Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met at the G7 summit in Hiroshima where Zelensky expressed his thanks for the G7’s support. A joint statement also reasserted its intention to decrease its economic dependency on China while specifically calling on the country not to engage in “interference activities”. China was warned must “act in accordance with its obligations” under treaties governing diplomatic relations and not to “conduct interference activities aimed at undermining the security and safety of our communities, the integrity of our democratic institutions and our economic prosperity”, which was added at Trudeau’s request.
Chef Giorgio Locatelli, who owns two Michelin-starred restaurant Locanda Locatelli, has said he has never become overdrawn and has never gone into debt in a personal bank account. Locatelli credited his financial discipline to his upbringing in northern Italy, where his parents only spent money if they had cash in hand. His parents built a home, while his grandfather invested in a hotel and his uncle built a second. The family all worked together at the hotel, with his mum overseeing the finances. Locatelli’s first paid job was to help out in his aunt’s restaurant, and after working in other restaurants, he landed a job at The Savoy hotel, earning £76 a week.
The G7 summit in Hiroshima has ended with discussions focusing on the Ukrainian war and the dominance of China. They also focused on challenges facing developing economies, including Brazil, Vietnam, Comoros and India. Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy made headlines during his time the summit. He was present in the session on Ukraine where it was revealed he had spoken with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. His itinerary for the rest of the day included visiting the Peace Memorial Park and the museum in Hiroshima to remember the atomic bombing of the city. Zelenskyy continues to make the rounds of G-7 leaders. Earlier on the second day of the summit, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the president on the margins of the summit for the first time since Russia's invasion of the Ukraine and shared images of their encounter to his Twitter page.
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.
Floods ruin crops and drown livestock in one of Italy’s gastronomic heartlands
CNN
23-05-21 04:43
The heavy rain that fell on the north Italian region of Emilia Romagna, which is famous for its food, could triple the €13bn cost of the devastating earthquake that hit the area in 2012, according to Coldiretti, the country’s national federation of farmers. More than 5,000 farms with greenhouses, nurseries, stables and barns have been submerged. Livestock have died and countless others are at risk of starving. The Confagricoltura puts the damage caused by the flood at €6,000 per hectare for arable crops and €32,000 per hectare for fruit orchards, vineyards and olive groves. The damage is likely to be incalculable.
Food prices in the EU have risen 16.6% YoY, according to Eurostat, despite lower energy prices easing overall price pressures. This has prompted both retailers and governments to adopt ever more unconventional tactics, such as price controls, to shield the public against spiralling prices, constitute for one of the worst cost of living crisis in a generation. While some price rises may be warranted, some are not, leading the Bureau Européen des Unions de Consommateurs who represent 46 consumer organisations, to urge governments to adopt strong policies to protect consumers.
Mothers of the bride and groom are starting to move away from the traditional styles and creating their unique looks for their children's big day. Events and weddings have changed in recent years, which has resulted in styles of clothing becoming more varied. With wedding dress codes becoming less formal, the set menu look from Carole Middleton is no longer the default wardrobe for mothers. People are becoming more conscious of what events will be held at a wedding and the type of outfits that need to be worn for comfort. With new styles being created, it includes bold colours, fabrics and silhouettes that can help a mother stand out while keeping in mind the surrounding theme. The clothes should make the individuals feel comfortable to set the mood for the big day.
The leader of a Russian mercenary group has claimed it captured Ukrainian city Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk-Oblast region, however, Ukraine continues to dispute this. Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said his private army captured the city on Saturday and that his soldiers would create the "necessary defence lines" before handing the city over to Russian soldiers in four days. Reports from the city yesterday indicated that Ukrainian forces were said to have partly encircled the city along the flanks and still part control of it.
The intricate details of love across Europe during the Renaissance are explored in an upcoming exhibition of paintings at the Holburne Museum in Bath, UK. In particular, the Renaissance is shown to be a time when marriage provided a pretext for all sorts of glamorous purchases, including paintings and commemorative tableware. The works on display range from paintings of couples to upholstered banquet furniture. The exhibition is intended to uncover how marital mores changed during the Renaissance period. At its start, brides were often shown off in all their finery, but later the focus moved towards matrimony itself, with couples depicted as pious upholders of a godly society with the family at its core.
The Renaissance period also saw the rise of a moral campaign in England against female beautification. Upper-class girls were matched with carefully selected bridegrooms and tested for their beauty from the age of 14 to check if they met Renaissance standards. Men were largely responsible for the vast majority of portraits and historical documents commissioned and created at the time, meaning much of what is known about women’s lives was influenced by the views and experiences of their husbands.
