BitGou: Wednesday Briefing: Wide gulf, slim hopes as Biden and Putin arrive for summit

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

by Linda Noakes

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Here's what you need to know.

Vexing issues in lush surroundings as Biden and Putin meet, Israel strikes Hamas sites over fire balloons, and the EU is set to add the U.S. to its safe travel list

Today's biggest stories

U.S. President Joe Biden and Russia's President Vladimir Putin meet at Villa La Grange in Geneva, Switzerland, June 16, 2021. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

BIDEN-PUTIN SUMMIT

U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin began their first summit since Biden took office, with deep disagreements likely and expectations of solving them low. Here's where they disagree and where they might compromise.

The issues may be vexing, but the surroundings are lush and serene in a stately 18th century villa overlooking Lake Geneva.

We look back at the American presidents Putin has confronted.

COVID-19

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals' COVID-19 antibody cocktail reduces deaths in hospitalized patients who have not mounted their own antibody response, a large British study has found.

European Union governments have agreed to add the United States to their list of countries from which they will allow non-essential travel, EU diplomats say.

New York is lifting all state-mandated coronavirus restrictions after reporting that 70% of the state's adults have received at least one dose of vaccine.

Chickens, cows, paid leave, even a million-dollar apartment, these are the prizes on offer from Thailand to Indonesia to Hong Kong for those who get vaccinated against COVID-19 as nations across Asia combat vaccine hesitancy.

Israeli lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir carries an Israeli flag as he dances together with others by Damascus gate just outside of Jerusalem's Old City, June 15, 2021. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

MIDDLE EAST

Israeli aircraft struck Hamas sites in Gaza after incendiary balloons were launched from the Palestinian enclave in the first such attacks since a fragile ceasefire ended 11 days of deadly fighting last month.

Thousands of Israeli far-right nationalists marched in a flag-waving procession through East Jerusalem, an event that reignited tensions with Palestinians and posed an early challenge to Israel's new government.

CHINA-TAIWAN TENSIONS

China does not tolerate foreign forces intervening in Taiwan issues and has to make strong responses to such acts of “collusion”, the government said after the island reported the largest incursion to date of Chinese aircraft.

Macau's government said it would suspend operations at its representative office in Taiwan, following in the footsteps of Hong Kong, which made a similar move last month in response to Taipei's support for pro-democracy activists there.

ALL EYES ON FED

Federal Reserve officials are expected to at least flag the pending start of talks about when and how to exit from the crisis-era policies the U.S. central bank put in place at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic last year.

World stock markets are treading water near record highs as investors brace for any hawkish signals.

Just who or what is holding down U.S. government borrowing rates has become one of the big financial questions of the year - at least for those who think the Fed’s ongoing bond-buying program is not a good enough explanation. Reuters editor-at-large for finance and markets Mike Dolan gives his view.

BREXIT AND BEYOND

The historic U.S.-brokered 1998 Irish peace agreement has been put at risk by the implementation of the Brexit divorce deal in the British province of Northern Ireland, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's top Brexit negotiator says.

The U.S. has expressed grave concern that a dispute between London and Brussels over the implementation of the 2020 Brexit treaty could undermine the Good Friday accord, which effectively ended three decades of violence.

Trialing a digital pound, encouraging driverless cars and building on COVID vaccine success by cutting red tape would boost Britain's growth following Brexit, a report commissioned by Johnson recommended.

Breakingviews columnist George Hay looks at how global Britain’s winners and losers are taking shape.