July 8, 2009. From left, foreground: U.S. President Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy; from left, background: Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel during a group photo of G8 heads of state and government.