Middle east situation, nuclear safety top G-8 agenda
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The two-day summit of the Group of Eight (G-8) begins Thursday in the French seaside resort of Deauville to discuss major issuing facing the world today.
Officials from the world's eight largest industrial market economies -- the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia -- are expected to discuss issues ranging from the Middle East situation to the development of global norms on nuclear safety.
Thursday's first working session will focus on nuclear safety.
Following the powerful earthquake and tsunami that ravaged Japan and crippled the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the G-8 was expected to show solidarity with the Japanese people and government.
Meanwhile, the G-8 also was to discuss tougher international safety standards for nuclear power.
The summit will begin with an explanation by Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan of the continuing crisis in his country, the only Asian nation in the G-8.
Kyodo News said that it was almost certain that Kan would say Japan will continue to rely on nuclear power after making sure that all other plants are safe.
However, Kyodo said the prime minister was likely to proclaim that Japan would step up efforts to promote what he has called "two new pillars" of its energy policy -- the use of renewable energy and conservation -- in the coming years to be less dependent on nuclear power and fossil fuels.
Japan's nuclear disaster following the March 11 earthquake opened a rift in the G-8.
So far, European countries remain at odds over whether to scale back their nuclear power projects or continue plans to expand.
The government of Germany, where public opposition to nuclear power has been growing in recent years, has already closed seven of the country's oldest nuclear plants.
But France, the world's second biggest nuclear power producer, has said it would continue to rely on atomic energy and called for the establishment of new international safety standards.
The G-8 leaders will also discuss the Middle East and North Africa, where the political situation in those regions has become progressively volatile since the end of last year.
The United States is always taking the spotlight when it comes to the Middle East.
President Barack Obama, last week, delivered a speech on Middle East policy that aims to reset ties with the region.
He said the future of his country is bound to the Middle East by forces of "economics and security, history and faith," calling for a change of U.S. policy dealing with the region.
But he also admitted that a strategy "based solely upon the narrow pursuit of these interests" and a failure to change the U.S. approach threaten a "deepening spiral of division" between the United States and Muslim communities.
Obama said the U.S. has asked the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to present a plan at the G-8 summit that sets a path to stabilize and modernize the economies of Tunisia and Egypt.
Meanwhile, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country holds the current chair of the G-8, invited the new interim leaders of Tunisia and Egypt to join the second day of the summit on Friday and a package of economic support measures was expected.
The coordination of international counter-terrorism efforts was also expected to be one of the key issues at the summit, the first major global conference since the killing of al-Qaida mastermind Osama bin Laden.
How to step up counter-terrorism efforts in the post-bin Laden era is an issue that has drawn close attention from the world as the U.S., France and Britain all face terrorism threats.
Africa is another issue that may be on the agenda at the G-8 summit. With the fast growth of the African continent, Western powers feel that their influence in Africa has been increasingly challenged by emerging economic entities.
France expressed its will to gather the G-8 leaders and the leaders of some African countries on the sidelines of the Deauville summit to talk about establishing partnerships between the two sides.
How could Western countries facilitate the development of Africa and encourage Western companies to make investments in Africa would be discussed between the two sides.
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