Police have clashed with protesters in the German town of Garmisch Partenkirchen just hours before a meeting of G7 leaders is set to begin at a nearby hotel.<br /><br /> Police responded with pepper spray when a small group attempted to break through their cordon.<br /><br /> At least 3,500 demonstrators converged on the small Bavarian town, where they have demanded action on a number of issues including climate change, poverty and globalisation.<br /><br /> Some 17,000 German police officers have been deployed around the summit site in the Bavarian Alps with another 2,000 Austrian officers on standby across the nearby border.<br /><br /> German Chancellor Angela Merkel will welcome the leaders of the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, the United States and the European Union on Sunday.<br /><br /> The main issues on the G7 summit agenda are climate change, the fight against pandemics, turmoil in the Middle East and the recent upsurge in violence in Ukraine. <br /><br /> The world economic recovery and Greece’s unresolved debt stando
