Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Wednesday, June 16, 2021:
BIDEN-PUTIN SUMMIT
President Biden’s much-anticipated summit with Vladimir Putin is taking place this morning in Geneva. On the agenda: cyberweapons, nukes and climate change. The two world leaders will hold separate solo press conferences after their meeting rather than one joint presser, which the Russians reportedly wanted and the White House denied. LIVE UPDATES
COVID-19 LATEST
GRAND REOPENINGS: California and New York have officially reopened, dropping most of their remaining pandemic restrictions amid plummeting case numbers and rising vaccination rates. Both states now have 70+% of their populations at least partially vaccinated, though there are places in each where the rate is far lower. NYC will host a ticker-tape parade for healthcare and essential workers up the famed Canyon of Heroes on July 7. FORBES
TIMELINE: There’s more evidence that COVID was circulating undetected in the U.S. as early as December 2019, weeks before the first infections were confirmed. A new government report found a person in Illinois had tested positive for antibodies on Jan. 7, 2020. Given that antibodies take a couple weeks to develop, that suggests the virus was in Illinois around Christmas 2019. Several samples from a handful of other states were positive for antibodies around that same time. The first confirmed COVID case in the U.S. was on Jan. 20, and community spread was not confirmed until a month later. WASH POST
ISRAEL-GAZA
The Israeli military conducted airstrikes in Gaza after officials said that Hamas launched “incendiary balloons” into southern Israel, sparking fires. There are no immediate reports of casualties on either side. The strikes are the first since a fragile ceasefire ended the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas last month, and come just days into Israel’s new coalition government. The spark of violence started after the government allowed a group of far-right Israelis to march through Palestinian areas of east Jerusalem, for which Hamas said it would retaliate. AP
HEAT WAVE
There’s an outside chance that the all-time global heat record -- 134 in Death Valley, set in 1913 -- could fall later this week as the West is in the grip of an historic early heat wave. Dozens of temperature records have already been taken out from California to Montana, and the heat is only expected to intensify before it breaks this weekend. It’ll hit 115 in Phoenix and Vegas today and stay there through the end of the week. The region is already in severe drought, and the temps are only making conditions worse. ACCUWEATHER
RETAIL SALES
Retail sales declined in May after soaring throughout the late winter and early spring, in a sign that people are changing their spending habits as the pandemic recedes. Sales of things like electronics, furniture, home-improvement products and cars all fell from the month prior, while sales of clothes and purchases at restaurants and bars went up. (Clothing sales were up 200% from the same time last year, when we were all in sweatpants-forever mode.) Retail sales reports don’t include spending on travel and lodging, but credit-card data shows those sectors seeing big -- and much needed -- increases. CHEDDAR
STREAMING FATIGUE
We may finally know the answer to one of the biggest questions in media: just how many streaming services are people willing to manage? It seems like... 7. According to a new consumer research report, the average number of video streaming platforms used per American, both paid and free, has declined for the first time -- from 7.23 in November to 7.06 in April. It’s a different story overseas, where the number of services per home continues to rise. THR
NBA PLAYOFFS
Kevin Durant completed arguably the best game of his NBA career to put the Brooklyn Nets one win away from the conference finals. Durant delivered a 49-point triple-double while playing the entire 48 minutes in the Nets’ Game 5 win over the Bucks. The last time someone did that in the playoffs: Kobe Bryant, in 2001. The two other remaining series, Jazz-Clippers and Sixers-Hawks, play tonight. ESPN
GIVING PLEDGE
MacKenzie Scott has announced she’s giving away another $2.7 billion to 286 charitable organizations, on top of the roughly $6 billion she donated to various groups in 2020. Scott, the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos who’s now married to Seattle teacher Dan Jewett, has pledged to give away her fortune -- estimated around $60 billion -- “until the safe is empty.” Despite the remarkable pace of her donations, Scott’s net worth is still going up, thanks to Amazon’s surging stock price. NY TIMES
SPOTTED...
… Simone Biles, looking radiant on the June cover of Glamour: SEE PICS
LEFTOVERS: FLIGHT OF HIS LIFE
A young pilot made a special announcement on a recent flight from Miami to Charleston that had him tearing up before takeoff. Anselm Dewar came on the PA system to announce that a special VIP passenger was on board: his father. It was the first time Dewar was able to fly with his old man in the decade since he became a pilot. He told the story of his mom and dad adopting him in Jamaica and how they nurtured his love of flying ever since he was 3: WATCH
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