Group of Seven leaders minus President Donald Trump on Tuesday vowed greater support for Ukraine, as the United States blocked a joint call to pressure Russia, which is ramping up attacks on its neighbor.The US president had been due to meet at the G7 summit with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, with whom he has had a volatile relationship, but flew back Monday over the Israel-Iran conflict.Zelensky met the remaining leaders at a remote lodge in the Canadian Rockies hours after Russia hit Kyiv with one of the worst bombardments since it invaded in February 2022, killing at least 10 people in the capital.Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomed Zelensky and announced Can$2 billion ($1.47bn) of military support, including drones and helicopters, for Ukraine.But the Group of Seven summit was unable to issue a joint statement on Ukraine as “the Americans wanted to water it down,” a Canadian official said on condition of anonymity.The United States objected to some language, saying it wanted to preserve its role as a mediator with President Vladimir Putin, the official said.Carney dismissed suggestions of friction, saying that all G7 leaders agreed to be “resolute in exploring all options to maximize pressure on Russia, including financial sanctions.”But he admitted that some G7 leaders “would say above and beyond” what was in the chair’s summary that he issued to wrap up the talks in place of a formal statement signed by all leaders.G7 leaders, however, managed unity Monday on a joint statement on the Iran conflict that backed Israel but also called broadly for de-escalation, despite Trump contemplating greater US military involvement.- US waits on pressure -Carney earlier joined Britain in tightening sanctions on Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of ships used to circumvent international sanctions on its oil sales.”These sanctions strike right at the heart of Putin’s war machine, choking off his ability to continue his barbaric war in Ukraine,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement.US lawmakers have drafted a package of new sanctions on Russia but Trump has been hesitant to give his support and isolate Putin, to whom he spoke by telephone on the eve of the G7 summit.Trump infamously berated Zelensky in the Oval Office on February 28, saying he was ungrateful for US aid, but has since voiced disappointment that Putin has rebuffed a US proposal for at least a temporary ceasefire.Zelensky, his voice choked with emotion, told Carney the latest Russian attack was a “big tragedy” and showed the need for allies’ support — while making clear that he still backed Trump-led calls for negotiations.”It’s important for our soldiers to be strong in the battlefield, to stay strong until Russia will be ready for the peace negotiations,” Zelensky said.”We are ready for the peace negotiation — unconditional ceasefire. For this we need pressure.”French President Emmanuel Macron accused his Russian counterpart of exploiting global focus on the Middle East to carry out the deadly attack.”It shows the complete cynicism of President Putin,” Macron told reporters at the summit.In Washington, the State Department also condemned the Russian strikes and offered condolences to the victims’ families.- Tough trade talks -The G7 — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States — was holding its first summit since the re-election of Trump, who openly questions longstanding US alliances.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent remained to represent the United States at the summit, where discussions have also concentrated on Trump’s attempts to radically overhaul the world’s trading system.Trump has vowed to slap sweeping tariffs on friends and foes alike on July 9, although he has postponed them once.The US president, speaking to reporters on his way back from the summit, complained that the European Union was not yet offering a “fair deal” on trade.”We’re either going to make a good deal or they’ll just pay whatever we say they will pay,” he said.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she still hoped for a negotiated solution and talks were “intense and demanding.”Trump’s negotiators have already sealed a deal with Britain and, outside of the G7, reached an agreement to lower tariffs with rival China.

Like Europe, Canada is looking to attract top US scientists who may want to evade President Donald Trump’s crackdown on universities and research institutions. But to succeed, Canada will need to summon something it has at times lacked, namely “bold ambition,” the head of the country’s largest hospital chain told AFP. Trump’s funding cuts for scientific research are freeing up talent and “creating a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to recruit, said Kevin Smith, the chief executive of Toronto’s University Health Network (UHN). To seize that opportunity, Canada has to ditch its traditional “incrementalist” approach, Smith added. “Let’s not say good enough is good enough. Let’s say excellent is where we need to go.” Experts say Trump’s policies could trigger a tectonic shift in the global competition for the world’s brightest minds. For decades, deep-pocketed US universities backed by federal support have scooped up talent, including in biomedical research.But Trump’s administration has already slashed billions of dollars in research grants affecting various institutions, including most notably Harvard University. Programs affected by the National Institutes of Health’s cuts include studies on gender, the health effects of global warming, Alzheimer’s disease, and cancer.France and the European Union are already trying to woo disgruntled US researchers.European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said last month that the EU would launch a new incentives package worth 500 million euros ($577 million) to make the 27-nation bloc “a magnet for researchers”.- ‘Peanut butter spread’ -Smith and UHN’s vice president for science and research, Brad Wouters, argued that Canada — and particularly its largest city, Toronto — are well placed to compete for US talent.English-speaking, culturally familiar, and geographically close to major US research centers in New England and New York, Toronto boasts a hospital network and research ecosystem regularly ranked among the world’s best.The city has already poached three high-profile academics from Yale University, although all work in the arts. The group — who study fascism — announced last month in a stirring New York Times video that they were leaving the United States to take up positions in Toronto. “I’m leaving to the University of Toronto because I want to do my work without the fear that I will be punished,” one of the professors, Jason Stanley, said in the video. Wouters told AFP that since Trump’s election, UHN “started to see a talent pool that was a notch higher than what we normally see” for vacant positions, with leading US-based scientists initiating inquiries about opportunities in Toronto. UHN has launched a plan to create 100 medical research positions through its own fundraising but wants institutions across Canada to attract 1,000 new scientists.Reaching that target will require government support, and confronting an ingrained Canadian mindset that prioritizes sharing healthcare resources equally across the vast country. The plan will face “a bit of a collision between the peanut butter spread of equality versus elitism,” Smith said.  “That isn’t always easy for governments or for elected officials…but we’re pretty hopeful,” he added.- ‘Supporting role’ -Matthew Lebo, a political scientist at Ontario’s Western University, agreed Trump’s policies have created an unprecedented opportunity for brain gain in Canada. But he voiced concern the country wouldn’t mobilize.  “Canada has a history of being comfortable playing a supporting role,” he told AFP. “There is just an inherent lack of ambition.” Lebo noted that while some US-based researchers may be concerned about crackdowns on their work, others might eye Canada for personal reasons, including the desire to live in a country where reproductive and LGBTQ rights are more firmly safeguarded.While he hasn’t yet seen signs of broad national action, he said “it wouldn’t take deep thought to catch up.””It takes some big number (of dollars) and a plan.”

