Superpower supremacy to saving the planet – the big challenges for the G7
Face to face multi-lateral diplomacy is back. The band is getting back together, but the world has changed since the G7 last met.
Our species and our planet face grave threats and the West’s autocratic rivals have prospered and grown more powerful.
There is a huge amount at stake for those who want the world led by open, democratic, free societies.
COVID vaccines
Coronavirus is the biggest challenge for the G7‘s first face-to-face summit since the pandemic broke out. Until the entire world is vaccinated, we all remain at risk of a new variant sending us back to square one.
Former British ambassador to the US who knows Joe Biden well, Sir Peter Westmacott, told Sky News the president and his allies know this is their number one priority.
“This virus is going to contaminate international business, travel, holiday making, unless we can eradicate it or pretty much eradicate it. It’s not good enough for one or two countries to do really well. So we have to work together on this, just like we have to work together if we’re going to save the planet,” he said.
And if the West fails to lead in vaccinating the world, its claim to global moral leadership could be fatally undermined.
Climate crisis
Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the world must apply the lessons learnt in the battle against COVID to tackling the second biggest challenge – climate change.
On the eve of the summit, America’s new president wrote that the US is “back in the chair on the issue of climate change” and “we have an opportunity to deliver ambitious progress that curbs the climate crisis”.
Economic recovery
The G7 needs to resuscitate a global economy weakened by the pandemic.
But even before the virus, millions were so disenchanted with the way things are run economically that they voted for populists like Donald Trump.
The G7 must convince them that the economic integration, globalisation and multilateral institutions that the West has worked so hard to build up are worth their mettle. Otherwise the populists will be back, maybe even Trump himself.
Sir Kim Darroch was British ambassador to the US.
He told Sky News that allies will remain nervous about that for some time to come, saying: “More people voted for Donald Trump [in 2020] than they did in 2016. So there is a way to go for them to be convinced that the American cause has been reset in a stable and consistent way for the foreseeable future.”
China
China is a thorny issue the G7 knows it must handle carefully.
Its trampling of human rights in Hong Kong cannot be ignored. Likewise its treatment of the Uighurs in Xinjiang – genocidal, or near enough. And its bellicose statements about Taiwan.
If the G7 is serious about what it calls values-based diplomacy, it cannot turn a blind eye to any of these. But it can’t afford to alienate China either. It will be a tricky balancing act.
Former NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen told Sky News the G7 needs to be robust when it comes to the way China is behaving.
“An attack is not necessarily by tanks or aeroplanes,” he said. “On the contrary, you can use economic coercion as part of your aggressiveness. And that’s exactly what China is exercising.”
Mr Rasmussen suggests the free world applies an “all for one, one for all” approach to China’s economic bullying. That way Beijing might think twice about using its size and power to coerce smaller nations economically.
Superpower supremacy
For some there’s nothing less at stake at this summit than who is going to run the world in the years ahead. Democracies or autocracies?
Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned the main challenge in the coming years will be the fight between autocracy and democracy, autocracy primarily represented by China and Russia, and to counter the advancing autocracies there’s the need to rally around basic democratic principles.
If that sounds a bit abstract, don’t underestimate how much that contest could effect us all. “It’s an existential question, it’s a question about who will set the global norms and standards in the future,” he argues.
Giving one example, Mr Rasmussen said: “You can use artificial intelligence to make our lives better and easier, but you can also use artificial intelligence to strengthen surveillance of your people, controlling your people. And if it’s Beijing who sets the international norms and standards for the use of artificial intelligence, semiconductors and data flows, etc, then we would undermine privacy and individual liberty. And that is what is at stake.”
Fortunately for the West, if it can get the individual challenges right, it has a better chance of winning the bigger battle, seeing off the threat from autocracies.
An alliance of democracies that can lead on COVID, lead on climate change and lead a global economic recovery will be a more appealing alternative to autocratic regimes in Moscow and Beijing – and more likely to reclaim its preeminent position. Failure will only strengthen Russia and China.
Hope for global action
What happens in Cornwall will have an impact on all our lives.
The good news is this G7 is better placed than many before to achieve unity and success. Recent summits have been marred by Donald Trump’s impatience with the whole idea of western multilateral democracy.
Before that, the inclusion of Russia as part of the G8 group led inevitably to watered down compromise resolutions.
This G7 includes a reenergised America deeply committed to its principles, and the state of the world gives an urgency and potential for focus we have not seen in a long time.
The Senate has passed $95bn (£76.2bn) in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan after months of delays and rows – with Joe Biden set to sign the legislation later.
