Trudeau and Merkel talk climate change ahead of G7

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has spoken to German Chancellor Angela Merkel about making progress on climate change and combating protectionism when they meet at the G7 next month in Quebec. Merkel is the G7’s longest-serving leader and has clashed with President Donal Trump in the past, including at his first summit last year in Italy. A top European Union official who will be at the table with Trump and Trudeau next month has blasted the U.S. president over his recent decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement. “With friends like that, who needs enemies?” EU Council President Donald Tusk said in Bulgaria making an obvious hint at the displeasure with President Donald Trump.  Trudeau and Merkel also spoke about the need to make “meaningful investments” on educating girls and women in crisis settings, a topic that the prime minister is being pushed to champion by leading aid agencies and anti-poverty groups. Also  a Canada-U.S. women-in-business group created by Trudeau and Trump released its fourth set of recommendations. The group is trying to remove barriers to female entrepreneurs, and its latest report makes $1.4 billion in new financing from the Business Development Bank of Canada available to women entrepreneurs.