The criminal trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs is now in its sixth week of testimony — and interest among influencers and YouTubers is still soaring, as online personalities flock to the Manhattan federal courthouse to livestream their musings.Every day, it’s the same routine: content creators on platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube rub shoulders with legacy media organizations as they set up cell phone tripods and stage their shows, enthusiastically relaying their hot takes. The trial of Combs, once a titan of the music industry who faces life in prison if convicted on sex trafficking and racketeering charges, can’t be broadcast. The federal courthouse doesn’t allow cameras, laptops, phones or even wireless headphones inside.So, alongside the many journalists covering the trial, influencers hustle in and out of the courthouse throughout the day to recount the proceedings beat by beat, dropping off and picking up their electronics at security each time.One woman who goes by the TikTok name “KealoHalika” said in the first two days of testimony she earned an estimated 10,500 followers; her account now has 40,500 followers.”It was like craziness,” she told AFP outside the courthouse. “It’s been a lot of moving pieces. It’s definitely changed my life.”Combs is incarcerated and doesn’t enter or exit the courthouse publicly. But some of the high-profile attendees and witnesses do, including members of the music mogul’s family and figures like Kid Cudi, the rapper who testified that Combs’s entourage torched his car.These paparazzi-esque arrivals and exits are catnip for content creators to in turn feed their followers.The brief cameo of Ye, who stopped by to lend his “support” to Combs amid the proceedings, was a particular field day for the chronically online.Donat Ricketts, a 32-year-old artist from Los Angeles, was a regular at the high-profile Tory Lanez and A$AP Rocky trials in California. He told AFP he makes between $8,000 and $10,000 a month, including through YouTube’s ad revenue program and fan donations.”This is my first time traveling to another state to cover a case,” said the creator with about 50,000 YouTube subscribers. “It feels like vacation, plus I’m being able to work and make money from YouTube.”Ricketts didn’t study journalism — but he thinks his “big personality” and ability to relate to online viewers sets him apart.”This case is the turning point where mainstream media knows that the ‘independent journalists’ are a force to be reckoned with,” he said.- ‘Personal narrative’ -According to a 2024 Pew Research Center study, one in five Americans get news from influencers online; for people under 30, the share jumps to 37 percent.Reece Peck, a professor of political communication and journalism at the City University of New York, called the competition among content creators “Darwinian.””They’re so scared of losing their clientele or their audience. And so with that logic, that you have to constantly create content, the news cycle is such an attractive source of material,” Peck told AFP.And the Combs trial is a fount, he said: “It’s sex, it’s violence, and it’s celebrity.”Emilie Hagen said she does have a journalism degree but these days publishes via her Substack, also putting out content on Instagram and TikTok.”I’m there every day providing humorous updates,” she told AFP of the Combs trial.Dozens of traditional media outlets are providing coverage and analysis of the trial. But Hagen said she’s “able to go down rabbit holes that they’re not allowed to go down.””I don’t have to stick to the daily recap,” she said. “I can insert a personal narrative.”Many of her most fruitful videos are of “me interacting with all of the wild people that come to the trial outside the courthouse,” she added.Hagen said she’s notched 12,000 more Instagram followers and 10,000 more on TikTok since proceedings began.She said some fans have donated, which recently allowed her to hire a linesitter. Getting into the main courtroom, as opposed to overflow rooms with video feeds of the trial, can require either arriving overnight or the day prior, and many influencers along with media outlets like ABC News and The New York Times hire people to hold spots.But even with the deluge of news updates from media outlets and content streams from influencers, some people still want to see the trial for themselves.Val Solit, a teacher from Los Angeles on vacation to New York, dropped by the proceedings after having lunch in nearby Chinatown with her partner.”I like crime and dramas,” she told AFP, likening the hype to the 1990s-era trial of O.J. Simpson. “It was kind of fascinating to come and see it.””It’s history in the making.”

A federal US judge on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to resume issuing passports to transgender Americans with “X” as their gender designation, a practice suspended since Donald Trump’s return to the White House.Following Trump’s executive order in January, the State Department said it would only recognize two genders — male and female — ending official policies that recognized a third gender, denoted by an “X” on US passports.In April, US District Judge Julia Kobick in Boston issued a preliminary injunction against that policy, but that ruling applied only to six transgender and non-binary people who had sued the government over the passport policy. The State Department appealed that move Friday.On Tuesday, Kobick went further in her ruling by extending it to all transgender and non-binary Americans affected by the policy change and ordered the State Department to resume issuing these passports pending a judgment on the merits of the case or a decision by a higher court.The State Department first issued such a passport in October 2021 under President Joe Biden, with the X gender marker reserved for non-binary, intersex, and gender non-conforming individuals.In his inauguration speech at the US Capitol, Trump said “as of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.”