Crypto News: A win for quiet diplomacy

It was a muted Joe Biden who showed up in the Bavarian Alps to what was an oddly low-key Group of Seven meeting notable for its lack of memorable moments.

Whether that was by design or not is unclear. A US president is generally the star of the show, the man everyone wants to see with a packed schedule.

Key reading:

G-7 Leaders Just Made Success at COP27 Even Harder
From Scholz to Biden, a G-7 Scorecard of How Each Leader Got On
NATO Expansion Moves Ahead With Finland, Sweden Agreement
Following our coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine here

Instead the customary bilaterals were limited. He skipped dinner with an expanded group of leaders and left early for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Madrid.

Perhaps the most significant conversation he had wasn't one he had in person but over the phone with Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday, where he urged the Turkish president to seize the moment and stop blocking Sweden and Finland from joining the military alliance.

By the time Biden landed in Spain he'd been informed already that the two historically non-aligned nations, alarmed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, had hashed it out with Erdogan and reached agreement.

It's a tangible win for Biden and a blow for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has raged about NATO expansion.

Biden had been involved for months behind the scenes but not as lead negotiator. It was a deliberate strategy not to muddy the waters, according to a senior US official. On the surface, there was no quid pro quo.

When he and Erdogan sit down, the topic of military sales will come up. Ankara wants the Americans to sell it new F-16 fighter jets and says Washington is stalling.

Nothing will come of it today, but in coming months, that could well be a different story. — Flavia Krause-Jackson

The signing ceremony yesterday between Turkey, Finland and Sweden. Source: NATO

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New guests | For the first time, the leaders of Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand are attending the NATO summit, which is set to label China a "systemic challenge." The presence of four Asia-Pacific leaders will add to paranoia in Beijing that the US is seeking to set up a similar military alliance in the region to counter China, something Washington denies.

Eroding autonomy | As Chinese President Xi Jinping prepares to visit Hong Kong this week, Beijing's tightening grip on the former British colony is apparent in almost every aspect of policy making. Lacking the autonomy it once enjoyed to ease Covid-19 restrictions, Hong Kong's future as a financial center is in doubt as businesses shift workers to more accessible locations like Singapore.

Xi stressed that the Covid Zero policy remained China's most effective approach after the country halved the length of quarantine for inbound travelers.

Russia is receiving higher prices for its oil as large purchases from Asia undermine Western powers' efforts to curb revenues to Putin's war machine. The G-7 agreed yesterday to urgently evaluate how to limit the proceeds, but underlying demand — mostly from countries that would have to enforce measures such as a price cap — has held up.

Trump in focus | Vivid testimony by a former White House aide to the US congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection described former President Donald Trump as indifferent to the unfolding violence as rioters stormed the US Capitol. Cassidy Hutchinson said lawyers urged Trump to tone down the language in his speech to a rally because of legal concerns but ultimately he refused to do so.

The lawyer for Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, says there is "no sufficient basis" yet for her to testify to the committee about her alleged involvement in plans to overturn the 2020 election.

Hutchinson being sworn in at yesterday's hearing. Photographer: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

More trouble | Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is facing stiff competition from Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a leftist former president, in Latin America's most significant election this year. Yet, as Andrew Rosati and Simone Iglesias explain, an even bigger challenge may come from a Supreme Court judge who is leading an investigation into disinformation.

The Brazilian Amazon is home to 13 of the country's 30 most violent cities as drug trafficking is adding to environmental crimes that have traditionally plagued the region.

Falling short | The global agriculture sector won't meet a United Nations pledge to eradicate hunger by the end of the decade or achieve climate goals without a major overhaul, according to key agencies. Low-income nations struggle to afford better diets, while greenhouse-gas emissions from farming are seen continuing to rise on a business-as-usual path, the Food and Agriculture Organization said in a joint report with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

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Ecuador President Guillermo Lasso survived an impeachment vote after a hard-left opposition party failed to rally enough support in congress to oust him as his government made concessions to defuse the crisis.
President Emmanuel Macron faces his first test in France's parliament since losing his majority this month when the legislature's influential finance committee will pick a new chair, with far-right, far-left and center-right groups all set to be represented on it.
European Union countries endorsed a push to eliminate carbon emissions from new cars by 2035, effectively heralding the end of the era of the internal combustion engine.
Philippine news website Rappler is again facing the possibility of a shutdown, after the Securities and Exchange Commission stood by its decision to revoke the site's license to operate.

And finally ... The worst drought in 40 years is reversing decades of progress made in combating child marriage and female genital mutilation across swathes of Ethiopia, according to the UN Children's Fund. Impoverished families desperate for food are exchanging female children for dowries, with girls as young as 12 being forced to marry men five times their age.