Top finance officials from the world’s seven wealthiest democracies set aside stark differences on U.S. tariffs after two days of talks and agreed to counter global “economic imbalances,” a swipe at China’s trade practices.

In a communiqué issued Thursday, the Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors, meeting in the Canadian Rockies, left out their traditional defense of free trade and toned down their references to Russia’s war in Ukraine, compared with last year. But they did agree that further sanctions on Russia could be imposed if the two countries don’t reach a ceasefire.

The communiqué said the G7 members would continue to monitor “nonmarket policies and practices” which contribute to imbalances in global trade. The statement did not mention China but nonmarket policies typically refer to that country’s export subsidies and currency policies that the Trump administration charges gives it an advantage in international trade.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appears to have succeeded in steering the communiqué largely in the direction the Trump administration sought, particularly regarding China’s trade practices.

The high-profile gathering of officials from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, France, and Italy also appeared to be more congenial than an earlier meeting of G7 foreign ministers in March. Yet that meeting, also in Canada, occurred as President Donald Trump was in the midst of threatening stiff tariffs on Canada and suggesting it could become the 51st state.

Music exec, 5 others die in San Diego plane crash

Six people were feared to have died after a small jet they were in flew through dense fog and crashed in a residential San Diego neighborhood early Thursday morning, injuring eight others on the ground and damaging 10 homes, officials said.

The jet, a Cessna Citation, crashed in Murphy Canyon near the Tierrasanta neighborhood just before 4 a.m., forcing the evacuation of about 100 people as flames billowed, the San Diego Police Department and San Diego Fire-Rescue Department said.

At a news conference earlier Thursday, Dan Eddy, San Diego’s assistant fire chief, said that at least two people who were on the plane had died and that he did not believe there would be any survivors. The Federal Aviation Administration said later Thursday that there had been six people aboard the plane.

Dave Shapiro, 42, a veteran music agent and pilot who appeared to have a stake in the plane, was killed in the crash, according to the Sound Talent Group, the company he co-founded.

It was not immediately clear who was flying the plane. The agency represents dozens of music groups, including Jefferson Starship and Hanson.

A spokesperson for the agency said in a statement that the company was “devastated by the loss of our co-founder, colleagues and friends.”

Daniel Williams, 39, a former drummer for the band the Devil Wears Prada, was feared to have died in the crash. In an Instagram post Wednesday night, Williams shared an image of the plane on the tarmac and wrote that he was “flying back” with Shapiro.

Weight loss drugs eyed in cancer study

Excess body weight can raise the risk of certain cancers, leading researchers to wonder whether blockbuster drugs like Wegovy, Ozempic and Zepbound could play a role in cancer prevention.

Now, a study of 170,000 patient records suggests there’s a slightly lower risk of obesity-related cancers in U.S. adults with diabetes who took these popular medications compared to those who took another class of diabetes drug not associated with weight loss.

This type of study can’t prove cause and effect, but the findings hint at a connection worth exploring. More than a dozen cancers are associated with obesity.

“This is a call to scientists and clinical investigators to do more work in this area to really prove or disprove this,” said Dr. Ernest Hawk of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, who was not involved in the study.

The findings were released Thursday by the American Society of Clinical Oncology and will be discussed at its annual meeting in Chicago. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, was led by Lucas Mavromatis, a medical student at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine.

2 tribes suing U.S. over boarding schools

Two tribal nations filed a lawsuit Thursday saying that the federal government used the trust fund money of tribes to pay for boarding schools where generations of Native children were systematically abused.

In the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the Wichita Tribe and the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California said that by the U.S. government’s own admission, the schools were funded using money raised by forcing tribal nations into treaties to cede their lands. That money was to be held in trust for the collective benefit of tribes.

“The United States Government, the trustee over Native children’s education and these funds, has never accounted for the funds that it took, or detailed how, or even whether, those funds were ultimately expended. It has failed to identify any funds that remain,” according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed against Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education. A spokesperson for the Interior declined to comment on pending litigation.

