g8 summits

G8 summits in pics: Obama smooches Merkel, yellow pants and colourful protests

A look back at G8 summits in years gone by.
10.30am, 15 Jun 2013
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THE 39TH G8 Summit is taking place this weekend at Lough Erne, Fermanagh in Northern Ireland.

The meeting of eight of the world’s wealthiest countries – the US, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and Canada – is never without some sort of drama. Be it protests, in-fighting, celebrity appearances or fashion disasters (yes, we’re talking about the canary yellow pants) there’s always something to keep us interested.

So, here’s a reminder of some of the theatrics of the G8 summits gone by:

G8 summits in pics: Obama smooches Merkel, yellow pants and colourful protests
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  • G8 Summits through the years...

    Barack and Angela share more than just their economic thoughts in 2012 at Camp David, Maryland. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

  • G8 Summits through the years...

    Those canary yellow pants Bertie Ahern wore in 2004. Will we ever live it down? (AP Photo/CP, Tom Hanson)

  • G8 Summits through the years...

    "One should take a seat," we think the Queen might be telling Ruud Lubbers, Prime Minister of the Netherlands and President of the EC Council of Ministers at Buckingham Palace on 16 July 1991. (Picture by: Martin Keene/PA Archive/Press Association Images)

  • G8 Summits through the years...

    Former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and President Barack Obama rubs shoulders are they get in position for a group photo at the G8 Summit in L'Aquila, Italy on 10 July, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

  • G8 Summits through the years...

    A policeman chases anti-summit protesters outside the G7 economic summit at Munich's Residenz on 6 July, 1992. Nearly 200 demonstrators were arrested. (AP Photo/Fritz Reiss)

  • G8 Summits through the years...

    World leaders wave on 19 May, 2012 at G8 Summit at Camp David, Maryland. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

  • G8 Summits through the years...

    Former US President Ronald Reagan and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, share a laugh during a break from a session at the Ottawa Summit on 21 July 1981 in Canada. (AP Photo/File)

  • G8 Summits through the years...

    "You do what you're told," German Chancellor Angela Merkel might be saying to French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Deauville, France on 26 May 2011. (Image: Chris Ratcliffe/PA Wire)

  • G8 Summits through the years...

    Here come the boys... European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy, Prime Minister David Cameron, Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, Stephen Harper of Canada and Naoto Kan of Japan on their way to a family photograph at the G8 Summit in Muskoka, Canada in 2010. (Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)

  • G8 Summits through the years...

    President Clinton out for a jog along the Naples waterfront on 8 July, 1994 where the G7 leaders were meeting. (AP Photo/Marcy Nighswander)

  • G8 Summits through the years...

    Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi gives the peace sign as he arrives for a round table meeting at the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy on Friday, 10 July, 2009. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool)

  • G8 Summits through the years...

    Clashes between demonstrators and police take place at the end of an anti-war protest in Rome, 9 June, 2007, the day of US President George Bush and his wife Laura's visit to Rome as part of their trip through Europe that included the G8 summit in Germany. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

  • G8 Summits through the years...

    Partners of G8 leaders, from left, Ludmila Putina, Laureen Harper, Cherie Blair, Flavia Prodi, Margarida Uva and Alie Abe, visit Schlosshotel Burg Schlitz, an old German castle on the first day of the G8 Summit in Heiligendamm, Germany in 2007. (Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)

  • G8 Summits through the years...

    Oxfam activists costumed as G8 leaders stand side by side in the harbour of Rostock, Germany in 2007. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

  • G8 Summits through the years...

    A protester wearing a gas mask waves a communist flag as smoke from tear gas canisters billows around him during the second day of clashes between anti-globalization demonstrators and police in downtown Genoa, Italy, 21 July 2001. (AP Photo/Scott Nelson)

  • G8 Summits through the years...

    British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac chat as Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi listens at the G8 Summit at the Gleneagles Hotel near Auchterarder, Scotland in 2005. (AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa)

  • G8 Summits through the years...

    United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan shows Bono and Live8 organizer Bob Geldof around before a G8 Summit meeting in Gleneagles, Scotland, 8 July, 2005. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

  • G8 Summits through the years...

    Effigies of the leaders of the G8 stand in a field near Gleneagles following scuffles between police in riot gear and protest groups. (Image: John Giles/PA Archive/Press Association Images)

  • G8 Summits through the years...

