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Dozens of flights to and from Indonesia’s resort island of Bali were cancelled on Wednesday, according to authorities and the island’s airport, after a volcano in the archipelago’s east erupted, shooting an ash tower 10 kilometres into the sky.Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, a 1,584-metre (5,197-foot) volcano on the tourist island of Flores, erupted on Tuesday, with authorities raising its alert status to the highest level of a four-tiered system.”Due to volcano activity of Lewatobi Laki-Laki in East Nusa Tenggara, several flights at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport are cancelled,” airport operator Angkasa Pura Indonesia told AFP in a statement.The flights cancelled included Jetstar and Virgin Australia flights to cities across Australia, with Air India, Air New Zealand, Singapore’s Tigerair and China’s Juneyao Airlines also cancelling flights “due to volcano”, Bali’s international airport website said.Jetstar confirmed cancellations to and from Bali in a statement on its website Wednesday, adding that some afternoon flights would be delayed until ash cleared.”Forecasts show the ash cloud is expected to clear by later tonight. As a result, this afternoon’s flights will be delayed to operate later this evening,” it said.Several domestic AirAsia flights leaving for popular tourist hotspot Labuan Bajo on Flores were also cancelled.A Bali airport customer service agent told AFP the aviation hub was still operating normally despite the cancelled flights.”It depends on the route and also the airline,” the agent, who declined to give her name, said.- Ongoing tremors -Volcanic ash rained down on several villages around Lewotobi Laki-Laki and forced the evacuation of at least one village late Tuesday, the country’s disaster mitigation agency said.It added tremors were still being detected, which indicated ongoing volcanic activity.The geology agency said residents and tourists should avoid carrying out any activities within at least seven kilometres of the volcano’s crater.It warned of the possibility of hazardous lahar floods –- a type of mud or debris flow of volcanic materials –- if heavy rain occurs, particularly for communities near rivers. There were no immediate reports of damages or casualties.In November, the volcano erupted multiple times, killing nine people, cancelling scores of international flights to the tourist island of Bali, and forcing thousands to evacuate.Laki-Laki, which means “man” in Indonesian, is twinned with a calmer volcano peak named after the Indonesian word for “woman”.Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire.”

Since the United States accused Vietnam of being a hub for counterfeit goods, Tran Le Chi has found it increasingly hard to track down her favourite fake Chanel T-shirts, Gucci sunglasses and Louis Vuitton handbags.As Vietnam’s government tries to head off President Donald Trump’s threatened 46 percent tariff, it has launched a crackdown on fake products — in part to show responsiveness to US concerns.Now there are streets filled with shuttered shops in Hanoi and rows of closed stalls at Saigon Square shopping mall, a major clothing market in Ho Chi Minh City — the kind of places Chi used to go to buy her latest gear.”The clothes help me look trendy,” Chi told AFP. “Why would I care if they are fake or not?”Chi — a betting agent for an illegal game known as lo-de, where punters predict the last two lotto numbers of the standard daily draw — said she had never paid more than $40 per “designer” item.”Only the super-rich people can afford the real ones,” she added. “They’re not for people like us.”Communist-run Vietnam is a manufacturing powerhouse that produces clothing and footwear for international brands, with the United States its number-one export market in the first five months of 2025.But it also has a thriving market for counterfeit goods.In a report published by the US Trade Representative in January, Saigon Square shopping mall was flagged as a major market for the sale of fake luxury items including handbags, wallets, jewellery and watches.The report noted government efforts to stamp out the trade, but said “low penalties have had little deterrent effect” and “counterfeit products remain rampant”.Shop owner Hoa, a pseudonym to protect her identity, said almost all of the fake Nike, Lacoste and North Face products she sells in her shop in Hanoi’s old quarter are from China — but tagged with a “Made in Vietnam” label to make them seem authentic.She insists that all her customers know what they’re getting.”My clients are those who cannot afford authentic products,” Hoa said. “I’ve never cheated anyone.” – Rolex watches, Marshall speakers -Hanoi and Washington are in the thick of trade talks, with Vietnam doing everything it can to avoid the crushing 46 percent tariff that could come into force in early July.Vietnam’s trade ministry ordered authorities in April to tighten control over the origin of goods after the Trump administration accused the country of facilitating Chinese exports to the United States and allowing Beijing to get around tariffs.The public security ministry also said there would be a three-month-long crackdown — until mid-August — on counterfeit goods.Nguyen Thanh Nam, deputy head of the agency for domestic market surveillance and development, said last week that in the first five months of the year, more than 7,000 cases of counterfeit products worth more than $8 million had been discovered. He added that 1,000 fake Rolex watches had been seized from Saigon Square shopping mall.Mounds of vitamins, cosmetics and sweets — seemingly also counterfeits — have appeared at waste grounds outside cities including Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Danang, while fake electronics including Marshall speakers and smartwatches have been confiscated. Police have not specified the origin of the goods, but Vietnam was Southeast Asia’s biggest buyer of Chinese products in 2024, with a bill of $161.9 billion.Nguyen Khac Giang, visiting fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, said that although there were other aims of the drive, including improving Vietnam’s business environment and formalising the retail sector, “the campaign plays a role in Vietnam’s strategy to appease the US”.”The effort partly reflects Vietnam’s intent to show responsiveness to US concerns,” he said.But for Hoa, her livelihood is on the line. Her shop has been closed for almost two weeks and she has no idea how to restart the business.”I have sold these sorts of clothes for a decade and experienced no problem at all. Now they crack down on us, it’s hard to figure out how I continue,” she said.

