Jeddah, sleep, and a French plane, how Zelenskiy reached Japan’s G7

By John Irish HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) – As Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy touched down in the Japanese city of Hiroshima on Saturday, cameras zoomed in on the plane: a French government-labelled military aircraft. At times since Russia invaded Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron’s diplomatic overtures have made some of his allies angry and wary of his…

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Quad leaders pledge to uphold peace and stability in Indo-Pacific region

HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) – The United States, Australia, India and Japan, a group known as Quad, on Saturday pledged to uphold peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region and “oppose unilateral actions seeking change in status quo by force”, they said in a statement. They also expressed a “serious concern at the militarisation of disputed…

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G7 tightens Russia sanctions, looks to cut China trade reliance

By Katya Golubkova and John Irish HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) -Leaders of the world’s richest democracies acted on Friday to stiffen sanctions against Russia, while a draft communique to be issued after their talks in the Japanese city of Hiroshima stressed the need to reduce reliance on trade with China. The Group of Seven (G7) leaders,…

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G7 leaders agree to new initiative to fight economic coercion

TOKYO (Reuters) – Group of Seven leaders on Saturday agreed to a new initiative to counter economic coercion, and pledged action to ensure that any actors attempting to weaponise economic dependence would fail and face consequences. The initiative, dubbed Coordination Platform on Economic Coercion, will use early warning and rapid information sharing on economic coercion…

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UK to ban Russian diamonds, US sanctions target major gold miners

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain published plans to ban imports of Russian diamonds, copper, aluminium and nickel on Friday and announced new sanctions against Russia, targeting companies connected to the suspected theft of Ukrainian grain. The United States and Canada also announced new penalties on Russia over its war against Ukraine. Washington imposed sanctions on gold producer…

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US dollar skids as Fed’s Powell hints at June pause, debt talks stall

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) – The dollar fell on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell struck a moderately dovish stance, contrary to market expectations, saying that given how credit conditions have tightened, the U.S. central bank may not need to raise interest rates as much. A pause in negotiations to raise the…

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Pent-up demand promises record tourist season for southern Europe

By Giselda Vagnoni ROME (Reuters) – After three years of pandemic travel restrictions and rocketing energy costs, tourism is back with a vengeance to boost the economies of southern Europe as sun-seekers make up for lost time. Early bookings suggest Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal could receive record tourism revenues this year, helping replenish state…

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