Newsletter Jun 17, 2021

President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin put a positive spin on their meeting, but it's too soon to tell if it leads to better relations.

3 Things

'Putin' Russia on notice: President Joe Biden and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met face to face in Geneva, Switzerland on Wednesday, and the two leaders reached at least one form of agreement -- that the talks in Geneva, Switzerland were worthwhile.
Biden called the talks "good" and "positive" while Putin said they were "extremely constructive." But despite the rosy consensus, foreign policy experts say the proof is in the Putin. Inevitably, the meeting will be judged by how well it translates into the action.
Biden took a hard stand against recent cyberattacks that intel officials say were at the very least harbored by Russia. Putin has dismissed the charges, but if the hacking continues the U.S. will know that he either can't or won't stop the attacks.Either way, the U.S. and its European allies are sure to impose more sanctions.
Cyber security was one of a half dozen issues the two spoke about for about four hours, including human rights and conflicting territorial interests in the Arctic and the Middle East. The two held separate press conferences to avoid any potential deal-breaking statements.
SEE THE RED LINE BIDEN DREW ABOUT CYBERATTACKS

Kim Jong Un-plugged: It's rare to hear truth from North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, so when he warned citizens of food shortages and extended COVID-19 restrictions, you know things are bad. Even
Kim addressed the closed communist society's struggling economy, issuing a rare and "tense" warning of a possible food shortage in a nation that has been dealing with them for years. But the impact of the pandemic has left North Korea in even worse shape than before.
Closed borders have prevented major trade with China, North Korea's closest ally, and devastating floods have left recent crop yields in shambles. The issues could mean food shortages of over 1 million tons this year under the repressive authoritarian leader.
Unfortunately for the North Korean people, you can't eat a rocket.
SEE WHAT KIM SAID ABOUT THE DIRE STATE OF THE DPRK

De-ceasefired: For those who thought the fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians wouldn't last through the end of the month, you were half-right. It only took until mid-June before hostilities erupted, sending the embattled region back into turmoil.
In response to Palestinian militants sending incendiary balloons into Israeli-claimed territory along its southern border, Israel carried out strikes on Gaza on Wednesday in the first flare-up since a major conflict killed hundreds before a ceasefire agreement was struck.
Further complicating matters is the timing of the new Israeli government, a loose coalition that replaced longtime hardliner Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week. The conflict is sure to be an early test for the new government's ability to deal with the crisis.
SEE THE NEW ISRAELI GOVERNMENT'S PLAN FOR PEACE

Markets

DJIA	34,033.67	-0.77%
S&P 500	4,223.70	-0.54%
Nasdaq Composite	14,039.68	-0.24%
Japan: Nikkei 225	28,906.75	-1.31%
UK: FTSE 100	7,184.95	0.17%
Crude Oil Futures	71.65	-0.69%
Gold Futures	1,824.50	-1.98%
Yen	110.67	-0.04%
Euro	1.20	0.07%
* As of market close

Legal shoplifting

The next time you go to the grocery store you may be able to walk out the door without checking out. Wait, we're not taking about shoplifting. You still have to pay but at least you won't have to use the long checkout lines.

Amazon is introducing a new Just Walk Out cashier-less checkout system at major grocery chains -- not the self-checkout lines that have become so popular during the pandemic. Instead, Amazon uses technology to track items taken from shelves and charge you for them as you exit the store.

Amazon opened a 10,400 square foot Amazon Go Grocery store in Seattle in 2020, featuring the Just Walk Out technology for the first time. Now Amazon has a massive expansion project planned that soon could be bringing the trouble-free shopping experience to a city near you.

For the curious, the system uses cameras, sensors and artificial intelligence to identify customers and their wares. Customers are assigned a QP code upon entering the store and computers do the rest.

FIND OUT WHERE THE NEXT AMAZON GO STORES ARE OPENING

European vacation?

Don't write off that dream European vacation just yet. The U.S. has been added to the list of countries approved for travel to the EU's 27 member nations. The ruling is expected to go into effect by the end of the week.

While each EU member state will be allowed to set their own standards for entry by international visitors, the broader barrier of permitting Americans to return to Europe is a major milestone in the battle against COVID-19. U.S. travelers have been banned from visiting the continent since the start of the pandemic over a year ago, leaving Americans stuck at home and putting a sizeable dent in Europe's tourism economy.

Along with the U.S., seven other nations saw their EU travel bans lifted -- Albania, North Macedonia, Serbia, Lebanon, Taiwan, Macau, and Hong Kong, were also added to the safe travel list. The U.K., which recently went through a bitter Brexit split with the EU, remains on the banned travel list due to the the explosion of the delta variant in Great Britain.

FIND OUT WHERE VACCINATED AMERICANS ARE ALLOWED TO GO

Ship of fools

And finally, here's another installment from the "no-duh" department: Cruise ships may be the worst places in the world for avoiding COVID.

Just ask Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, which was forced to postpone its inaugural post-pandemic sailing three weeks before shoving off. Before the ship could even make it out of port, the trip had to be postponed after eight crew members tested positive for the virus despite being vaccinated.

Billed as a voyage back to normal, the series of one-week cruises were designed with preventing a super-spreader event in mind. All passengers and crew members were required to be fully vaccinated, and regular testing was meant to catch and isolate any breakthrough cases before they got out of control. Instead, Royal Caribbean plans to go back to the drawing board with more practice cruises and possibly stricter regulations.

Cruise ships have always been floating petri dishes for various diseases, but the industry may have met its match against the pesky coronavirus.

SEE WHAT CRUISE LINES ARE DOING TO SHORE UP PROTOCOLS