Wednesday morning news - May 26, 2021

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

Biden, Putin to meet face to face next month » President Biden and Russia's Vladimir Putin have agreed to meet next month, face to face, in Geneva.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki explained that the president will meet with allies and adversaries alike.

PSAKI: It’s actually important to meet with leaders when we have a range of disagreements, as we do with Russian leader. So we don’t regard the meeting with the Russian president as a reward. We regard it as a vital part of defending America’s interests.

The White House hopes the in-person meeting will help bring some predictability to a dicey relationship that's only worsened in the first months of the Biden administration.

President Biden is expected to raise concerns over matters like Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine.They’ll also likely discuss issues like the continued global response to the pandemic and this week’s forced diversion of a Lithuania-bound flight by Russia-ally Belarus.

The June 16th summit will come at the end of Biden's first international trip as president. He'll also visit Britain for a meeting of G-7 world leaders and attend a NATO summit in Brussels.

U.S. to reopen Jerusalem consulate, upgrading Palestinian ties » The United States will reopen its consulate in Jerusalem. The move will restore ties with Palestinians. The consulate long served as an autonomous office in charge of diplomatic relations with the Palestinians. But former President Donald Trump downgraded its operations when he moved the embassy to Jerusalem.

Secretary of State Tony Blinken announced the move Tuesday as he met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank.

BLINKEN: It’s, I think, important to have that platform to be able to more effectively engage not just the Palestinian authority, but Palestinians from different walks of life, the NGO community, the business community, and others.

Blinken did not give a precise date for reopening the consulate.

He’s in the region to help shore up the cease-fire adopted last week that ended a devastating 11-day war between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers.

The secretary promised to “rally international support” to help Gaza in the wake of the war. He later announced nearly $40 million in aid to the Palestinians, including $5.5 million in emergency assistance for Gaza.

Blinken underscores Biden admin. Commitment to reviving Iran deal » Also on Tuesday, Secretary Blinken said the administration is still committed to reviving the Iran nuclear deal.

Blinken noted that Iran has enriched uranium faster since the U.S. pullout from the deal under President Trump.

BLINKEN: I think that only underscores the importance, and indeed urgency, in seeing if we can get Iran back into compliance with the agreement.

Critics of Iran nuclear deal say rejoining it would only give Iran more cash to fund terrorism and would not stop the country from developing nuclear weapons.

World powers just opened a fifth round of talks with Iran aimed at bringing the United States back into the agreement.

Washington is not directly involved in the talks, but an American delegation headed by U.S. envoy for Iran, Rob Malley, has been in the Austrian capital. Representatives from the other powers are facilitating indirect talks.

Moderna says its COVID-19 shot works in kids as young as 12 » Moderna said Tuesday its COVID-19 vaccine strongly protects kids as young as 12. That could mean that adolescents will have a second vaccine option in the near future. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: Earlier this month, U.S. and Canadian health officials authorized the Pfizer vaccine for children aged 12 and up.

And Moderna appears to be next in line, saying it will submit its teen data to the FDA next month.

The company studied more than 3,700 kids, aged 12 to 17. Early findings suggest the vaccine triggers the same signs of immune protection in kids as it does in adults and the same kind of temporary side effects such as sore arms, headache and fatigue.

The company said the vaccine appeared 93 percent effective two weeks after the first dose.

Both Pfizer and Moderna have begun testing in even younger children, from age 11 down to 6-month-old babies. This testing is more complex: Teens receive the same dose as adults, but researchers are testing smaller doses in younger children. Experts hope to see some results in the fall.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Mali raises fears of another coup » Soldiers in Mali arrested the West African country's transitional president and prime minister on Monday, raising fears of another military coup.

In a joint statement, the African Union and the United Nations called for the release of President Bah N’Daw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane.

The arrests came about an hour after the government announced a new Cabinet that excluded two members of the junta that took power in August.

Nine months ago, the military overthrew former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, and faced global pressure to hand power over to a civilian government. A month later, Moctar Ouane and Bah N’Daw assumed office.

The country is scheduled to hold new elections next February.

I’m Kent Covington, and for more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org.

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