Study: Extremist count down as influence rises

The number of white nationalist, hate and anti-government groups around the U.S. dropped slightly in 2024, not because of any shrinking influence but rather the opposite. Many feel their beliefs, which includes racist narratives and so-called Christian persecution, have become more normalized in government and mainstream discourse.

In its annual Year in Hate and Extremism report, released Thursday, the Southern Poverty Law Center said it counted 1,371 hate and extremist groups, a 5% decline. The nonprofit group attributes this to a lesser sense of urgency to organize because their beliefs have infiltrated politics, education and society in general. Some of the ways they have done this are through pushing for bans on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, book bans and protests of drag story hours, the report says.

Last year, there were 533 active hate groups. These include groups who express views that are anti-LBGTQ+, anti-immigrant, antisemitic and anti-Muslim. This number has been steadily declining since reaching a historic high of 1,021 in 2018.

The number of anti-government groups last year totaled 838, an increase from recent years, according to the law center based in Montgomery, Ala., that tracks racism, xenophobia and far-right militias.

Russian hackers hit Ukraine aid shippers

Hackers working for Russian military intelligence targeted Western technology and logistics companies involved in shipping assistance to Ukraine, the U.S. National Security Agency said.

The hackers were trying to obtain details about the type of assistance entering Ukraine and, as part of the effort, sought access to the feeds of internet-connected cameras near Ukrainian border crossings, according to the NSA’s report on the cyberattack, which was issued late Wednesday.

The cyber campaign sought to penetrate defense, transportation and logistics companies in several Western countries, including the U.S., as well as ports, airports and rail systems. The report didn’t specify which types of aid Russia was surveilling, but Ukraine’s allies have contributed significant amounts of military and humanitarian assistance since the war began.

Michigan officer won’t face second murder trial

A Michigan police officer who fatally shot a Black man in the back of the head after a tumultuous traffic stop will not face a second murder trial, a prosecutor said Thursday, two weeks after a trial ended without a unanimous verdict.

The decision by prosecutor Chris Becker is certain to upset civil rights activists and the family of Patrick Lyoya, the 26-year-old Congolese immigrant whose death in the front yard of a Grand Rapids home was recorded on video and played repeatedly at trial.

Becker said he doubted that a second jury would come up with a different result.

“I just don’t see a place where we get 12 people to agree. This has split the community,” he told reporters in Kent County, 160 miles west of Detroit.

NOAA expects another busy hurricane season

With warmer than normal ocean waters, forecasters are expecting yet another unusually busy hurricane season for the Atlantic. But they don’t think it will be as chaotic as 2024, the third-costliest season on record as it spawned killer storms Beryl, Helene and Milton.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday unveiled its outlook for the Atlantic hurricane season that begins June 1 and stretches through the end of November, with a 60% chance it will above normal, 30% chance near normal and just 10% chance it will be quieter than average.

The forecast calls for 13 to 19 named storms with six to 10 becoming hurricanes and three to five reaching major status with winds of more than 110 mph. A normal season has 14 named storms, seven of which strengthen to hurricanes and three power up further to major hurricanes.

Ocean warmth is not quite as high as last year’s off-the-charts heat. But it’s sufficient to be the top reason for the busy forecast, National Weather Service Director Ken Graham said.

Study: Record forest land lost to global fires

The planet lost a record amount of forests last year, largely because of fires that raged around the world, data shows.

Loss of pristine rainforests alone reached 6.7 million hectares (16.5 million acres) in 2024, nearly twice as much as in 2023, researchers at the University of Maryland and the World Resources Institute said in an annual update of the state of the world’s forests.

The world lost the equivalent of 18 soccer fields of forested land every minute, the researchers estimated.

For the first time since recordkeeping began, fires, not agriculture, were the leading cause of rainforest loss, accounting for nearly half of all destruction. Those fires emitted 4.1 gigatons of planet-warming greenhouse gasses, which is more than four times the emissions from air travel in 2023, the researchers said.

Still, land clearing for agriculture, cattle farming and other causes rose by 14%, the sharpest increase in almost a decade.

— News service reports