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.

India and Canada agreed Tuesday to return ambassadors to each other’s capitals, turning a page on a bitter spat over an assassination as Canada’s new leader welcomed counterpart Narendra Modi.Prime Minister Mark Carney, who took office in March, invited Modi to the Canadian Rockies as a guest at the summit of the Group of Seven major economies.Carney’s predecessor Justin Trudeau last year publicly accused India of involvement in the assassination of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil and expelled the Indian ambassador, triggering a furious reciprocal response from India.Carney and Modi agreed that the two countries would name new high commissioners, as ambassadors are known between Commonwealth nations, in hopes of restoring normal operations for citizens and businesses.Carney said he hoped the meeting would “provide the necessary foundations to begin to rebuild the relationship, based on mutual respect, sovereignty, trust.””I would describe it as foundational — as a necessary first step, a frank, open exchange of views around law enforcement, transnational repression,” he told a news conference.He noted that India is invited each year to G7 summits of major industrial democracies, pointing to the size of its economy.The row had severely impeded diplomatic services between the two countries, which traded $9 billion in 2023 and have close cultural ties due to the vast Indian diaspora in Canada.Canada had to suspend in-person services at all missions in India outside its embassy in New Delhi.- Politically sensitive -Modi took a conciliatory tone as he met Carney at the mountain resort, saying that both Canada and India were “dedicated to democratic values.””The relationship between India and Canada is very important in many ways,” Modi said.He congratulated Carney on guiding his Liberal Party to an election victory and voiced confidence that going forward, “India and Canada will work together to make progress in many areas.”Sikh protesters rallied on the streets of Calgary, the closest large city to the summit, as many criticized Carney’s inclusion of Modi, who is accustomed to invitations to major international gatherings despite criticism of his Hindu nationalist government’s human rights record.The left-wing New Democratic Party, the fourth largest party in parliament which is not formally part of Carney’s government, denounced the invitation to Modi and pointed to allegations of Indian surveillance against its former leader Jagmeet Singh, who is Sikh.”Continuing to engage Modi’s government without accountability undermines all efforts to defend human rights, transparency, and the rule of law,” it said in a statement before the visit.Canada is home to the largest Sikh population outside India. With some two percent of Canadian population and clustered in suburban swing areas, the community has exerted growing political influence.Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a naturalized Canadian citizen who advocated for an independent Sikh state called Khalistan, was shot dead in the parking lot of a Sikh temple in British Columbia in 2023.Trudeau accused India of direct involvement. Canada has accused India of directing a broad campaign of intimidation against Sikh activists in the country.India denied involvement in the killing and said Canada should take more action against violent advocates for Khalistan, which has been reduced to a fringe movement inside India.Carney declined to say if he specifically mentioned Nijjar’s case in his talks with Modi, noting that it was the subject of ongoing litigation.The United States, which has a warm relationship with India, also accused an Indian agent of involvement in an unsuccessful plot against a Sikh separatist on US soil but addressed concerns more quietly than Trudeau.