Europe

G-8 leaders meet without ailing Bush

(AP)
Updated: 2007-06-08 18:28

At the 1999 summit, held in Cologne, Western powers worked there, too, to smooth over differences with Russia, which had bitterly opposed the bombing campaign. It also coincided with the final withdrawal of all Serbian troops from Kosovo and an agreement by ethnic Albanian rebels of the Kosovo Liberation Army agreed to hand over their heavy weapons.

The G-8 also was meeting Friday with the leaders of developing nations Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa, as well as key international figures from the U.N., World Bank, World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund. The G-8 is Germany, the United States, Russia, Britain, Italy, France, Canada and Japan.

On Thursday, the leaders reached an agreement on climate change, adopting a statement that says they should "seriously consider" proposals to cut the emissions of greenhouse gases by 50 percent by 2050. The nonbinding language is a compromise between the European Union, which wants mandatory cuts, and the United States, which opposes them.

The thousands of protesters who swarmed around the fence sealing off the summit Wednesday and Thursday were gone Friday, with a final anti-G-8 demonstration set for the afternoon in nearby Rostock.

In Rostock, Greenpeace floated a hot air balloon over the city, violating a no-fly zone before it landed.