Evian-les-Bains, June 17: Leaders at the Group of Seven summit wrap up three days of talks in the French Alps on Wednesday with discussions on the contentious future of artificial intelligence and US dominance of the industry.

US President Donald Trump and other national leaders are closing the formal talks of the leading industrial nations in the lakeside resort of Evian-les-Bains with a session on the future of artificial intelligence and another on fostering economic growth.

The heads of several leading AI companies will attend the discussions, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.

Trump plans to stop outside Paris for a glitzy dinner at the Palace of Versailles before he jets back to Washington on Wednesday.

The G7 leaders spent the bulk of their meeting on Tuesday discussing the war between Russia and Ukraine and a tentative deal to end the Iran war. Trump did not reveal details of the agreement expected to be signed by the United States and Iran on Friday at a resort on Switzerland’s Lake Lucerne.

The G7 includes France, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US and the United Kingdom. Guest nations at this summit include Brazil, Egypt, India, Kenya, South Korea, Qatar, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates.

Here is the latest:

Informal talks begin

Leaders of France, the UK, Italy, Germany and Canada have gathered for informal talks ahead of a G7 session on global economic imbalances, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said.

They then joined the meeting involving partners including India, South Korea, Kenya and India.

Starmer says he discussed Russia oil sanctions with Trump

Keir Starmer says he isn’t sure whether Trump has made a decision about whether to reimpose sanctions on Russian oil.

The British leader says he talked to Trump about the temporary US sanctions waiver.

Starmer told British broadcaster ITV he and Trump had “a very constructive discussion about Ukraine,” but “I don’t know that a decision has been made yet.”

He said G7 leaders shared “a real determination to stand with Ukraine,” including through more sanctions on Russia.

Trump delays Jay Clayton’s nomination for intel director to try to push Congress on voting bill

Trump said on Wednesday that he’s delaying Jay Clayton’s nomination to lead the US intelligence community in a bid to force Congress to act on a voter ID bill that currently lacks enough support for passage.

Trump said in a lengthy post on his social media site that he will keep Bill Pulte, a top US housing official, as acting director of national intelligence. Lawmakers in both parties had opposed Trump’s nomination of Pulte, citing his apparent lack of experience in the intelligence field, which essentially forced Trump to turn to Clayton.

Clayton had been set to appear on Wednesday for a Senate confirmation hearing that was fast-tracked because of the lapse of a crucial surveillance program due to bipartisan anger over Trump’s pick of Pulte.

No Bilateral Meeting for Carney and Trump at G7 as Trade Pact Renewal Looms

Carney did not get a bilateral meeting with Trump at the summit, despite the free trade agreement between the countries being up for renewal on July 1.

Carney says he had seven or eight discussions with Trump, and he expects to have more on Wednesday.

He says they discussed a wide range of subjects, from the economy, relations, his birthday, artificial intelligence, Ukraine and Iran.

Canadian prime ministers usually get a bilateral meeting with an American president at G7 summits. And it is a crucial time for talks to potentially renew the free-trade agreement between the two countries and Mexico. Trump said last week that he may not renew the deal.

Macron is the only G7 leader to get a bilateral meeting thus far. Trump met with the leaders of non-G7 countries of Qatar, UAE, Egypt and India.

Trump to close final day in France at Palace of Versailles

The expansive palace is where he’ll have dinner with Macron before the flight back to Washington.

At the final day of the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, Trump is set to participate in working sessions with his counterparts from France, Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy and Japan, alongside leaders from some developing nations and tech CEOs.

In between sessions, he’ll hold one-on-one talks with Egypt’s president and India’s prime minister.

Trump is also holding a news conference before the trip to Versailles.

Leaders pledge Ukraine support, including air defence technology

G7 leaders said in a joint statement overnight that they would increase military support for Ukraine after recent “progress on the battlefield.”

They also plan to levy harsher sanctions on Russia’s energy sector in the wake of the recent deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

They plan to give more air defence technology, including interceptors and grant military production licenses to Ukraine.

Kyiv has sought the permits to construct its own Patriot missiles.

Carney says Iran deal could be a global game changer

Carney says a tentative deal to end the Iran war could be a game-changer in the world.

The Canadian prime minister, speaking on the final day of the summit, said the agreement could have positive effects, including the ability to provide additional defensive support in Ukraine.

Carney said there has been a change in tone concerning Ukraine, which was discussed in detail at the summit on Tuesday.

Many countries are vested in making the Iran deal work, he said.

