| Good morning. More restrictions are lifting, a shift in the U.S. stance on Israel and a "Big Short" bet against Tesla. Here's what's moving markets. Lifting RestrictionsThe U.K. government continues to urge caution after Covid-19 restrictions were eased following data showing a rising number of cases of the Indian variant of the virus. That leaves the country rushing to vaccinate to keep to its reopening schedule. Meanwhile, Italy is planning to phase out its curfew rules as it bows to calls to reopen in order to boost the economy, while New York will lift its mask mandate for fully-vaccinated people as the number of people in the state to have got the shot nears 50%. U.S. President Joe Biden also intends to send another 20 million doses of U.S. vaccines abroad by the end of June. 'Quiet' DiplomacyPresident Biden has shifted the administration's stance on the conflict between Israel and Hamas, telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he would support a cease-fire following days of criticism for stopping short of this, and after the White House defended its policy of "quiet" diplomacy. Netanyahu said on Monday he doesn't intend to let up and is thus far sticking to it, with Israeli forces intensifying attacks on high-ranking militant commanders in the Gaza Strip. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also stepped in, criticizing what he described as Biden's support for Israel's military campaign and risking a further deterioration in ties on that front. Tesla ShortMichael Burry, an investor who rose to fame as part of "The Big Short" set who made billions making bets against mortgage securities in the financial crisis, has taken a sizable short position in Tesla. Burry's bet, through his Scion Asset Management fund, isn't the first he's made against the electric-vehicle maker, but comes during an already-busy week for Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk in which his tweets about Bitcoin drove a drop in the cryptocurrency's value and undermined Wall Street's case for the token. Shares in Tesla are down around 35% from its January peak, a decline which has pushed Musk down the ranking of the world's richest people to third. Media MergerU.S. telecommunications giant AT&T agreed to a $130 billion deal to combine its WarnerMedia assets, including CNN and HBO, with the reality-TV empire of Discovery. The deal creates a significant new competitor to the likes of Netflix and Walt Disney — and it's a retreat from AT&T's ambition to create a vertically integrated telecom and media business. The merger focuses attention on the shape of the global telecoms and media industry, as will reports that Amazon may be eyeing James Bond movie studio MGM. The AT&T-Discovery deal also means the $2 trillion milestone for global M&A is set to be surpassed in record time this year. And it all started with a text about golf and the codename "Columbus." Coming Up…European and U.S. stock-futures are trending higher, with Asian stocks also rising as investors weigh up the speed of economies reopening against a pickup in virus cases. It's a busy day for economic data, with GDP prints from the euro zone as well as U.K. job data. In earnings, telecoms group Vodafone, tobacco firm Imperial Brands and office landlord Land Securities report in Europe, while in the U.S. it's the turn of retailers Walmart, Macy's and Home Depot. Iron ore and copper prices are up for a second day amid ongoing supply worries and demand optimism. What We've Been ReadingThis is what's caught our eye over the past 24 hours. And finally, here's what Cormac Mullen is interested in this morningImproving sentiment toward the European economy as vaccinations accelerate is boosting global stocks with the greatest ties to the region. Goldman Sachs baskets of U.S. and Asia Pacific ex-Japan stocks with the highest sales exposure to Europe have beaten local benchmarks by about 10% so far this year, while a Japanese equivalent has outperformed by about 5%. Investors are warming to the reopening of European economies, an increase in the pace of vaccinations and the soon-to-take-off multi-year joint stimulus fund. Even though the region's economy just slipped into a double-dip recession, economists see it bouncing back, with growth possibly even outpacing that seen in the U.S. Ironically, the European-exposure trend doesn't seem to hold for local investors -- a basket of the most domestically-exposed stocks is modestly underperforming the regional benchmark. That's likely down to the type of company involved -- by definition the international firms with European sales are exporters, and have also benefited from investor demand for cyclical shares.  Cormac Mullen is a cross-asset reporter and editor for Bloomberg News in Tokyo. Like Bloomberg's Five Things? Subscribe for unlimited access to trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and gain expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. | 
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