GREETINGS from the Adriatic coast, where the G7 summit is wrapping up. Later today, the action moves to Switzerland, where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will host the Summit on Peace in Ukraine. HOMEWARD BOUND: Most leaders have now left Puglia, with U.S. President Joe Biden heading to California for a Hollywood fundraiser with George Clooney and Julia Roberts, and French President Emmanuel Macron returning to Paris for some whistle-stop campaigning ahead of the snap French election, before he heads to Switzerland. Commercial flights in and out of the Bari area were delayed last night to facilitate the exodus of planes. Putin rains on Zelenskyy's parade: The Ukrainian president used his final few hours in Italy to drum up support for his country, a day after the G7 agreed on a new $50 billion loan for Kyiv using profits from frozen Russian assets. Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the eve of the Swiss summit, issued a new list of demands for peace, including that Ukraine cede land and abandon efforts to join NATO — both non-starters. Swiss guest list: While representatives of 90 countries are expected to attend the two-day summit near Lake Lucerne (latest list here), heavy-hitters like Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva are skipping the event, despite already being just a few hours south in Italy. It’s a reminder of Zelenskyy’s struggles to win over the Global South, despite valiant efforts at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore two weeks ago. MACRON VS. MELONI THINGS GET HEATED: It was never a match made in heaven, but tensions between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Macron boiled over at the G7, my colleagues Clea Caulcutt and Giorgio Leali report. The blow-up came after Paris pushed back on Rome's efforts to remove references to abortion from the final communiqué text, with Meloni slamming Macron for electioneering at the summit. The evil eye: The far-right Italian PM's reaction on greeting Macron at Thursday night’s dinner will enter meme history, with Meloni giving the French president a frosty welcome, followed by a killer “whatever” look. Background: Diplomats had been pushing to include a reference to “safe and legal abortion” in the final summit text, but host Italy, which currently holds the G7 presidency, refused. Macron publicly made his dismay clear. "France has a vision of equality between women and men, but it’s not a vision shared by all the political spectrum,” the French president told reporters. It’s my party and I’ll shout if I want to: A clearly annoyed Meloni accused Macron of electioneering “at a forum as precious as the G7,” according to Italian media. She denied that the omission meant Italy was questioning abortion rights, arguing that G7 communiqués can just refer to previous statements when it comes to topics such as this one. Where the power lies: Ultimately, Meloni got her way, with the reference absent in the final text. France, which enshrined the right to abortion in its constitution earlier this year, is not alone in taking abortion rights seriously. Biden has put abortion at the heart of his election campaign as he tries to highlight the Republican Party’s efforts to restrict reproductive rights across the United States. Right-wing love-in: The standoff between Meloni and Macron — two politicians with profoundly different political views — was quite the contrast to the personal chemistry that imbued Meloni’s first meeting with Argentinian leader Javier Milei. The two embraced warmly and erupted in laughter as the tousled-haired libertarian arrived (watch here). ECONOMIC WOES: Meanwhile, the CAC 40, the benchmark French stock market index, had its worst week since 2002 as the political shenanigans in France spooked markets. As Giorgio Leali writes in this snapshot of its struggling economy, France already suffered a downgrade on its creditworthiness from the Standard & Poor’s rating agency earlier this month, while next week the European Commission is due to publish its latest excessive deficit procedure warning about the country's economic state. Calming nerves: Ahead of the snap French election, Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party is hinting it will pull the brakes on some of its more radical economic proposals, Giorgio also reports, including its idea of undoing a key Macron pension reform and reducing the retirement age to 60 for some workers. PAPAL SPLASH ARRIVING IN STYLE: Pope Francis made quite the G7 entrance. Having held an audience with more than 100 comedians, including Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock and Jimmy Fallon at the Vatican Friday morning, he took a 90-minute helicopter ride to the summit venue, where he was met by Meloni and whisked off in a golf buggy. Tour de table: When the pontiff entered the summit proper, he owned the room despite being maneuvered around in a wheelchair, with leaders standing up one by one to greet him. The Holy Father shared a warm smile and an embrace with fellow-Argentinian