direction of Saudi-Israeli relations is normalization, but it will take more time and we must not put the cart before the horse.“ So said Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir in a meeting held in recent weeks with members of the American Jewish community (AJC), as revealed in an official document obtained by i24NEWS.
During a virtual meeting, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the Russia-led blocâa group collectively known as OPEC+âdecided to maintain production cuts of 2 million barrels a day, initially agreed to in October, OPEC said.
Oil-producing alliance OPEC+ agreed on Sunday to keep its same production targets, dealing another setback for the U.S. and western allies seeking to curb high gas prices.
OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers could impose deeper oil output cuts on Sunday, energy analysts said, as the influential energy alliance weighs the impact of a pending ban on Russia‘s crude exports and a possible price cap on Russian oil.
OPEC+, a group of 23 oil-producing nations led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, will convene on Sunday to decide on the next phase of production policy.
It comes after the EU agreed on the price cap after persuading Poland to back it.
The price cap was put forward by the G7 group of nations in September and aims to stop Moscow profiting from oil exports while avoiding a price spike.
(9:53 A.M. CIT)
Q Mr. President, is it too early to say whether this missile was fired from Russia?
THE PRESIDENT: There is preliminary information that contests that. I donât want to say that until we completely investigate. But it is â I â itâs unlikely, in the minds of the trajectory, that it was fired from Russia. But weâll see. Weâll see.
Q Mr. President, has Poland suggested invoking Article 4 or 5 from NATO, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: The consensus is weâre going to probably have a meeting of the â of the â of the ambassadors. So thatâs â it looks like weâre going to go do next.
Thank you.
As deadly Russian airstrikes continued into a second day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday asked the Group of 7 nations to help his country establish an âair shieldâ against aerial attacks.
Zelenskyâs plea comes amid one of the fiercest bombing campaigns that Russia has waged against Ukraine since invading in late February. At least 19 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded across the country, as far away as the western city of Lviv, hundreds of miles from the warâs main theaters in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Energy analysts have been highly skeptical about the integrity of the proposal, however, warning the policy could backfire if key consumers such as China and India are not involved.
Oil prices were higher on the news.
(08.07.2022)
Auf ihrem Treffen im November wollen die G7-Innenminister:innen Druck machen, damit Firmen mit Filtertechnologien nach sexualisierter Gewalt gegen Kinder suchen. Treiber ist GroĂbritannien, das mit einem Gesetz voranprescht. Auch VerschlĂŒsselung ist davon betroffen.
President NicolĂĄs Maduro: âI would tell President Macron: Venezuela is ready to receive all the French companies that want to come to produce gas and petrol for the European market, for the global market. You are welcome to come whenever. The road is paved. We are prepared, ready and happy to do it.â
(19 hours ago)
„There are resources elsewhere that need to be explored,“ a French official said on the sidelines of a G7 summit in Germany, when asked about how to alleviate high oil prices.
Oil rose $2 a barrel on Monday on the prospect of even tighter supplies loomed over the market as the Group of Seven nations promised to tighten the squeeze on Russian President Vladimir Putinâs war chest while actually lowering energy prices.
(27.06.2022)
„I had a call with MbZ,“ Macron was heard telling U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G7 summit, using shorthand for UAE leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan. „He told me two things. I‘m at a maximum, maximum (production capacity). This is what he claims.“
„And then he said (the) Saudis can increase by 150 (thousands barrels per day). Maybe a little bit more, but they don‘t have huge capacities before six months‘ time,“ Macron said.
