Bedugul Coffee: March 2021

Today's top stories

Biden's plan to reshape the U.S. economy, Russian spying accusations in Italy, and a Volkswagen marketing stunt backfires

President Joe Biden will today call for a dramatic and more permanent shift in the direction of the U.S. economy with a roughly $2 trillion package to invest in traditional projects like roads and bridges alongside tackling climate change and boosting human services like elder care.

Maritza Hernández arrived at a remote Guatemalan village exhausted, with two young kids in tow and more than a thousand miles left to travel. "I heard news they are letting children in," said Hernández. As Biden tells migrants to stay put, Central Americans are hearing a different message.

The rapid rise in different parts of the world of deadly, more infectious coronavirus variants that share new mutations is leading scientists to ask a critical question - has the SARS-CoV-2 virus shown its best cards?

Meanwhile, a U.S. study shows a critical component of the immune system known as T cells that respond to fight infection from the original version of the virus appear to also protect against three of the most concerning new variants.

Take a look at our vaccination tracker for the latest on the global battle against the pandemic.

↑ Construction workers are pictured on the northeast cables of the George Washington Bridge, which is undergoing a multi-year reconstruction, in New York City, March 30, 2021

WORLD

↑ Chinese vessels, believed to be manned by Chinese maritime militia personnel, are seen at Whitsun Reef, South China Sea on March 27, 2021

Hundreds of Chinese vessels believed to be manned by militias in the South China Sea have spread to a wider area, the Philippines says, defying its demand for the flotilla to be withdrawn immediately.

Italy has expelled two Russian diplomats after police said they had arrested an Italian navy captain caught passing documents to a Russian official in return for money at a clandestine meeting. The incident is the latest in a series of recent spying accusations against Russians in European countries.

Rarely does Singapore use strident language or take on a visibly active role in foreign policy as it has over the increasing bloodshed in Myanmar. We look at how this quiet city state is turning up the volume.

Britain is a country that should be seen as a “model for other white-majority countries”, a review into inequality will say today, but it is not a post-racial society and “overt and outright racism persists”.

Business

Shares in Deliveroo plunged by as much as 30% in their trading debut, slicing more than 2 billion pounds off the company’s valuation in a blow to the food delivery group and the London market for initial public offerings

While banks including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank were able to exit their trades with Archegos Capital relatively unscathed, Credit Suisse and Nomura have been burned in the fire sale. We explain why.

China is considering establishing a stock exchange to attract overseas-listed firms and bolster the global status of its onshore share markets, two people with knowledge of the matter have told Reuters.

Volkswagen has come under fire after issuing a false news release claiming it would rename its U.S. operations as 'Voltswagen of America' in a marketing stunt. The renaming was designed to be "in the spirit of April Fool's Day", the company said.