Strength in numbers

Follow Us Get the newsletter An exclusive peek at the draft communique from Group of Seven leaders shows the geopolitical fault lines they will chew over when they meet starting tomorrow on the Cornish coast in southern England. There's a narrative of better collaboration (and vaccine sharing) to control Covid-19, and to expedite the fight against climate change, but also to tackle some trickier points together. The G-7 leaders (a group that includes Japan and Germany, who tend to be cautious about being seen as part of any anti-China bloc) are set to join the European Union and U.S. in pushing for a fresh World Health Organization probe into the origins of the virus. That revives the chatter about how open and honest China was about the start of the outbreak, and will annoy Beijing. The draft statement also urges China to better respect human rights. A specific mention of Xinjiang, the region where it has been accused of abuses against Muslim Uyghurs, is still being debated. As Alberto Nardelli reports, a pledge in the document to tackle forced labor in global supply chains does not mention China by name, but is a clear reference to it. On Russia, leaders are set to call for "stable and predictable relations" but also for it to stop its "destabilising behaviour and malign activities." After recent ransomware attacks on the U.S. were traced to groups potentially operating inside Russia, the communique includes a call for Moscow to crack down on such outfits. The language throughout shows G-7 countries are keen to re-plant a global flag in the face of the rise of China and the meddling of Russia — to present a united front after the Trump era. Whether it changes the behavior of either state, though, is another question entirely. — Rosalind Mathieson An honor guard prepares for U.S. President Joe Biden's arrival in Newquay, U.K., yesterday for the G-7 summit. Photographer: Neil Hall/EPA/Bloomberg Follow our rolling coverage of the G-7 summit here and tell us how we're doing or what we're missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net. Global Headlines Walking the talk | German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for her final G-7 meeting as part of a heavyweight European contingent that is emerging from the pandemic unusually united and determined to carve out a bigger global role on a par with its U.S. ally, Arne Delfs, Alberto Nardelli and Ania Nussbaum report. The EU warned it could impose tariffs and quotas on the U.K. in an escalating Brexit dispute over trade with Northern Ireland after talks ended without a breakthrough. 'Pink tide' | The apparent electoral win of Marxist candidate Pedro Castillo in Peru signals a potential far-reaching shift in a region ravaged by Covid-19 and filled with fury at elites, Ethan Bronner writes. With leftists running Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, and Bolivia, more candidates are poised for victory in Chile, Colombia and Brazil in the next 16 months in what could resemble the "pink tide" kicked off by Venezuela's 1998 election of Hugo Chávez. Peruvian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori reiterated her allegation of irregularities in Sunday's election as she narrowly trails Castillo with the vote count nearing its end. Turning the screw | Russia banned organizations set up by jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny as "extremist," the latest step in a widening crackdown that drew protests from the U.S. and Britain. A Moscow court ruling criminalized membership in the groups — a decision U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called "another Kafkaesque attack on those standing up against corruption and for open societies." The U.S. and the EU plan to launch a framework next week to harmonize policy on Russia. The U.S. will remain the global hot spot for the super-rich in the near future even as the number of ultra-wealthy individuals in China and India surge, according to Boston Consulting Group research published today. Meanwhile, the world's wealthiest face a tax squeeze at the G-7 summit. Airport security | Turkey wants NATO allies to share the financial and security burden of having its troops safeguard the Kabul airport in Afghanistan, a critical issue for the U.S. as it seeks to maintain a diplomatic presence in the city. It's expected to be high on the agenda when Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meet in Brussels on Monday on the sidelines of the NATO summit, as the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan continues. Grip tightens | Mongolia's ruling party cemented its hold on the resource-rich nation after Khurelsukh Ukhnaa won the presidential election. He led the Mongolian People's Party to a landslide victory last year, only to resign as prime minister after a dispute with President Battulga Khaltmaa. The MPP, which is seeking more tax revenue from Rio Tinto Group's Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine, blocked Battulga from seeking a new term. Sponsored Content These cards feature $200 bonus offers and up to 3% cash back. PLUS no annual fee and no interest for 15 months. A long-time credit card writer says these are some of the best deals he's seen in his years of writing for top financial websites. Wise Bread What to Watch Myanmar's military junta formally charged Aung San Suu Kyi and other officials with corruption, one of the most serious of the seven cases against her since she was arrested during the February coup. The top Chinese and U.S. commerce officials agreed to push forward trade and investment links as the two nations slowly resume official contact after the Biden administration took office. Abu Dhabi will limit entry to public venues to people who have a "green pass" indicating their vaccination status as coronavirus cases start to increase in the United Arab Emirates. And finally ... The princess who's Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the U.S. visited the Wyoming Supreme Court last spring to talk about women's rights with the tribunal's three female jurists. It was just one of Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud's many ambassadorial trips to the American heartland, Ilya Banares reports, and underscores how Saudi Arabia is seeking to rehabilitate its image after the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and Riyadh's involvement in the war in Yemen. Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud. 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