The exhibition focuses especially on artworks representing life in Italy and England. It includes Jean Decourt’s 1520 portrait of an English nobleman and his wife; Giovanni dal Ponte’s 1400s tondo with Sts Joachim and Anne, the parents of the Virgin Mary, seated opposite each other, and Hans Eworth’s portraits of the Wakemans, originally intended to be hung together.
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 has come under fire for insufficient commitments to renewables. In their final communiqué, Germany and Japan were criticised respectively for supporting the use of gas and coal, with commentators arguing that the G7 was losing vital leadership on climate change. The G7 pledged a fully to predominantly decarbonised power sector by 2035 and an acceleration of the phase-out of unabated coal power was welcomed. However, no deadline was set. Chile, the Netherlands and New Zealand led a group of countries in calling on the G7 to phase out fossil fuels and accelerate the development of renewables.
Activists from environmental group “Ultima Generazione” (“Last Generation”) poured black dye into the Trevi Fountain in Rome on Sunday in protest at the Italian government’s alleged support for fossil fuels. The group called for an end to public fossil fuel subsidies, which they argue worsen the environmental crisis and increase the threat of flooding. The group also linked their action to recent floods in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. The country’s police were required to wade into the fountain to remove the protesters. Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri condemned the protest and a number of similar acts targeting works of art across the country. The fountain, built in the 18th century, traditionally allows visitors to toss coins into it to ensure their return to the city.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has returned from the G7 summit in Japan early to respond to flooding that has killed 14 people in northern Italy. Around 36,000 people have fled their homes and many others left without electricity, and agriculture in areas which produce kiwis, peaches and apricots has been hugely affected. The Italian government is to discuss measures to cope with the disaster in a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Former world number one tennis player Andy Murray has withdrawn from the French Open due to an early exit on clay earlier this week and to prepare for a busy grass-court schedule. The 36-year-old Scot said he was more likely to focus on his preparations for Wimbledon in July, stating: “It's just what the right thing is to prioritise at this stage in my career...I trust my body now but I'm aware that my best chance of having a deep run is more likely to happen at Wimbledon.”
Activists from Ultima Generazione poured diluted charcoal into Rome's Trevi Fountain on Sunday to highlight their call for an end to public subsidies for fossil fuels. The group called for an end to the financing of the fossil fuel sector in response to deadly floods in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna which it claimed has put one in four Italian houses at risk of flooding. Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri condemned the protest as an "absurd attack on our artistic heritage".
Animal rights activists protested in Madrid against the Spanish archipelago, the Canary Islands next year where a €7m large-scale octopus farm aiming to confine millions of the solitary predators in pools is due to be built. Nova Pescanova, the seafood company supporting the project successfully bred five captivity-born generations of octopus in a pilot project in northern Spain. Farming octopus is regarded as a first step towards sustainable food production as global demand for the Mediterranean delicacy has expanded. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization state the United States recognised a 23% increase in exports, as China experienced a 73% surge between 2016 and 2018.
Italian climate activists from the Ultima Generazione (Last Generation) group blackened Rome's Trevi Fountain using diluted charcoal in protest at public subsidies to fossil fuels and recent floods across the country. The group said that 14 people had died in floods in Emilia-Romagna in the northeast of Italy and voiced concern that one in four Italian homes was vulnerable, whilst urging governmental action. The protests have been described as "absurd attacks on our artistic heritage" by Rome's mayor Roberto Gualtieri and are among a number of peaceful but disruptive attempts to raise climate awareness that have recently targeted cultural sites in Europe.
US President Joe Biden has said he expects to see a “thaw” in relations with Beijing, after a G7 summit where counter-military and economic security against China was high on the agenda. Biden also said he was considering removing sanctions against Chinese defence minister Li Shangfu, in connection with fighter jet imports from Russia. At the summit, G7 members’ criticism of China included its military activities in the South and East China Seas and its human rights record in Tibet and Xinjiang, whilst also calling for peace across the Taiwan Strait.
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has pledged to back the recovery of areas in northern Italy damaged by recent floods which are estimated to have cause damage costing billions of euros and left 14 people dead. Speaking after touring areas around the city of Ravenna, Meloni, who left the G7 summit early to visit affected areas, stated that she would find the resources needed to aid recovery efforts and may call upon the European Union's Solidarity Fund. Agricultural regions, including fruit producers, have also been badly affected.
Tennis great Martina Navratilova has said that she is "OK" after being diagnosed with throat and breast cancers. The 18-time Grand Slam singles champion, aged 66, was awarded the "Racchetta d’Oro" for her contributions to the sport at the Italian Open. Navratilova was diagnosed with throat cancer in January, when she had just discovered early-stage breast cancer. Speaking in March, she said doctors had told her she was cancer-free and would be back on her feet after some more radiation treatment. Navratilova has won 59 Grand Slams in total, including 31 in women’s doubles and 10 in mixed doubles.