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi voiced hope Tuesday for improved cooperation with Canada as he met his new counterpart Mark Carney, following a bitter spat over New Delhi’s alleged involvement in an assassination. Carney, who took office in March, invited Modi to the Canadian Rockies as a guest of the Group of Seven major economies.Carney’s predecessor Justin Trudeau last year publicly accused India of involvement in the assassination of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil and expelled the Indian ambassador, triggering a furious reciprocal response from India.Modi took a conciliatory tone as he met Carney at a remote mountain lodge, saying: “The relationship between India and Canada is very important in many ways.””Dedicated to democratic values, Canada and India will strengthen democracy together, and strengthen humanity,” he said.He congratulated Carney on guiding his Liberal Party to an election victory and said: “I am confident that together with him India and Canada will work together to make progress in many areas.”Carney said it was a “great honor” to welcome Modi to the G7 summit but made a passing allusion to the domestically sensitive row with a reference to “transnational repression.”Carney said he hoped to work with India on “the issues that we look to tackle together, from energy security… the future of artificial intelligence, to the fight that we have against transnational repression and against terrorism.”Canada is home to the largest Sikh population outside India and the community has exerted growing political influence.Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a naturalized Canadian citizen who advocated for an independent Sikh state called Khalistan, was shot dead in the parking lot of a Sikh temple in British Columbia in 2023.Trudeau accused India of direct involvement. Canada has accused India of directing a broad campaign targeting Sikh activists on Canadian soil, which Ottawa says has included intimidation, threats and violence. India denied involvement in the killing and said that Canada should take more action against violent advocates for Khalistan, which has been reduced to a fringe movement inside India.

Group of Seven leaders, holding talks Tuesday at a summit in Canada, promised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fresh support as Russia stepped up attacks on its neighbor.US President Donald Trump, who has had a volatile relationship with Zelensky, had been due to meet him but left the summit early to return to Washington over the Israel-Iran conflict. Zelensky arrived at the remote resort venue in the Canadian Rockies after Russia hit Kyiv with one of the worst bombardments since it invaded in February 2022, killing at least 10 people in the capital.Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomed Zelensky and announced Can$2 billion ($1.47bn) of military support, including drones and helicopters, for Ukraine.”This underscores the importance of standing in total solidarity with Ukraine,” Carney told him, calling for “maximum pressure against Russia.”Carney also joined Britain in tightening sanctions on Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of ships used to circumvent international sanctions on its oil sales.Britain said it wanted to ramp up economic pressure to show Russian President Vladimir Putin it was in his interest to end the war.”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 holding out -US lawmakers have also drafted a package of new sanctions on Russia but Trump has been hesitant to give his support, saying he wants to preserve relations with Putin, whom he spoke to 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 that the latest Russian attack was a “big tragedy” for Ukrainian families and it showed the need for allies’ support — and made 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 on Kyiv.”It shows the complete cynicism of President Putin,” Macron told reporters at the summit.- Tough trade talks -The G7 — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States — was holding its first summit since the return to power of Trump, who openly questions longstanding US alliances.Trump appeared in relatively good spirits before pulling out early.”Obviously with Trump gone the discussions might be a bit smoother, but they also have less impact with the most powerful nation not there,” a diplomat from a G7 nation said on condition of anonymity.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 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 that 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.Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he had “frank” discussions with Trump on Monday but made clear the importance of automobile exports to the world’s second-largest developed economy.”We have not reached an agreement on the package as a whole,” Ishiba told reporters.

