Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Thursday, June 17, 2021:
BIDEN-PUTIN
President Biden and President Putin of Russia ended their first summit in Geneva expressing respect for one another and a desire for better relations, but little in the way of concrete actions on how to get there. Biden said he told Putin that the U.S. would respond “in a cyber way” to any future cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, which he described as “off limits.” Putin called the discussion productive but denied being behind any cyberattacks and deflected responsibility for Russia’s human rights violations by likening his crackdown on dissent to the arrests of rioters at the Capitol. NY TIMES
PEAK HEAT
Grid operators in Texas and California are urging residents to conserve electricity in order to avoid outages as the extreme heat peaks over the next couple days. Death Valley cracked 125, coming within 9 degrees of the world record. Salt Lake City and Phoenix have already tied their all-time records and are forecast to break them today or tomorrow. REUTERS
RESPIRATORY VIRUS
A common respiratory virus known as RSV that mainly affects children is circulating fast, especially in the South -- an uncommon occurrence for the summer months. The most likely reason is that, like the flu, RSV was virtually nonexistent last year and is making an early resurgence now that people are moving around more and no longer wearing masks. The symptoms are similar to a bad cold or flu, and the CDC recommends that people with those symptoms who test negative for COVID also get an RSV test. INSIDER
JUNETEENTH HOLIDAY
Congress has approved a bill to make Juneteenth, June 19, a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery. The House voted 415-14 to pass the measure, following its passage in the Senate. President Biden is expected to sign the bill into law, creating the first new federal holiday since MLK Day in 1983. This Saturday will mark 156 years since the last slaves were freed in Texas. ABC NEWS
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
The Federal Reserve says it now expects to raise interest rates in 2023 rather than in 2024, acknowledging that the economy is recovering more quickly than the central bank predicted just a few months ago and that rising inflation threatens to slow that recovery down. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the economy isn’t “out of the woods at this point” but that the labor market is looking strong. He also admitted that inflation is rising faster than the Fed expected. The forecast now calls for 3.4% inflation in 2021, up from the prior estimate of 2.4%.CHEDDAR
FACEBOOK FOR PODS
Podcasts are coming to Facebook starting next week. The company has been telling creators it plans to launch its podcast platform on June 22, giving users a new option to listen to their favorite shows. Something unique about Facebook’s service: listeners will eventually be able to cut clips of an episode to share, similar to how Twitch lets users share clips from their streams. THE VERGE
INJURED NBA
This is the best time of the year if you’re an NBA fan, but the playoffs are a bit of a mess at the moment. Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard sat out last night’s win with a knee injury and could be done for the rest of the postseason. That followed the news that Chris Paul of the Suns was out indefinitely after testing positive for COVID, putting Phoenix at a disadvantage heading into the Western Conference Finals. In the East, the Nets have an injured Kyrie Irving and a recovering James Harden, while the Sixers’ Joel Embiid has been playing through a meniscus tear. LeBron James has expressed many fans’ frustration with the level of injuries, blaming the league for rushing to start the season so soon after last year’s bubble. B/R
DISNEY RELEASE SCHEDULE
Disney+ will shift its strategy and start releasing original series on the platform on Wednesdays, rather than Fridays. Original movies, like the upcoming Luca from Pixar, will still drop on Fridays. The change comes after Marvel’s Loki became the streamer’s most watched premiere after it debuted last Wednesday. THR
SPOTTED...
...Kanye West, wearing a full ski mask amid the heat wave in Los Angeles: SEE PIC
...three Chinese astronauts, docking at China’s brand new space station and completing China’s first crewed space launch in five years: WATCH THE LAUNCH
… a brand new litter of gray wolf pups, seen by Colorado wildlife officials. It’s the state’s first litter of the endangered species in 80 years. USA TODAY
LEFTOVERS: BOTTLEGATE
The sponsors of the Euro 2020 soccer tournament are getting more -- or technically less -- than they bargained for. Manchester United’s Paul Pogba removed a strategically placed bottle of non-alcoholic Heineken beer from his post-match press conference, copying a move from the sport’s biggest star, Cristiano Ronaldo, who swapped two bottles of Coke for a bottle of water the day earlier. Shares of Coca-Cola fell 1.6% after that clip went viral, wiping $4 billion off Coke’s market cap. Italian star Manuel Locatelli also moved the Coke bottles from his presser. BLOOMBERG
Listen to the N2K Podcast! Looking for more context and analysis on the big stories of the day? Check out our podcast! Hosts Jill and Carlo break down the headlines, every weekday morning Listen on Apple or Spotify, or watch on YouTube, and send us your feedback!