    A young boy holds a broken bicycle in the Kibera slum in Nairobi, when the leaders of the world's wealthiest nations meet during the G8 summit to discuss helping the poorest people on the planet in 2005. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo)

  • G8 Summits through the years...

    US President Ronald Reagan and Secretary of State George Schultz at the London Economic Summit, held at Lancaster House on 8 June, 1984. (Image: Chris Bacon/PA Archive/Press Association Images)

  • G8 Summits through the years...

    An anti-globalization protester walks amongst police officers during a protest march through Sheffield's city centre to demonstrate against the G8 in 2005. (AP Photo/Jane Mingay)

  • G8 Summits through the years...

    Police on horseback patrol a field, at Auchterarder close to where protestors breached the fence surrounding the G8 summit at Gleneagles. (Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Archive/Press Association Images)
  • Barack and Angela share more than just their economic thoughts in 2012 at Camp David, Maryland. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
  • Those canary yellow pants Bertie Ahern wore in 2004. Will we ever live it down? (AP Photo/CP, Tom Hanson)
  • Former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and President Barack Obama rubs shoulders are they get in position for a group photo at the G8 Summit in L'Aquila, Italy on 10 July, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
  • A policeman chases anti-summit protesters outside the G7 economic summit at Munich's Residenz on 6 July, 1992. Nearly 200 demonstrators were arrested. (AP Photo/Fritz Reiss)
  • World leaders wave on 19 May, 2012 at G8 Summit at Camp David, Maryland. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
  • Former US President Ronald Reagan and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, share a laugh during a break from a session at the Ottawa Summit on 21 July 1981 in Canada. (AP Photo/File)
  • Here come the boys... European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy, Prime Minister David Cameron, Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, Stephen Harper of Canada and Naoto Kan of Japan on their way to a family photograph at the G8 Summit in Muskoka, Canada in 2010. (Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)
  • President Clinton out for a jog along the Naples waterfront on 8 July, 1994 where the G7 leaders were meeting. (AP Photo/Marcy Nighswander)
  • Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi gives the peace sign as he arrives for a round table meeting at the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy on Friday, 10 July, 2009. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool)
  • Clashes between demonstrators and police take place at the end of an anti-war protest in Rome, 9 June, 2007, the day of US President George Bush and his wife Laura's visit to Rome as part of their trip through Europe that included the G8 summit in Germany. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
  • Partners of G8 leaders, from left, Ludmila Putina, Laureen Harper, Cherie Blair, Flavia Prodi, Margarida Uva and Alie Abe, visit Schlosshotel Burg Schlitz, an old German castle on the first day of the G8 Summit in Heiligendamm, Germany in 2007. (Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)
  • Oxfam activists costumed as G8 leaders stand side by side in the harbour of Rostock, Germany in 2007. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)
  • A protester wearing a gas mask waves a communist flag as smoke from tear gas canisters billows around him during the second day of clashes between anti-globalization demonstrators and police in downtown Genoa, Italy, 21 July 2001. (AP Photo/Scott Nelson)
  • British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac chat as Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi listens at the G8 Summit at the Gleneagles Hotel near Auchterarder, Scotland in 2005. (AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa)
  • United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan shows Bono and Live8 organizer Bob Geldof around before a G8 Summit meeting in Gleneagles, Scotland, 8 July, 2005. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
  • Effigies of the leaders of the G8 stand in a field near Gleneagles following scuffles between police in riot gear and protest groups. (Image: John Giles/PA Archive/Press Association Images)
  • A young boy holds a broken bicycle in the Kibera slum in Nairobi, when the leaders of the world's wealthiest nations meet during the G8 summit to discuss helping the poorest people on the planet in 2005. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo)
  • US President Ronald Reagan and Secretary of State George Schultz at the London Economic Summit, held at Lancaster House on 8 June, 1984. (Image: Chris Bacon/PA Archive/Press Association Images)
  • An anti-globalization protester walks amongst police officers during a protest march through Sheffield's city centre to demonstrate against the G8 in 2005. (AP Photo/Jane Mingay)
  • Police on horseback patrol a field, at Auchterarder close to where protestors breached the fence surrounding the G8 summit at Gleneagles. (Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Archive/Press Association Images)

Related: 100 riot police in crackdown on London G8 protests>
More: To protect world leaders you can’t fly over Lough Erne during G8 summit>

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