(24.06.2022)Der GeneralsekretÀr der Piratenpartei, Stephan Erdmann erklÀrt:
âDurch die VerschlĂŒsselung der einzelnen CryptPads kann die Polizei mit den gesicherten Daten faktisch nichts anfangen. CryptPad ist ein mit EU-Fördermitteln entwickeltes Zero-Knowledge-Projekt. GrundsĂ€tzlich ist es so konzipiert, dass Informationen bezĂŒglich Nutzerdaten und Inhalten auch von administrativer Seite aus nicht festgestellt werden können. Das hĂ€tte die Polizei auf Nachfrage in wenigen Minuten erfahren können.â
Dr. Patrick Breyer, Europaabgeordneter der Piratenpartei ergÀnzt:
âDie nicht zielfĂŒhrende Beschlagnahmeaktion passt ins Bild allgemein tiefer GrundrechtseinschrĂ€nkungen am Ort des Gipfels. Ein Ort wird lahmgelegt, friedliche Demonstrationen weitestgehend verboten, Grenzkontrollen wieder eingefĂŒhrt, vermutlich massenhaft Kfz-Kennzeichen gespeichert und mit Ăberwachungstechnologie wie Drohnen und fehleranfĂ€lliger Gesichtserkennung gearbeitet. Auf der Grundlage des maximal repressiven bayerischen Polizei- und Versammlungsrechts wird ein Ausnahmezustand geschaffen, der Grundrechte missachtet. In einer Demokratie sollten wir den MĂ€chtigen mit einem gesunden Misstrauen begegnen, nicht der Staat seinen BĂŒrgern mit Generalverdacht.â
US-PrĂ€sident Joe Biden ist zum G7-Gipfel in Deutschland eingetroffen. Die PrĂ€sidentenmaschine Air Force One landete am Samstagabend am MĂŒnchener Flughafen, wo Biden vom bayerischen MinisterprĂ€sidenten Markus Söder begrĂŒĂt wurde. AnschlieĂend stieg er fĂŒr den kurzen Flug zum Gipfelort Schloss Elmau in den Hubschrauber Marine One um.
Das gab Selenskyj heute via Twitter bekannt. Der G-7-Gipfel wird Ende Juni in Bayern tagen, die NATO direkt danach in Madrid.
1. Today, on 8 May, we, the Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7), alongside Ukraine and the wider global community, commemorate the end of the Second World War in Europe and the liberation from fascism and the National Socialist reign of terror, which caused immeasurable destruction, unspeakable horrors and human suffering. We mourn the millions of victims and offer our respect, especially to all those who paid the ultimate price to defeat the National Socialist regime, including the western Allies and the Soviet Union.
2. Seventy-seven years later, President Putin and his regime now chose to invade Ukraine in an unprovoked war of aggression against a sovereign country. His actions bring shame on Russia and the historic sacrifices of its people. Through its invasion of and actions in Ukraine since 2014, Russia has violated the international rules-based order, particularly the UN Charter, conceived after the Second World War to spare successive generations from the scourge of war.
„My trip is a clear political signal that Germany and the European Union will continue and intensify their engagement with the Indo-Pacific region,“ Scholz said after meeting Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Kishida said he and Scholz agreed that as members of the Group of Seven industrialized nations they share a responsibility to work together to end Russian aggression and restore peace, stability and international order as quickly as possible.
Deutschland fĂŒhrt momentan die Gruppe der sieben wichtigsten Wirtschaftsnationen (G7). Ein Besuch der Mitglieder ist in der Zeit der PrĂ€sidentschaft ĂŒblich. Aber auch jenseits der Formalien will der Bundeskanzler mit dieser Reise ein Zeichen setzen. Es ist seine dritte Auslandsreise auĂerhalb Europas und die erste nach Asien. Und die fĂŒhrt nicht, wie bei seinen VorgĂ€ngern Angela Merkel und Gerhard Schröder, zuerst nach China – sondern nach Japan. Beide Regierungen vereinbaren, im nĂ€chsten Jahr Regierungskonsultationen aufzunehmen. Die gibt es in Asien bisher nur mit China und Indien.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Germany is studying the list of weapons requested by Ukraine and plans to „find out what can be supplied quickly.“
„The lists include anti-tank weapons and air defense weapons,“ Scholz told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday following a video conference with U.S. President Joe Biden and other G7 leaders.