World leaders meet for G8 summit
World leaders meet for G8 summit
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Wednesday, 08, Jul 2009 05:47
The leaders of the G8 countries are meeting in Italy today for their 35th annual summit.
High on the agenda for discussion over the next three days will be the ongoing financial crisis, climate change and international aid pledges to tackle global hunger.
The G8 countries include Canada , France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the UK and the US and this week's summit will represent the first meeting for American president Barack Obama and Japan's prime minister Taro Aso.
Following on from the G20 summit hosted by Britain in April, world leaders will once again meet to discuss measures aimed at resurrecting the global economy and increasing international trade.
During a pre-summit press conference on Monday, Britain's prime minister Gordon Brown and French president Nicolas Sarkozy pledged to continue with efforts to clampdown on tax havens and protectionism.
Efforts to cut greenhouse gases will also be discussed this week as will progress with the Millennium Development Goals and tackling global hunger.
The summit had originally been planned to take place in the seaside resort of La Maddalena but was moved to the city of L'Aquila by Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlusconi in a bid to redistribute disaster funds following a devastating earthquake.
More than 300 people died and over 1,000 were injured when the quake struck the historic city three months ago.
Earlier today, Mr Berlusconi took German chancellor Angela Merkel on a tour of Onna, a village badly affected by the quake.
The summit received a early set back on Wednesday when China's president, Hu Jintao, left to return to his country, following violent riots in the Xinjiang region.