The G7 meeting in Italy

The G7 meeting begins.
Analysis: A wounded crowd gathers at a luxury hotel

Six lame ducks and Giorgia Meloni. This is how Politico describes the G7 meeting in Italy that began today. As war rages in Ukraine and Gaza, the "democratic world" would have benefited from strong leadership from the G7.

"Dream on," writes the site.

French leader Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have election campaigns to run at home. Germany's Olaf Scholz has just lost big in the EU elections. Justin Trudeau and Fumio Kishida are grappling with their own problems.

And Joe Biden is trailing in the polls and recently saw his son convicted of gun crimes, Politico points out.

The New York Times chooses the same angle and describes the seven leaders who check into the luxury hotel on the Adriatic Sea as an "unfortunate crowd".

"It shows the political tremors that are shaking the entire Western world."
analysis Mark Landler and Steven Erlanger: Could be a welcome break for the world leaders