Indian health officials have begun handing relatives the bodies of their loved ones after one of the world’s worst plane crashes in decades, but most families were still waiting on Monday for the results of DNA testing.Mourners have held funerals for some of the 279 people killed when the Air India jet crashed in the western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, but others are facing an anguished wait.”They said it would take 48 hours. But it’s been four days and we haven’t received any response,” said Rinal Christian, 23, whose elder brother was a passenger on the jetliner. There was one survivor out of 242 passengers and crew on board the London-bound plane when it slammed into a residential area of Ahmedabad, killing at least 38 people on the ground as well.”My brother was the sole breadwinner of the family,” Christian said on Sunday. “So what happens next?”Among the latest victims identified was Vijay Rupani, a senior member of India’s ruling party and former chief minister of Gujarat state.His flag-draped coffin was carried in Ahmedabad by soldiers, along with a portrait of the politician draped in a garland of flowers.Crowds gathered in a funeral procession for passenger Kinal Mistry in Anand district, a two-hour journey from Ahmedabad.The 24-year-old had postponed her flight, leaving her father Suresh Mistry agonising that “she would have been alive” if she had stuck to her original plan.Air India said there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian on board the flight, as well as 12 crew members.As of Monday afternoon, 114 crash victims have been identified, Gujarat’s Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi wrote on social media platform X.Rajnish Patel, a doctor at Ahmedabad’s civil hospital, said: “This is a meticulous and slow process, so it has to be done meticulously only.”One victim’s relative who did not want to be identified told AFP they had been instructed not to open the coffin when they receive it.Witnesses reported seeing badly burnt bodies and scattered remains.- ‘We need to know’ -Nilesh Vaghela, a casket maker, was asleep when the crash happened in the early afternoon.”Then around 5:00 pm, I got a call from Air India saying they need coffins,” he told AFP after delivering dozens of caskets.”My work is very sad. All these innocent people died, small children,” he said. “Someone has to do it.”The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner erupted into a fireball when it went down moments after takeoff, smashing into buildings used by medical staff.The task of clearing debris from the scorched crash site went on in Ahmedabad, where an AFP photographer saw dozens of workers in yellow hard hats.Indian authorities have yet to identify the cause of the disaster and have ordered inspections of Air India’s Dreamliners.The airline said one of its Dreamliners returned to Hong Kong airport on Monday “shortly after take off due to a technical issue” and was undergoing checks.Indian authorities announced on Sunday that the second black box of the Ahmedabad plane, the cockpit voice recorder, had been recovered. This could offer investigators more clues about what went wrong.Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said on Saturday he hoped decoding the first black box, the flight data recorder, would “give an in-depth insight” into the circumstances of the crash.Imtiyaz Ali, who was still waiting for a DNA match to find his brother, is also seeking answers.”Next step is to find out the reason for this accident. We need to know,” he told AFP.

Sri Lanka are set to begin a two-Test series against Bangladesh in Galle on Tuesday that will mark the end of Angelo Mathews’s “dream run” in the game’s longest format, as the cricket season resumed following South Africa’s World Test Championship triumph at Lord’s.The red-ball matches between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will be followed by a white-ball series of three one-day internationals and three T20s.Hosts Sri Lanka begin the contest as firm favourites, eager to turn a fresh page after a stuttering end to the previous WTC cycle.Sri Lanka were firmly in the mix for a place in the WTC final until December before the wheels came off spectacularly.Two defeats in South Africa followed by a twin collapse at Galle against Australia saw them tumble down the rankings.”We had one hand on a spot in the final but a few brain fades at crunch moments cost us dearly,” Sri Lankan captain Dhananjaya de Silva told reporters on Monday.”We’ve learnt our lessons. A strong home start lays the foundation for success on the road.”- ‘Dream run’ -Sri Lanka’s squad includes six uncapped players, with at least one debut cap set to be handed out.Spin remains Sri Lanka’s strength, with Prabath Jayasuriya the key and selectors also calling up off-spinner Akila Dananjaya.Bangladesh enter the series without stalwarts Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan, and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto is realistic about the challenge.”Tamim and Shakib -– those are massive boots to fill,” he said. “But this is a chance for the young guys to put their hands up.”Shanto, who is playing in Galle for the first time, said the team have “prepped well and we’re ready for the challenge”.The Test will also be the swansong of Sri Lanka’s veteran Angelo Mathews, who is retiring after 118 Tests.The former skipper also played his first Test on the famous pitch perched beneath the fortress in Galle in 2009.”It’s been a dream run,” said 38-year-old Mathews.”The wins in England in 2014 and whitewashing the Aussies in 2016 stand out. I’ve seen so many youngsters come through the ranks,” he said.”I truly believe Sri Lanka’s future is in good hands.”Sri Lanka have won 20 of the 26 Tests they have played against Bangladesh, who have only managed a solitary win along with five draws.The second Test will begin in Colombo on June 25.

