Brussels  - There could not have been a better choice of venue for this year's Group of Eight (G8) summit - the earthquake- stricken medieval city of L'Aquila, in central Italy.

Starting on July 8, the leaders of the world's most powerful nations are to hold three days of talks on two seismic shifts that are changing the world we live in: the financial shockwaves that knocked the global economy into the deepest abyss since World War II, and the increasingly urgent need to save the planet from global warming.

Other conundrums include stalled world trade talks and the plight of millions of Africans living in abject poverty.

The negotiations will take place against the backdrop of other major emergencies, notably the unstable situation in Iran following its contested presidential elections, and North Korea's seemingly unstoppable bid to equip itself with nuclear weapons.

And while no one expects the summit to produce magic solutions to the world's troubles, John Kirton, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto, argues that "crises tend to bring the best out of G8s".

Kirton, who co-founded the G8 Research Group at the Munk Centre for International Studies, cites as an example the terrorist attacks on the city of London during the 2005 summit, which persuaded then German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to drop his resistance to British plans for a massive increase in aid to Africa.

The L'Aquila meeting will be the biggest of its kind, with more than 20 countries represented.

Along with the traditional G8 members Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States plus the European Commission, invitations have also been extended to major developing economies such as Brazil, China, India and South Africa and, unusually, Egypt, Denmark, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands.

Summit host, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, is relishing the chance to grandstand on the world stage, if only to deflect media attention from the current controversy surrounding his sex life.

Speaking to reporters earlier this week, the maverick premier said the G8 will "give impulse" to World Trade Organization (WTO) talks, in spite of increasingly loud protectionist grumblings directed by the West at China. It will also devise strategies to overcome "distrust" in the economy, Berlusconi said.

Italy's President Giorgio Napolitano has urged the media to stop reporting on Berlusconi's alleged involvement with call girls and teenagers during the G8 to avoid embarrassing the country.

And with US President Barack Obama a novice, German Chancellor Angela Merkel preoccupied with an impending general election, and Britain's Gordon Brown effectively a lame duck, Berlusconi could well emerge as the meeting's key player.

"The so-called scandals do not appear to have dented his very formidable popularity. And as the only leader to host a G8 for a third time, he has plenty of experience," Kirton told the German Press Agency dpa.

On financial reform, leaders are being urged not to backtrack on the results of a Group of 20 (G20) meeting in London in April. A follow-up meeting has been scheduled for September 24-25 in Pittsburgh.

"Everybody worked together in London. But now that the economic climate is improving, we may be losing the sense of urgency," says Paola Subacchi, an economist at Chatham House, a London-based think-tank.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has already set off alarm bells by saying that the G8 should promote French-style state interventionism over what he scornfully calls "Anglo-Saxon capitalism.

According to Subacchi, co-author of a briefing paper on "Building a Bridge between the G20 and the G8," the L'Aquila meeting must also quash any protectionist tendencies and should start a serious discussion on the creation of a single EU seat at the International Monetary Fund.

On climate change, analysts say the G8 presidency will face a tough time bridging the differences between the EU, which has already approved strict emission cuts, and the rest of the world.

The summit will also pose a massive security challenge for Italy, which eight years ago hosted the bloodiest meeting of its kind in history, with one anti-globalization activist killed by the police and dozens others injured during street clashes in Genoa.

Adding to Berlusconi's concerns are reports that many inhabitants of L'Aquila plan to protest against the government's alleged mishandling of their city's post-quake reconstruction. (dpa)