The bill passed the Senate on an overwhelming 79-18 vote late on Tuesday after the House had approved the package on Saturday.
Once signed, the president will start the process of sending weapons to Ukraine, which has been struggling to hold its front lines against Russia.
The legislation would also send $26bn (£20bn) in wartime assistance to Israel and humanitarian relief to citizens of Gaza, and $8bn (£6.4bn) to counter Chinese threats in Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific.
Analysis:
What US aid package means for war in Ukraine
US officials said about $1bn (£802,000) worth of the aid could be on its way shortly, with the bulk following in the coming weeks.
In an interview with The Associated Press shortly before the vote, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said if Congress had not passed the aid, “America would have paid a price economically, politically, militarily”.
“Very few things we have done have risen to this level of historic importance,” he said.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
On the Senate floor, Mr Schumer said the Senate was sending a message to US allies: “We will stand with you.”
Mr Schumer and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell argued there could be dire consequences for the US and many of its allies if Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression is left unchecked.
The pair worked with House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, to overcome seemingly intractable Republican opposition to the Ukraine aid.
The House approved the package in a series of four votes on Saturday, with the Ukraine portion passing 311-112.
The $61bn (£48.1bn) for Ukraine comes as the war-torn country desperately needs new firepower and as Mr Putin has stepped up his attacks.
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Zelenskyy ‘grateful’ for US package
Ukrainian soldiers have struggled as Russia has seized the momentum on the battlefield and gained significant territory.
Mr Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday the US will send badly needed air defence weaponry as soon as the legislation is passed.
“The President has assured me that the package will be approved quickly and that it will be powerful, strengthening our air defence as well as long-range and artillery capabilities,” Mr Zelenskyy said in a post on X on Monday.
US
Newspaper chief was Donald Trump’s ‘eyes and ears’ and ‘killed unfavourable stories about him’, court hears
A newspaper chief was Donald Trump’s “eyes and ears” and killed unfavourable stories about him in the run-up to the 2016 election, a court has heard.
Trump has made history as the first former US president to face a criminal trial.
He stands accused of paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels in an effort to cover up their alleged affair and falsifying business records in order to do so.
David Pecker, the former boss of publisher AMI, took the stand as the first witness in the trial, as he described participating in a “catch and kill” scheme with Trump and Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen to bury unfavourable press coverage during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Manhattan’s criminal court also heard Mr Pecker, who signed a “non-prosecution” agreement with prosecutors after AMI admitted to making hush-money payments, describe his role as being the “eyes and ears” for Trump.
Mr Pecker said he would flag stories to Mr Cohen, who would check if they were true or not. This agreement was never put in writing but Mr Pecker divulged it to Dylan Howard, editor-in-chief of the National Enquirer, one of his publications.
Catch up: how the day unfolded in court
Trump waits for the start of proceedings. Pic Reuters
Mr Pecker told the court of a meeting he attended in August 2015 with Trump, Mr Cohen, and Hope Hicks, the communications director for the former president.
‘I would be the eyes and ears’
He said: “At that meeting with Donald Trump, they asked me what can I do to help the campaign.
“I said what I would do is I would run or publish positive stories about Mr Trump, and I would publish negative stories about his opponents.
“I said that I would also be the eyes and ears.”
In particular, Mr Pecker said that he would notify Cohen if he heard any negative stories relating to Trump and alleged relations with any women “because Mr Trump was well known as the most eligible bachelor and dated the most beautiful women”.
He added: “It was clear that, based on my past experience, that when someone was running for public office like this, it is very common for these women to call up magazines like the National Enquirer to try to sell their stories.”
The court heard of one such example where Mr Pecker paid $30,000 (£24,000) to buy a story about Trump allegedly fathering an illegitimate baby with a maid.
Trump was accused of hatching a “catch and kill” scheme to bury unfavourable press coverage during the 2016 presidential campaign. Pic: Reuters
Trump waves to crowds outside court. Pic: Reuters
Mr Pecker said: “I immediately called Michael Cohen and told him exactly what I was told.
“I gave the name of the housekeeper in the penthouse and asked him to verify it first with the Trump Organisation payroll.”
Buying off negative press
Mr Pecker bought the story but said investigators found the story to be untrue and says Cohen told him it was “absolutely not true”.
He added: “I made the decision to buy the story because it could have been embarrassing to the campaign and Mr Trump.”
Hanging over today’s proceedings were allegations that Trump violated a gag order in social media posts and on his campaign website.
The gag order restricted Trump’s public speech on jurors, potential witnesses and some others involved in the case.