Nepal said Monday it has begun regular commercial electricity exports to Bangladesh, marking its entry into the international power market beyond neighbouring India.The landlocked Himalayan nation started transmitting 40 megawatts (MW) of electricity to Bangladesh via India on Sunday under a five-year agreement.”Nepal will continue supplying electricity to Bangladesh during the monsoon season from mid-June to mid-November,” Rajan Dhakal, spokesperson at Nepal Electricity Authority, told AFP.In October, the country signed a tripartite power export deal with the Bangladesh Power Development Board and India’s NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam, which is facilitating access to the transmission line. The following month, the line was opened for only one day.”This is just the beginning of Nepal’s journey as an energy exporter,” Nepal’s energy minister Dipak Khadka said.”This highlights our energy surplus and commitment to regional energy security,” he posted on X Sunday.Four in five Nepalis did not have access to electricity at the turn of the century, according to the International Energy Agency, but a dam-building spree has since helped connect nearly all its 30 million people to the grid.The country now boasts an installed electricity capacity of more than 3,500 MW, with more power than it can currently consume during the rainy season.Nepal first began exporting electricity to India on a smaller scale in late 2021.Exporting power to Bangladesh comes as the country struggles with energy insecurity. With an electricity grid heavily reliant on fossil fuels, it has faced severe power outages over the past year.Some studies estimate that water-rich Nepal could have a total potential capacity of 72,000 MW, which is about 20 times the size of the current installed capacity.However, conservationists have criticised Nepal’s rush to develop its hydro potential, saying that environmental compliance safeguards are sometimes ignored.

Hundreds of protesters supporting various causes assembled peacefully in downtown Calgary on Sunday as the Group of Seven summit began a long drive away in the mountain resort of Kananaskis.In recent years, G7 protests have become tightly controlled affairs. Demonstrators are confined to designated spaces, often more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) from where world leaders meet.The 2025 edition is no different, with protesters voicing their anger in Alberta’s largest city. Canadian officials promised a livestream of their messages to the isolated mountain town of Kananaskis where leaders of the seven industrialized nations are meeting.The crisis in Gaza was a dominant theme for the crowd of about 500 gathered in front of Calgary’s main municipal building — one of several areas in the city designated as protest zones.Police said no protesters were present at the other two local demonstration zones, including one near the Calgary airport where the leaders began arriving.”I’m here because I’m an Indigenous person,” said Emrys Peacock, who came by bus from British Columbia’s Okanagan region.”As an Indigenous person, I can’t ignore a fellow Indigenous nation being bombed, murdered and starved at the hands of an occupation, (something) my people have been through since colonization,” she added.Dozens of other protesters also railed against Israel’s war campaign in Gaza, which was triggered by the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas.Calgary student Terrence, who declined to give his last name, seemed surprised by the calm atmosphere. “I’m a little underwhelmed. I thought there would be a lot more confrontation because last year’s Gaza protest was quite tense,” he said.- Not a ’51st state’ -Unsurprisingly, hostility toward US President Donald Trump emerged as another major theme, particularly regarding his suggestions that Canada should become America’s 51st state.Calgary native Diane Houston carried a sign calling the US leader an “abomination” and a “sociopath.” She said she wanted “to make sure he’s under no illusion that Canadians want to be a 51st state.”Tracy Osterland from nearby Canmore echoed this sentiment: “Trump is a wannabe dictator, and he definitely needs to be stopped. Enough of the 51st state stuff already. We’re not at all interested.”Capturing the potpourri of themes at the protest, her double-sided poster had biting criticism of Trump on one side and a colorful welcome sign for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the other.”I’m really hoping that they can do something for him,” she said of the Ukrainian leader, who will be attending the G7 summit along with other invitees.Another attendee beyond the seven leaders of the industrialized countries is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who launched strikes on Pakistan last month after an attack on civilians in divided Kashmir.The G7 leaders “are the world’s peacekeepers,” said Asif Nazir of the Jammu Kashmir National Awami Party.”We give our message to Modi and all the G7 summit participants to come forward and solve this issue, as per the Kashmiris’ wishes,” he said.Environmental concerns also featured prominently, with activists highlighting Canada’s vast freshwater resources.Ila Dame from the group Protect Alberta’s Rockies and Headwaters suggested Trump’s interest in Canadian annexation stems from coveting resources.”We have 20 percent of the world’s fresh water. Trump wants our water and our resources. It has nothing to do with wanting our people,” she said.Despite being relegated far from the actual summit, most protesters took the strict rules surrounding the G7 in stride.”I do think it would be more effective if we were closer, if we could actually get the attention of the people who attend the G7,” Peacock said.”However, we will have an effect anywhere,” she added, not regretting her long ride to Calgary.