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Straits Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
World leaders may face wildfire smoke at Canada G7 summit
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police block a road in Kananaskis Country, where the leaders of the G7 will meet from June 15 to 17, 2025 in Alberta, Canada, June 9, 2025. REUTERS/Todd Korol/File Photo WINNIPEG, Manitoba - World leaders may face smoke warnings when they gather next week in Alberta as wildfires burned out of control across much of Canada and caused the country's second-worst fire season in decades. The Kananaskis area of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, where the Group of Seven leaders' summit starts on Sunday, is not in a wildfire area. But the country is battling 225 blazes including 120 out of control with some of those fires raging to the west in British Columbia and in northern parts of Alberta. Canada's government on Thursday listed Calgary, the nearest major city to Kananaskis, at high risk for deteriorating air quality. Wildfire smoke levels can change quickly depending on wind direction. Burning forests in provinces to the east are producing smoke that is reaching the eastern U.S. coast. Some rain has fallen in western Canada in recent days, but not enough to douse most of the fires. They have so far consumed 3.7 million hectares of land, the second-largest area for this time of year in decades after 2023, officials said. Federal officials said at a G7 briefing on Thursday that measures to mitigate risks for the leaders' summit from wildfires and other potential hazards such as tornadoes and flooding were in place. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from communities across western Canada and in northwestern Ontario, some by military aircraft. Two people have died. Federal officials and politicians at a wildfire briefing on Thursday said climate change had exacerbated the wildfire risk across Canada. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
G7 summit in Canada to see how EU, US align on Russia sanctions, says German official
FILE PHOTO: Fish and Wildlife officers patrol the area in Kananaskis Country, where the leaders of the G7 will meet from June 15 to 17, 2025 in Alberta, Canada, June 9, 2025. REUTERS/Todd Korol/ File Photo G7 summit in Canada to see how EU, US align on Russia sanctions, says German official BERLIN - The upcoming Group of Seven (G7) meeting in Canada will be about the extent to which the EU and U.S. align on sanctions against Russia, a German government official said on Thursday. "In many respects, the G7 summit is also a milestone as far as Ukraine is concerned," said the official, adding that it was important to keep the United States engaged and move the sanctions debate "a little bit further" in the right direction. On continued military and financial support for Ukraine, the official said realism was needed. "If we maintain the status quo, that the Americans continue to provide certain very important services to Ukraine, then we are doing well," added the official. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
21-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
G7 finance leaders try to downplay tariff disputes, find consensus
G7 finance ministers and central bank governors sit down for their first meeting at the G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' Meeting in Banff, Alberta, Canada, May 21, 2025. REUTERS/Todd Korol G7 finance ministers and central bank governors sit down for their first meeting at the G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' Meeting in Banff, Alberta, Canada, May 21, 2025. REUTERS/Todd Korol G7 finance ministers and central bank governors pose for a group photo during the G7 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Banff, Alberta, Canada, May 21, 2025. REUTERS/Todd Korol BANFF, Alberta - Finance leaders from the Group of Seven industrialized democracies sought on Wednesday to downplay disputes over U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and find some common ground to keep the forum viable as they met in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Participants said the G7 finance ministers and central bank governors were striving to issue a joint communique covering non-tariff issues, including support for Ukraine, the threat from non-market economic policies of countries including China, and combating financial crimes and drug trafficking. The finance leaders want to avoid a fracturing of the group similar to the last time Canada hosted the G7 in 2018 during Trump's first term, when his initial steel and aluminum tariffs and U.S. opposition to climate change language made a joint statement impossible. That meeting, described as the "G6 plus one," ended with Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Britain and Italy expressing "unanimous concern and disappointment" over Trump's tariffs. Trump's tariffs are far more extensive this time, but G7 sources said there was an effort to find compromise with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. "Italy continues to work so that the final compromise communiqué can be reached. A step we consider crucial," Italian Economy and Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said in a social media post. But G7 delegation sources said it remained unclear whether the leaders could agree on joint communique language. One European source said, for example, U.S. officials wanted to delete language describing Russia's invasion of Ukraine as "illegal" from the draft. Delegates will also discuss a possible lowering of the $60-a-barrel G7 price cap on Russian crude oil. "We expect a thorny discussion on the price cap," one of the officials said. The EU is pushing to lower the price level as it works on an 18th package of sanctions against Russia aimed at Russian energy and the financing of sanctions circumvention. "There is no agreement yet on the communique but it's fundamental that we get this communique. It would be serious if not agreed," a European official said. "At the end of the day, we are only seven countries." CALMING INFLUENCE A second European official said Bessent's participation in the meeting and efforts to try to find common ground provided some comfort to the group. "Bessent is the official who is the most political and flexible in the American administration," the official said. "At the dinner last night, Bessent was very open and not rigid. He talked about working for a solution." Negotiations over a joint statement were expected to continue into Wednesday evening and Thursday morning. A U.S. Treasury spokesperson declined to comment on the G7 deliberations. A U.S. source briefed on Bessent's positions said on Monday that issuing a joint statement depended on whether it served U.S. priorities. At the same time, Bessent was holding bilateral meetings with G7 counterparts and met with Germany's new Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil early on Wednesday. A German source at the G7 meeting described the discussion as an open and constructive exchange that lasted longer than planned, and the two men agreed to meet again in Washington after Bessent extended an invitation. Bessent was also meeting with Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato and was expected to meet later with Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne. While that discussion is expected to focus heavily on Trump's steep new tariffs, the U.S. source said that no bilateral trade deals would be announced at the G7 meeting. Japan, Germany, France and Italy all face a potential doubling of U.S. duties to 20% or more in early July. Britain negotiated a limited trade deal that leaves it saddled with 10% U.S. tariffs on most goods, and host Canada is still struggling with Trump's separate 25% duty on many exports. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
