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The G-7 plot to end the pandemic

June 11, 2021

Greetings, QuickTake readers! This week, G-7 leaders prepare a push to end the pandemic through a global vaccine surge. Plus: The 16-year quest to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline has ended. Stream now for free.

G-7 leaders plot to end the pandemic

The Group of Seven is converging on the U.K., poised to offer up a plan to end the Covid pandemic by December 2022. Leaders at this year's summit beginning Friday in Cornwall, England, will pledge at least 1 billion extra vaccine doses over the next year to cover 80% of the world's population.

The plan could be worth tens of billions of dollars, according to the IMF, which has called for a $50-billion spending plan to close the gap in access among developing nations that threatens to derail the global rebound.

On Thursday, President Joe Biden, already in Cornwall on the first foreign trip of his presidency, said the U.S. will contribute 500 million doses of Pfizer's vaccine in August. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the U.K. will give at least 100 million doses in the coming weeks.

Biden said he believed the G-7 commitment would "supercharge" the global vaccine drive, adding the doses "don't include pressure for favors or potential concessions."

"We're doing this to save lives, to end this pandemic," he said, "that's it."

What to watch if

...you're in the mood for a real-life spy thriller. The FBI duped criminals into using an encrypted app in a global sting that exposed plots to smuggle drugs, sell weapons and launder money, ending in over 800 arrests.

...you're glued to celebrity climate activists. The developer of the Keystone XL oil pipeline pulled the plug on the project that helped galvanize modern climate activism and was blocked by Biden in January.

...a $12,000 watch piques your interest. Kim Jong Un looked slimmer recently after a lengthy absence, and the North Korean leader's Swiss timepiece may give the surest clue he's been watching his weight. 

Episodes to binge watch now

One question, answered

How dangerous is the Delta variant? The strain that drove India's Covid crisis is the most infectious to emerge so far and has been linked to blood clots, gastric upsets and hearing loss. It is now in more than 60 countries, including the U.S. and U.K. The good news: Vaccines offer protection.

We want to know

Do you have an emergency fund? More than 40 million Americans are due to start making monthly student loan payments again on Oct. 1, when the pandemic freeze runs out. With no moves toward the loan forgiveness Biden campaigned on, experts say there are still ways to ease the burden.

Our favorites of the week

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