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Prosecutors asked the judge to fine Trump $10,000 (£8,000) for ten online posts they say violated the order, but the judge hadn’t made a decision by the end of the day’s proceedings.
Political opponents targeted
However, alongside protecting Trump’s image, the court heard that Mr Pecker allegedly targeted his political opponents.
He said: “I would run a Hillary Clinton story as being the enabler to a womaniser.”
The prosecution asked: “Did you believe it helped Trump’s campaign?”
Mr Pecker told the court it was mutually beneficial because it led to newspaper sales and benefited Trump’s campaign.
The court was told that Mr Pecker’s publisher would also run stories about Trump’s Republican opponents “based on the success of some of the candidates”.
He added: “I would receive a call from Michael Cohen, and he would direct me and direct Dylan Howard which candidate and which direction we should go.”
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
National Enquirer headlines
Some headlines published by the Enquirer included:
• Bungling Surgeon Ben Carson Left Sponge in Patient’s Brain!
• Ted Cruz Shamed by Porn Star
• Boozin’ Ted Cruz Fixin’ To Lose
• Shocking Claims: Pervy Ted Cruz Caught Cheating – With 5 Secret Mistresses
• Anonymous Threat! Hackers Threaten Ted Cruz with Alleged Prostitution
• Donald Trump Blasts Ted Cruz’s Dad for Photo with JFK Assassin
Also amid today’s proceedings, it emerged that Mr Pecker was one of the first people to encourage Trump to run for president.
In early 2015, Mr Pecker says he told Trump that 80% of the readership of the National Enquirer wanted him to run for president.
He received an invitation to the announcement that Trump would run, made in June 2015, which the court heard read: “No one deserves to be there more than you.”
More than 100 students and staff were arrested at New York University (NYU) last night as protests around the Israel-Hamas war reached a boiling point.
Recent days have seen an escalation of long-running largely pro-Palestinian protests in some of the country’s most prestigious educational establishments.
Protesters at NYU, Columbia and Yale have made various demands of their universities, including that they end their relationships with universities in Israel, take stronger action over the war and divest from military weapons manufacturers who have links to Israel.
It has led to growing tensions on campus which have become hotbeds for protest, as some Jewish students have said they have been left fearing for their safety.
Last night was the latest development in the on-running demonstrations at US universities. Pic Shutterstock
Mass demonstrations have swept US universities since the 7 October attacks by Hamas, and Israel’s response which is reported to have killed over 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza.
Protests reached boiling point on Monday night as universities took action and police were called in.
At NYU, officers moved on the crowds shortly after they set the demonstration a 4pm deadline to disperse, and claimed that protesters were joined by people “whom we believe were not affiliated with NYU”.
Several tents had been set up in the plaza where many were protesting in. A group of pro-Israel counter-protesters had also been in the plaza Monday afternoon.
Eyewitness:
Protests encapsulate moment of febrile divisiveness where nuance is too often lost
On Monday evening, a line of university staff members linked arms in front of the protesters to protect them from police before they were arrested and taken away themselves.
As demonstrators tussled with officers they chanted: “We will not stop, we will not rest. Disclose. Divest.”
Police appeared to use mace on protesters, with one student saying it was used “liberally”.
A spokesperson for the NYPD confirmed that 120 people were taken into custody – 116 of whom were released with summonses for trespass, giving them a future date to appear before a judge or magistrate.
The remaining four were issued with desk appearance tickets for more serious offences – meaning they are required to appear at a criminal court on a future date.
NYPD deputy commissioner Kaz Daughtry said the university had requested for police to come to the campus, adding: “Our officers responded to the location without delay and dispersed the crowd – making numerous arrests, as necessary.”
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
At Yale University in Connecticut, protests were reported to have grown to “include several hundred people – Yale undergraduates, graduate and professional students, and people with no Yale affiliation”, according to a statement from the university.
It added that the Yale Police Department issued summonses for 47 students.
Protesters at US universities set up camps – seen here at Columbia. Pic: Reuters
Police officers have been called into a number of US campuses. Pic: Reuters
Last week, more than 100 students at Columbia University in New York were arrested after the administration called to report the students as a danger to campus.
NYPD chief of patrol John Chell told the student newspaper there were no reports of violence or injuries and that the students were “peaceful, offered no resistance whatsoever.”
Robert Kraft, a major donor to Columbia who is Jewish and the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots, has threatened to pull his money from the university, saying: “I am not comfortable supporting the university until corrective action is taken.”
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Pro-Palestinian protests have also been set up at the University of Michigan, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt.
The NYPD, NYU and Columbia have all been approached for comment.
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