Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited to attend the G7 summit from May 19 to May 21 as an "invited country". His invitation highlights the attraction of the Indian economy as all G7 countries face slow growth. According to the IMF, India is expected to grow at 5.9% in 2023-2024 and is the quickest growing economy in Asia, making India an attractive place to invest due to factors including market potential, business reforms and a favourable industrial climate. India's plentiful and skilled workforce also makes it a destination of interest, given the greatest challenges facing modern day businesses is to attract and maintain talent.
The G7 summit in the city of Hiroshima in Japan may feature debates on the Ukraine conflict, China’s economic power and the domination of Taiwan. Issues of global energy and economic security are also expected to be discussed. The presence of India, a country that is currently chairing G-20, is likely to bring a focus to global developing nations and the concerns of the so-called Global South. Significant Asia-Pacific nations including India, South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam and Australia are participating alongside the seven member states of the G7 and the European Union. Gambia, Laos, Papua New Guinea, Senegal and Vietnam have been invited to send representatives to a meeting on tropical diseases.
Peter Weiniger, a journalist for The Age, has died aged 79 after a prolonged battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Weiniger played a key role in establishing Melbourne’s stand-up comedy scene, after eavesdropping on shows at Fitzroy venues in the 1980s and publishing reviews of their content. Some of the comics he supported and promoted included Richard Stubbs, Rod Quantock, Jean Kitson, Glenn Robbins and Mary Keneally. Weiniger was born in Shanghai, survived the Holocaust, and spent time in Israel and Southeast Asia as an adult, before returning to Australia to work as a reporter for the AAP news agency. He began writing for The Age in 1979 and spent three decades with company, holding positions on News Diary, the Green Guide, EG and Epicure. Weiniger’s final role as a journalist was as a leader-writer on the editorial team.
Leaders of the G7 countries and their invited guests, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Vietnam and Australia, are meeting in Hiroshima over the next few days. The likely topics for discussion include the Ukraine conflict, growing Chinese dominance and the threat to Taiwan as well as issues surrounding supply chains and economic and energy security. The prominent attendance of India, a country that chairs the G20 this year, is highlighted as likely to shine a spotlight on the developing world. However, many have asked why the focus of the summit is background noise, rather than on the nuclear threat signaled by North Korea's recent nuclear tests and missile launches.
Leaders at the G7 summit in Japan have held talks focusing on the deepening dominance of China and political tensions on the Korean peninsula. The likely impact on the Japanese economy of the UK's Brexit decision is also a significant concern. Top of the agenda was the situation in the Ukraine and issues related to economic security and supply chains. India's attendance, as chair of the G20, has highlighted the importance of the developing world. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made several contributions to the talks, arguing for inclusive food systems to be created across the world. At a separate meeting, involving the leaders of Japan and Brazil, mention was made of the need for security council reform. Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama became the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima, where he laid a wreath at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has made a surprise visit to Hiroshima to participate in the Group of Seven (G7) economic summit after he was invited by President Joe Biden. The meeting was said to be focused on mobilising allies against the growing economic power of China, but Zelensky's appearance has overshadowed discussions around Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The G7 leaders' joint statement called on China to press Russia to stop military aggression, specifically citing the need for a comprehensive peace deal based on Ukrainian territorial integrity and UN Charter principles. According to reports, President Biden is to meet Zelensky and to provide flight training to the Ukrainian military, despite earlier dismissing Ukraine's request for F-16 fighter jets. The US President had initially planned for a longer and more ambitious trip, but cancelled stops in Papua New Guinea and Australia to focus on talks with congressional leaders over debt limitation and avoiding default.
The final day of the Group of Seven (G7) summit has passed in Hiroshima, with delegates including Ukraine's President Volodomyr Zelenskyy discussing the war, China’s dominance and the issues faced by the Global South. Joining the leaders were a number of key Asia-Pacific figures such as the Indian, South Korean, Indonesian and Australian prime ministers. The triennial met throughout the summit, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took some time off to visit Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park and Museum. President Joe Biden met with Zelenskyy, Ukrainian Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister for talks. The G7 laid out a common de-risking path on China, while India's Narendra Modi commented that he would “amplify concerns of the Global South” at the summit.
Scientists have developed a “pipeline” which produces lab-grown fish fillets mirroring the original in flavour, colour and texture, as part of a push towards meat substitutes. Researchers at Zhejiang University used stem cells from large yellow croaker fish to produce the centimetre-long fillets, which demonstrated "a great potential in the production of tissue-like cultured meats," said a co-author of the study. Inhibiting signalling pathways in fat and muscle cells improved the efficiency of their differentiation from 1% to 32% and researchers constructed a 3D gelatin-based scaffold to provide the structure to grow the cells. However, the chewiness of the fish meat was different to the farmed variety and there was unusual water distribution. There have been fewer studies on marine lab-grown fish because of the diversity of muscle types.
The Group of Seven (G7) summit in Japan has ended, with discussions centring around the Ukraine war, China’s growing dominance and support for the “Global South”. According to a communique, the G7 nations have agreed to support public-private initiatives to swerve China's “belt and road” initiative, to implement measures to counter state-backed “malicious cyber activities”, and to decarbonise energy systems by the end of the century. The G7 also signed a declaration committing to the protection of international maritime regulations, including the peaceful resolution of maritime disputes, navigation rights, and safety along sea lanes. G7 leaders expressed concern over the situation in the East and South China seas. The summit also saw the invitees from Indonesia, South Korea, India and Australia discuss issues such as Ebola, the impact of Brexit, terrorism and trade. President Zelenskyy of Ukraine was in the spotlight throughout the summit.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is hosting the G7 summit in Hiroshima, has found himself with a unique dilemma as he has to balance his vision of a world without nuclear arms with the widespread fears of aggression from Japan’s nuclear-armed neighbours. Kishida has been pushing for a pacifist constitution and a world free of nuclear weapons, but is faced with threats from North Korea and China, which are both rapidly expanding their nuclear arsenals. Kishida has already shown Japan’s solidarity with Ukraine, which faces Russian aggression, but is still trying to maintain his overall vision of peace for Asia-Pacific.
The Ukraine conflict was at the forefront of G7 meetings in Hiroshima, Japan, over the weekend. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was among the invitees to the meetings, which discussed China's growing dominance and issues affecting the so-called "Global South." Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed the need for a "resilient and diversified" approach to supply chains, while UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak commented on the summit's significance for consolidating peace. Meanwhile, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called for the issue of nuclear weapons to be discussed openly, and said it was "historically significant" for the G7 leaders visiting the Peace Memorial Museum to publish a focus on nuclear disarmament – known as the Hiroshima Vision. The G7 summit heralded a number of warm bilateral meetings, concluding with talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on the conflict on Sunday afternoon.
The G7 summit sent a message of solidarity against Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine, and now the US, and aligned the EU with US relations towards China. The declaration announced new measures to increase pressure on Russia and support Ukraine’s maximal position in future peace negotiations. The group launched the Co-ordination Platform on Economic Coercion to deter and respond to future economic threats and restrict China’s access to cutting-edge technologies that could be used for military purposes. The Outcome of the G7 meeting greatly complicates China's ability to benefit from economic engagement with the EU over the US, perfectly showcasing their divide and conquer strategy.