G7 leaders call for safe and toll-free shipping in the Strait of Hormuz

Leaders gathered at the G7 summit issued a joint statement overnight Tuesday on the agreement reached between the US and Iran focused on securing safe passage without tolls in the Persian Gulf.

“We reaffirm that the right of transit passage without restrictions or tolls is the bedrock of international trade,” said the statement of leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Iran floated a similar idea in April to fund the reconstruction of areas in the country damaged by war.

The closure of the strait has driven up fuel and fertiliser costs and rattled economies worldwide.

The statement also offered support to a French and British-led naval mission to the Persian Gulf to safeguard ships and remove mines from one of the crucial choke-points in the world’s energy supply chain.

Carney gives a birthday gift to Trump

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney gave US President Donald Trump a present for his 80th birthday, but said it’s “not gold.”

Trump was “very pleased,” Carney said, adding that he “likes it a lot.”

Carney didn’t specify what the gift was, and a spokesperson for the prime minister didn’t immediately know.

Trump is known for his love of gold. An Oval Office makeover at the start of his term included large amounts of fresh gold trim.

Trump and Carney have a positive relationship despite Trump’s previous comments about making Canada the 51st state of the United States.

Washington, June 17: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told President Donald Trump last year that he was the “greatest friend Israel ever had in the White House”.

Now, as Trump tries to finalise a deal to end the war with Iran, he’s unloading on Netanyahu with rhetoric that no other American leader has dared to use publicly.

He claimed credit for Israel’s existence — “without me, there would be no Israel” — and cursed his judgment in interviews. He even described him as “crazy”.

Netanyahu’s tenure as prime minister spans four US presidents, and he’s frustrated all of them at one point or another. But none has voiced that as openly as Trump, who started the conflict in tandem with Netanyahu.

The tension comes as Trump criticises recent Israeli attacks in Lebanon, which threatened to jeopardise negotiations between Washington and Tehran. Trump has been pushing for a deal as he faces political blowback at home, where the war is unpopular and has driven up gasoline prices.

“If Netanyahu gets in between something Trump really wants, and that’s out of this war, he’s prepared to use the leverage that he has,” said Aaron David Miller, who served as an adviser on Middle East issues to Democratic and Republican administrations over two decades.

An agreement is scheduled to be signed on Friday in Geneva. Speaking on Tuesday at the annual G7 summit in France, Trump said he told Netanyahu that he’s been unhappy with his recent moves.

“Without the US, there would be no Israel. Without me, there would be no Israel because no other President was willing to do what I did,” Trump said. “I have had a great relationship with Bibi. Now Bibi has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon.”

There has long been a bipartisan consensus around supporting Israel in Washington, but that has frayed in recent years.

Liberals have been increasingly outraged by Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, especially during the war in Gaza, and conservatives have questioned the importance of longstanding American support for Israel. There are concerns about antisemitism on the left and the right.

Trump’s latest comments drew swift criticism from left-leaning groups.

“He is framing Israel’s mere existence as contingent on him,” said Halie Soifer, who leads the Jewish Democratic Council of America. “It’s deeply offensive to the vast majority of Jews who care about Israel’s future.”

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris often disagreed with Netanyahu during the war in Gaza, and sometimes they criticised him publicly. But they were more circumspect to avoid facing accusations of being anti-Israel.

Conservative, pro-Israel groups were divided on the seriousness of Trump’s public condemnation of Netanyahu.

Republican Jewish Coalition President Matt Brooks described Trump’s criticism as little more than the inevitable disagreement among family members.

Brooks dismissed that any muted criticism of Trump’s comments from his party represented a political mixed message because Trump has been reliably supportive of Israel as president.

“If Biden or Harris said something critical, it came from the position of someone who was hostile toward or didn’t have the same level of support for Israel that President Trump has,” Brooks said.

He noted the first Trump administration’s role in moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and the return of Israeli hostages from Gaza during the president’s second term, among other acts.

Biden had criticised Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza, though Trump’s criticism of Netanyahu comes with a “tremendous reservoir of goodwill on this issue that neither Biden nor Harris ever had”.

Conservative, pro-Israel advocate Mort Klein said Trump should have kept the comments private, especially in light of his public praise over the years of authoritarian leaders in Turkey, North Korea and China.

Klein, president of Zionist Organization of America, said he worried that Trump was making the comments in public to appeal to Israel critics “because he sees that Americans have become more hostile toward Israel than they’ve ever been”.

“That worries me,” Klein said.