Milei, doled out a bear hug to Indian leader Modi, had a bit of finger-wagging for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and a thumbs-up for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Watch here. Playing it safe: The pontiff, who got into hot water over recent remarks about the LGBTQ+ community, played it safe and stayed on-script as he stressed the need to maintain human control over the choices made by artificial intelligence and called for lethal autonomous weapons to be banned. GETTING TOUGH ON CHINA: The other main takeaway from Day Two of the summit was the language on China, with the G7 threatening more trade action if Beijing continues to "materially support Russia’s war machine." The declaration also sounded the alarm about activities in the Taiwan Strait and East and South China Seas. TAKING STOCK TAKEAWAYS: As the sun sets on the G7, Playbook spoke to activists and NGOs on the ground here in Puglia about their thoughts on the outcome of the summit. Here’s a selection ... On migration: Habitat for Humanity's Director of Global Affairs and Advocacy Amanda Entrikin welcomed the G7's focus on development and investment in Africa, but said leaders need to address internal displacement — migrants within their own country’s borders. “Millions of people are migrating to urban areas that lack essential infrastructure, housing and services,” Entrikin said, noting that African cities will need to accommodate an additional 950 million people, and are already facing a shortfall of 51 million housing units. On working toward peace: The Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP), an organization that represents over 160 Israeli and Palestinian peace-building NGOs, welcomed the commitment to “support civil society peace-building efforts” in the final summit declaration. “It recognizes the efforts of those on the ground who are actually working towards conflict resolution and taking the long-term approach that peace-building requires,” said ALLMEP’s John Lyndon. ALLMEP penned a letter to G7 leaders ahead of the summit (also signed by Pope Francis), calling for civil society peace-building efforts to be recognized. On the climate crisis: "Whilst we welcome the commitment to tripling renewable energy by 2030 and the commitment to do more in the developing world, particularly in Africa, to help the transition to net zero there, most of what was announced at the G7 were re-announcements," said Mike Rann of Climate Group, an organization which runs a network of over 500 multinational businesses. "I'm very disappointed that there was no commitment to end fossil fuel subsidies, and would have liked some recognition that gas is a transition fuel to net zero — not a solution to climate change." LA DOLCE VITA FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Olaf Scholz managed to catch some of the opening game of the UEFA Euro soccer championship last night, when Germany took on Scotland. While Scholz got updates on the first half via text during dinner, the two leaders watched the second half together on a tablet. Germany thrashed Scotland 5:1 — something of a birthday gift to Scholz, who turned 66 on Friday. Celebrating with the gang: Biden led his fellow G7 leaders in a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" for Scholz (the German leader was earlier treated to a birthday cake by his team). He certainly needed some cheering up, following his electoral drubbing at last weekend’s European election. SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND: For those staying in Bari, check out the program at the Teatro Petruzzelli, where Verdi’s Rigoletto has been playing to packed houses all week. If you feel like some high-end cuisine, Playbook hears Ristorante Da Tuccino is one of the best seafood places in town. SHOUT OUT to the G7 caterers who kept the hoards of hungry journalists well fed with grilled asparagus, octopus salad, funghi cardoncelli trifolati, focaccia, roasted peppers and a spectacular array of soft cheeses with specially curated menus at the media center. Gelato time: There was a line out the door of the pop-up Ferrero store in the media center Friday afternoon after rumors went viral that a stack of Nutella ice cream tubs would be available from 4 p.m. Staff could barely keep up with demand as journalists devoured the mid-afternoon snacks. ROCKY MOUNTAINS, HERE WE COME: Canada has announced that next year's G7 summit will take place in Kananaskis, Alberta — the location for the G8 summit in 2002. The location could be problematic for Donald Trump if he wins the November election, given his felony conviction could bar him from entering Canada. Now check out this must-read from POLITICO’s Alexander Burns on how Canada is spooked about a possible civil war in its backyard. THANKS TO POLITICO's stellar team on the ground in Italy: Barbara Moens, Clea Caulcutt, Gordon Repinski and Adam Cancryn. And Global Playbook couldn't happen without Global Playbook editor Zoya Sheftalovich.
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