Squabbles erupt as G-7 leaders open summit in French resort
Squabbles erupted among Group of 7 (G-7) nations on Saturday as their leaders gathered for an annual summit, exposing sharp differences on global trade tensions, Britain's exit from the EU and how to respond to the fires raging in the Amazon rainforest.
French President Emmanuel Macron, the summit host, planned the three-day meeting in the Atlantic seaside resort of Biarritz as a chance to unite a group of wealthy countries that has struggled in recent years to speak with one voice.
Macron set an agenda for the group - France, Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States - that included the defence of democracy, gender equality, education and the environment.
However, in a bleak assessment of relations between once-close allies, European Council President Donald Tusk said it was getting "increasingly" hard to find common ground.
Trump trips up in tweet about lunch with Macron
Did Donald Trump really have lunch with someone impersonating France's President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday? No - but the US president did accidentally tweet that he had.
"Just had lunch with French President @EmanuelMacrone. Many good things are happening for both of our countries. Big weekend with other world leaders!" Trump posted after the meal in Biarritz, where he had just arrived for the Group of 7 (G-7) summit.
That Twitter handle, however, is for a little-followed and now dormant parody account of someone who proclaims, in a faux French flourish: "It is my English langage twiterre for directe communication withe my American and English friends."
Brazil military begins operations to fight Amazon fires
Backed by military aircraft, Brazilian troops on Saturday prepared to deploy in the Amazon to fight fires that have swept the region and prompted anti-government protests as well as an international outcry.
Some 44,000 troops will be available for "unprecedented" operations to put out the fires, and forces are heading to four Brazilian states that asked for federal help to contain the blazes, Defence Minister Fernando Azevedo said.
He added that the military will use two C-130 Hercules aircraft capable of dumping up to 12,000 litres of water on fires.
Russian capsule carrying robot fails space station docking
A Russian space capsule carrying a humanoid robot has failed to dock as planned with the International Space Station (ISS).
A statement from the Russian space agency Roscosmos said the failure on Saturday was because of problems in the docking system.
It said the space station itself and the six-person crew are safe.
Football: Liverpool keep perfect record, more penalty woe for United
Mohamed Salah-inspired Liverpool laid down an emphatic early-season marker as they outplayed Arsenal on Saturday to win 3-1 and ensure they are the only team left in the Premier League with a 100 per cent record.
The European champions were in full cry at their Anfield fortress with two second-half goals from Salah ensuring they have a maximum nine points from three matches while they also ended Arsenal's own perfect league record.
On another eventful afternoon in England's top-flight, Manchester United suffered more woe from the penalty spot as they went down to a shock home defeat to Crystal Palace and Frank Lampard celebrated his first win as Chelsea manager at Norwich City.
