The Latest on the meeting of leaders of the Group of 20 major economies (all times local):
3:20 p.m.
While prospects for detente in the trade war between the world's two largest economies are a major preoccupation ahead of the two days of G-20 meetings that begin Friday, many participating are calling for a broader perspective in tackling global crises.
Environmental activists and local residents chant slogans as they stand next to an inflatable depicting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a protest in front of a coal-fired power plant ahead of the G-20 Summit Thursday, June 27, 2019, in Kobe, western Japan. The protesters demanded an end to coal funding. (AP PhotoJae C. Hong)
The president of the European Union Council, Donald Tusk, told Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday: "This will be a difficult G-20. There are global challenges to be met. We need to step up to avoid the climate threats."
Tusk said that other pressing issues include reforming the World Trade Organization and dealing with international tensions over Iran.
Japanese media reported that the Tusk and Abe made progress toward an agreement on loosening EU restrictions on exports of farm products imposed after a 2011 nuclear accident in northeastern Fukushima prefecture.
Environmental activists and local residents chant slogans as they stand next to an inflatable depicting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a protest in front of a coal-fired power plant ahead of the G-20 Summit Thursday, June 27, 2019, in Kobe, western Japan. The protesters demanded an end to coal funding. (AP PhotoJae C. Hong)
1:33 p.m.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and other world leaders are gathering in Osaka for a summit of the Group of 20 major economies that is likely to be overshadowed by both trade and geopolitical tensions.
President Donald Trump was due to arrive later Thursday, and to meet with Xi on Saturday as the G-20 meetings conclude.
Xi was also expected to hold talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, seeking a breakthrough after years of strain over territorial disputes. It is his first visit to Japan since he became communist China's top leader in 2013.
Xi's visit to North Korea last week raised hopes for some movement in the impasse with the U.S. over Pyongyang's nuclear program. Trump is due to visit South Korea after leaving Japan.
SAN FRANCISCO & JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 12, 2026--
Abridge, the leading enterprise-grade AI for clinical conversations, is collaborating with Availity, the nation’s largest real-time health information network, to launch a first-of-its kind prior authorization experience. The engagement uses cutting-edge technology grounded in the clinician-patient conversation to facilitate a more efficient process between clinicians and health plans in medical necessity review.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260112960386/en/
Rather than creating parallel AI systems across healthcare stakeholders, Abridge and Availity are working together to ensure shared clinical context at the point of conversation powers administrative processes, such as prior authorization review and submission, improving outcomes for patients and the teams delivering care.
This collaboration unites two trusted and scaled organizations: combining Abridge’s enterprise-grade AI platform, serving over 200 health systems and projected to support over 80 million patient-clinician conversations in 2026, with Availity’s next-generation, FHIR-native Intelligent Utilization Management solution, which helps payers and providers digitize and operationalize coverage requirements within administrative workflows.
Availity’s FHIR-native APIs enable fast, scalable, and secure connectivity of payer information across the entire healthcare ecosystem. With Abridge’s Contextual Reasoning Engine technology, clinicians can gain visibility into relevant clinical information during the conversation to support documentation aligned with prior authorization requirements.
“At Availity, we’ve invested in building AI-powered, FHIR-native APIs designed to bring clinical policy logic directly into provider workflows,” said Russ Thomas, CEO of Availity. “By embedding our technology at the point of conversation, we’re enabling faster, more transparent utilization management decisions rooted in clinical context. We’re excited to collaborate with Abridge and to demonstrate what’s possible when payer intelligence meets real-time provider workflows.”
The development of real-time prior authorization is just a component of a broader revenue cycle collaboration that is focused on applying real-time conversational intelligence across the patient, provider, and payer experiences. The companies intend to support integration by collaborating on workflow alignment between their respective platforms in the following areas:
“Abridge and Availity are each bringing national scale, deep trust, and a track record of solving important challenges across the care and claims experience to this partnership,” said Dr. Shiv Rao, CEO and Co-Founder of Abridge. “We’re building real-time bridges between patients, providers, and payers, unlocking shared understanding, focused at the point of conversation.”
About Availity
Availity empowers payers and providers to deliver transformative patient experiences by enabling the seamless exchange of clinical, administrative, and financial information. As the nation's largest real-time health information network, Availity develops intelligent, automated, and interoperable solutions that foster collaboration and shared value across the healthcare ecosystem. With connections to over 95% of payers, more than 3 million providers, and over 2,000 trading partners, Availity provides mission-critical connectivity to drive the future of healthcare innovation. For more information, including an online demonstration, please visit www.availity.com or call 1.800.AVAILITY (282.4548). Follow us on LinkedIn.
About Abridge
Abridge was founded in 2018 to power deeper understanding in healthcare. Abridge is now trusted by more than 200 of the largest and most complex health systems in the U.S. The enterprise-grade AI platform transforms medical conversations into clinically useful and billable documentation at the point of care, reducing administrative burden and clinician burnout while improving patient experience. With deep EHR integration, support for 28+ languages, and 50+ specialties, Abridge is used across a wide range of care settings, including outpatient, emergency department, and inpatient.
Abridge’s enterprise-grade AI platform is purpose-built for healthcare. Supported by Linked Evidence, Abridge is the only solution that maps AI-generated summaries to source data, helping clinicians quickly trust and verify the output. As a pioneer in generative AI for healthcare, Abridge is setting the industry standard for the responsible deployment of AI across health systems.
Abridge was awarded Best in KLAS 2025 for Ambient AI in addition to other accolades, including Forbes 2025 AI 50 List, TIME Best Inventions of 2024, and Fortune’s 2024 AI 50 Innovators.
Abridge and Availity Collaborate to Redefine Payer-Provider Synergy at the Point of Conversation
Abridge and Availity Collaborate to Redefine Payer-Provider Synergy at the Point of Conversation
