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As it happenedended

Boris Johnson news – live: PM says no-deal Brexit is ‘touch and go’ as he threatens to withhold divorce bill from EU

Follow the latest updates from meeting of world leaders in Biarritz, France

Samuel Osborne,Conrad Duncan
Sunday 25 August 2019 10:55 EDT
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Brexit: Boris Johnson is the right man for the job, says Trump

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Donald Trump has praised Boris Johnson as the “right man for the job” of delivering Brexit at the G7 summit in Biarritz on Sunday.

The US president promised a “very big trade deal” as the two leaders held their first meeting. However, the prime minister has warned a deal with the US will not be “plain sailing”.

Mr Johnson also discussed Brexit with Donald Tusk, the European Council president, after the pair clashed on Saturday over who would be to blame for a no-deal Brexit.

A top French official has said Mr Macron, the French president, made the decision to invite Iran's top diplomat to Biarritz after the dinner among G7 leaders of the world's major democracies. 

The Saturday night dinner involved tense exchanges over how to deal with Iran's nuclear ambitions since Mr Trump withdrew from Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal.

Mr Macron had met with Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, on Friday, and decided to invite him to France again, this time to Biarritz. 

The official did not rule out another meeting between Mr Macron and Mr Zarif, who was speaking Sunday with France's foreign minister.

Asked about a possible meeting between Mr Trump and the Iranian, who faces US sanctions, the official said, "not at this stage."

Likewise, Steve Mnuchin, the US treasury secretary, did not rule out anything, saying Mr Trump had not "set preconditions" to negotiations with Iran. 

Samuel Osborne25 August 2019 16:05
Samuel Osborne25 August 2019 16:44

The leaders’ dinner at the G7 was “quite tense” after members disagreed with Donald Trump over how to deal with Russia, according to an EU source.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AP that Mr Trump said Russia was a major power and should be included in discussions.

Other leaders apparently objected to reintroducing Russia because the G7 is a group of democracies.

Henry Austin25 August 2019 17:32

News of England’s astonishing Ashes victory has reached the G7.

Boris Johnson has described the win as “extraordinary” and singled out Ben Stokes for his batting performance.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn followed a minute later, praising Stokes and Jack Leach, and throwing in a suggestion that Test cricket should be on a free-to-air channel.

The last Ashes series to be shown on free-to-air television was in 2005 on Channel 4.

Henry Austin25 August 2019 18:27

Donald Trump has bizarrely claimed that world leaders have been asking him why the American media "hate" the United States.

It seems incredibly unlikely that the G7 would want to talk more about CNN than the US-China trade war or the Amazon Rainforest fires but that's what Mr Trump says at least...

Henry Austin25 August 2019 18:41

More Ashes fallout at the G7

Australian prime minister Scott Morrison is due to meet Boris Johnson for talks at the G7 summit in France on Monday, the morning after the England cricket teams remarkable Ashes victory over his country.

Mr Morrison said: "I'm sure he'll give me a hard time about the fact they clipped us in the latest Ashes.

"Journalists from other countries won't have the faintest idea what I'm talking about. But Australian journalists and British journalists will know very, very well."

Ben Stokes celebrates after hitting the winning runs in England's remarkable win over Australia (AFP) 

Tom Barnes25 August 2019 19:51

That's it for our coverage of the G7 summit for today, thanks for following and please come back and join us for more live updates tomorrow.

Tom Barnes25 August 2019 20:08

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