Need to know: Here are the top 3 national and international news from June 15, 2021.
1. Biden Arrives in Geneva for meeting with Putin
On Tuesday, President Biden arrived in Geneva ahead of his and Putin’s highly anticipated meeting on Wednesday.
The two leaders are expected to meet at 1 p.m. CET, and 7 a.m. ET tomorrow at Swiss Villa. President Putin is expected to arrive at the summit first. Biden and Putin are expected to hold two meetings, along with Biden and Putin, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be in attendance for the first meeting Wednesday.
According to White House officials, the meetings between the two could last up to four or five hours. A big topic for discussion between the two tomorrow will be ransomware in the wake of recent cyberattacks on the U.S.
When Biden arrived in Geneva, he met with Swiss President Guy Parmelin, where the two posed for a photo op for the press. During the photo op, Biden was asked if he was ready for tomorrow by a reporter, where he responded, “I’m always ready.”
President Biden is expected to hold a press conference tomorrow after the meeting.
2. Ocean City Police Under Fire
New videos show Ocean City, Maryland police officers using force on black teens for vaping on a beach boardwalk over the weekend.
One video shows a police officer kneeing a 19-year-old after the teen asked why he was being arrested. The teen can be heard saying, “I’m not resisting” in response to officers telling him not to resist. In another video, a teen is seen falling to the ground after police tased him.
The arrest came after police approached a “large group” of people vaping, notifying them of the vaping and smoking ban in that specific area. Ocean City Police arrested four people.
As the officers come under fire, Ocean City Police Department stated, “Our officers are permitted to use force, per training to overcome exhibited resistance.”
These videos come after the ongoing discussion of the police force on African Americans. Earlier this year, Maryland lawmakers passed a police reform package into law.
Senator Will Smith wrote on Twitter, “This is an outrageous exhibition of excessive and abusive force. Innumerable problems with the way the @OCPDMDInfo handled this situation. All involved must be held to account.”
3. Covid Restrictions Lifted and Vaccinations
On Tuesday, the United States reached over 600,000 Covid-19 deaths. Health officials urge Americans who are eligible to get vaccinated. So far, a total of 43% of the population is fully vaccinated, and 54% of the population has received at least one dose. However, this still does not reach Biden’s goal of 70% of the population with at least one dose by the July 4 holiday in the coming weeks.
On Tuesday, Governor Cuomo lifted Covid restrictions due to the state of New York officially reaching Biden’s goal of 70% of its population with its first dose of the vaccine. Along with New York, California also lifted Covid restrictions Tuesday in hopes of reopening the state.
Despite these reopenings, the Center for Disease Control warns of the new Delta is a “variant of concern.” The CDC announced Tuesday that the Delta variant makes up almost 10% of new cases here in the U.S.
The urge to get more Americans vaccinated is on in the wake of this concerning new data.