Group of 8 used by leaders as flexible forum

September 30th, 2009 US Treasury official: G-7 may drop joint statementWASHINGTON — Finance ministers from the world's seven most developed economies may not even issue a joint communique when they meet in Istanbul this weekend, a senior U.S. Treasury official said Wednesday.

September 25th, 2009 PITTSBURGH - World leaders have announced that the elite club of developed nations known as the Group 7 would be permanently replaced as a global forum for economic policy by the much broader Group of 20, which includes China, Brazil, India and other fast-growing developing nations. World leaders agreed to the expansion of the G 20's role in global economic affairs during meetings on Thursday, the White House said in a statement.

September 25th, 2009 PITTSBURGH - Reflecting the growing economic clout of India, China, Brazil, and other fast-growing developing countries, the G20 will permanently replace G8, the once elite club of rich industrial nations, as a global forum for economic policy. The Group of 20 - leaders of 20 countries representing 90 percent of the world's economic output - meeting here for a two-day summit will make the announcement later Friday as they wind down their deliberations focusing on the financial crisis and how to avoid one in future, the CNN reported.

September 23rd, 2009 Obama: UN has often been forum for discordUNITED NATIONS — President Barack Obama says the United Nations is at a pivotal point in its history. Obama says the UN has done extraordinary good around the world, but has often been a forum for discord instead of forging common ground.

September 8th, 2009 GENEVA - Switzerland Tuesday replaced the US in the top place in the World Economic Forum (WEF) ranking of most competitive countries for doing business. "The United States falls one place to second position, with weakening in its financial markets and macroeconomic stability," the Geneva-based foundation said.

September 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Despite an invitation to speak at the conference, Sarah Palin, former vice presidential candidate, and until recently Alaska governor, has decided not come to the National Federation of Republican Women's 35th Convention in Florida. According to Fox News, an estimated 1,200 Republican women leaders will attend the three-day conference.

August 31st, 2009 BRASILIA - The sixth ministerial meeting of the India-Brazil-South Africa forum will begin here Tuesday, an official statement said. Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorin, Indian Foreign Minister S.M.

July 31st, 2009 PRETORIA - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit South Africa next week as part of her seven-nation tour of Africa, BuaNews Reported. Clinton will begin her tour Aug 5 when she arrives in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, to attend the 8th US-Sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum (AGOA Forum).

July 28th, 2009 Obama: Existing health system threatens MedicareWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is telling participants in an online forum on health care that the current system and its skyrocketing costs are a threat to Medicare. Obama says the Medicare trust fund will be in the red and out of money in a decade unless Washington overhauls the system.

July 27th, 2009 SYDNEY - The changing climate could generate 75 million refugees in the Asia-Pacific region in the next 40 years, a report released Monday said. The report, by the aid agency Oxfam Australia and the think tank the Australia Institute, said the consequences of unbridled greenhouse gas emissions should be discussed next week when Pacific leaders convene in Australia for the annual Pacific Island Forum.

July 7th, 2009 More talk about expanding G8L'AQUILA, Italy — The leaders of France, Brazil and Germany gave fresh momentum Tuesday to talk about creating a wider, more representative forum as members of the Group of Eight readied for their summit on the world economy, climate change and Iran's crackdown on protesters. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva called for a more "democratic world order" that would give emerging economies a larger voice in international finance and justice, urging the creation of what they called an "Alliance for Change." The two leaders made the appeal in an essay that appeared in French and Brazilian newspapers, without elaborating on details or saying if other leaders had signed on.

June 22nd, 2009 Hyundai exec: Gas tax would ease buyer uncertaintyNEW YORK — Hyundai's top U.S. executive says consumers are skittish about the direction of gas prices and a flexible gas tax is needed to keep pump prices stable.

March 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama has invited the leaders of 16 major economies including India to Washington for a forum on energy and climate next month to prepare ground for a new global climate change regime. The forum, scheduled for April 27-28, seeks to 'generate the political leadership necessary' for a successful outcome at the UN climate change negotiation to be held in Copenhagen in December, the White House said in a statement Saturday.

March 9th, 2009 WELLINGTON - Fiji military strongman Commodore Frank Bainimarama is delivering his country 'a passport to poverty' with his refusal to hold democratic elections, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said Monday. 'He needs to recognise that if he wants Fiji to progress and to be taken seriously by both the (British) Commonwealth and the Pacific Forum leaders he needs to demonstrate that he has got a willingness for democracy to be restored,' Key told reporters at his weekly news conference.

February 23rd, 2009 BERLIN - Major European Union (EU) countries Sunday agreed on concrete measures to enforce supervision of world financial markets. The EU leaders and finance ministers meeting in Berlin agreed that all financial markets, products and participants, including hedge funds and credit rating agencies, should be put under tougher supervision or regulation.