A proposed citizen’s assembly to consider a United Ireland will need the involvement of unionists, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.

The G7 have offered aid to Brazil to combat fires in the ‘lungs of the earth’ and this has been a year of increased consciousness of the climate crisis, writes Andrew Hammond.

It's a sad day when Brazilian President Jair Bolsanaro is proved right.

Catch up on the headlines.

The governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney, is unlikely to succeed Christine Lagarde as the boss of the IMF, European officials have said as the EU was considering four other people for the job.

Facebook’s fledgling cryptocurrency is facing mounting scrutiny as European central bankers and regulators have now demanded more detail on the social media giant’s Libra project.

The rise of pro-Putin parties in the recent Italian elections has again underlined how American leverage has waned in comparison, writes John Lloyd.

The chancellor faces a financial headache amid a tumultuous time for the Tories and ahead of next month’s vital Brexit summit, writes Paul Wallace.

Italy has long prided itself for its quality of life and with good reason. The country may be only just recovering from a long economic crisis, but its citizens are healthier and live longer than those of most other countries in the world. It is, perhaps, no coincidence then that the Italian government is pioneering the use of welfare indicators in its budget process.

Those in British politics who talk of a hard Brexit are mainlining a fantasy, and steeped in denial, writes Alison O’Connor.

She described the summit as a wake-up call, adding: "The times in which we can fully count on others are somewhat over, as I have experienced in the past few days."

Two Syrians have been detained in Sicily on suspicion of terrorism as G7 leaders were meeting on the island, the Italian news agency ANSA says.

LATEST: British environmentalists accused Donald Trump of treating the international community with "utter contempt" after he refused to sign up to global action on climate change at an international summit.

Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel has been in office longer than all other G7 leaders combined.

Top G7 energy officials have failed to agree on language for a joint declaration because of the US administration's review of policies related to climate change and the reduction of greenhouse gases.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has used a visit to a Second World War memorial in Italy to declare that the United States will stand up to aggressors who harm civilians.

The EU and Canada secured clearance yesterday for their contentious free trade deal and the removal of import duties that supporters say will boost growth and jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.

Shinzo Abe’s courtship of Vladimir Putin has so far yielded little for Japan, writes Brahma Chellaney.

The pound plunged yesterday with UK stocks after the nation voted for a Brexit.

A EU clampdown has been announced on use of one of the five most commonly used antibiotics in animals.

G7 leaders have warned of the risk to the global economy if Britain leaves the EU in a referendum next month, bracketing a so-called Brexit with terrorism and the refugee crisis as a threat of “non-economic origin.”

Ageing farmers could threaten global agriculture’s ability to produce the food the world needs, Group of Seven ministers agreed.

US Secretary of State John Kerry called his visit to a memorial to victims of the 1945 US nuclear attack on Hiroshima “gut-wrenching” and said it was a reminder of the need to pursue a world free of nuclear weapons.

WHAT ARE we like that it’s big news in environmental circles this week that the Government is appointing the first Climate Change Advisory Council, asks Victoria White.

G7 leaders agreed to wean their economies off carbon fuels and supported a global goal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but stopped short of agreeing their own immediate binding targets.

IN 10 days’ time, the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo will be marked. That great and brutal event was one of modern Europe’s defining moments and is still regarded in some countries’ military histories as one of the continent’s first concerted responses to tyranny.

US president Barack Obama said G7 leaders meeting in the Bavarian Alps yesterday would discuss standing up to Russian aggression in Ukraine amid an upsurge in violence there that monitors have blamed on Moscow-backed separatists.

Russia should be invited to rejoin a summit of the G7 industrial powers next weekend, the heads of two German business lobby groups were quoted as saying yesterday.

Finance chiefs from the G7 economic powers discussed ways to revive the faltering global recovery yesterday as the US leant on Europe to reach a deal to avert a Greek bankruptcy.

Insurer Aviva has announced price hikes to its policies ranging from 5.5% to 10%, It is being reported that Paul O’Connell will sign a two-year deal with Toulon, and Irish WWE wrestler Sheamus is set to star as one of the main villains in the next Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie.  Just some of the latest and most read stories on irishexaminer.com.

Here’s an early Christmas present for the economists of Wall Street: 2015 may be the first year in five in which they get to raise forecasts for global economic growth rather than cut them.

Rescuers at the site of the Malaysia Airlines crash in Ukraine say they have recovered 251 bodies.

The United States and its allies used the first Group of Seven meeting without Russia in 17 years to condemn its actions in Ukraine and threaten hard-hitting sanctions if President Vladimir Putin does not help restore stability.

David Cameron has issued a fresh warning to Russia that it faces international isolation if it continues to interfere in Ukraine.

President Barack Obama will press European leaders this week to keep up the pressure on Russia over its threatening moves in Ukraine, while seeking to assuage fears from Poland and other Nato allies that the West could slip back into a business-as-usual relationship with Moscow.

The Bank of England’s plan to increase interest rates gradually may mean it should move earlier than would otherwise be the case, a top policymaker at the central bank said.

The United States and other nations in the Group of Seven have agreed to “move swiftly” – as early as Monday – to impose additional economic sanctions on Russia for its actions in Ukraine.

The US said yesterday it was prepared to impose further targeted sanctions on Russia over its actions in Ukraine and that European leaders had agreed to coordinate on steps to make Moscow pay.

Ukraine’s parliament sacked its besieged defence minister yesterday after his forces began a humiliating withdrawal from Crimea without firing a shot against Russian forces who claimed the Black Sea peninsula.

US President Barack Obama and Western allies moved to indefinitely cut Moscow out of a major international coalition today, including cancelling an economic summit Russian President Vladimir Putin was to host this summer.

There will be no G8 summit in Russia this year, the British Prime Minister David Cameron announced today.

Russia sidelining itself from the global economy will usher in a new era, writes Giles Merritt

Russia is on a collision course with the EU and the US, with the referendum in Crimea on Sunday threatening to escalate the situation onto another level.

President Vladimir Putin delivered a robust defence of Russia’s actions in Crimea and said he would use force in Ukraine only as a last resort, easing market fears yesterday that East-West tension over the former Soviet republic could lead to war.

IF the economy is to break out of its current impasse, it will almost certainly require a sustained uplift in exports by Irish-owned firms, and for this to occur, our exporters must begin to cash in on the growth occurring in emerging market countries.