| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Friday, May 28, 2021 by Linda Noakes | Hello Here's what you need to know. A grim milestone in South Asia, Britain's battleship diplomacy, and Switzerland thinks the unthinkable | | | | | Today's biggest stories  U.S. President Joe Biden eats an ice-cream during a visit to Cleveland, Ohio, May 27, 2021. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein U.S. The White House will today lay out President Joe Biden's budget for trillions of dollars in spending on infrastructure, education and other initiatives, but the plan is unlikely to sway Republicans who want to tamp down U.S. government spending.
With coronavirus cases plummeting and 1.8 million U.S. residents getting vaccinated each day, more Americans plan this upcoming Memorial Day weekend to get back to old pleasures. They will also encounter something new and less pleasant: rising prices.
California will offer $116.5 million in cash and gift cards to residents who get COVID-19 vaccinations before June 15, the latest - and most lucrative - incentive by U.S. states desperate to persuade laggards and vaccine-skeptics to get the injection.
The Pennsylvania Parole Board has turned down comedian Bill Cosby's petition to be released from a 10-year prison sentence for aggravated indecent assault, citing his refusal to participate in a therapy program for sexually violent predators.
|  Supporters of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad celebrate before the results of the presidential election in Damascus, May 27, 2021. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki WORLD Syrian President Bashar al-Assad won a fourth term in office with 95.1% of the votes in an election that will extend his rule over a country ruined by war but which opponents and the West say was marked by fraud.
Coronavirus infections in the South Asia region have surpassed 30 million, according to a Reuters tally of official data, led by India which is struggling with a second COVID-19 wave and a vaccine shortage across the region. Meanwhile, Japan extended its state of emergency less than two months before the Olympics.
Germany apologized for its role in the slaughter of Herero and Nama tribespeople in Namibia more than a century ago and officially described the massacre as genocide for the first time, as it agreed to fund projects worth over a billion euros.
The maiden voyage of a new British aircraft carrier will seek to show allies that post-Brexit Britain is ready to defend Western interests and eager to see China respect international rules, the vessel's commander says.
| | | | | | | Video of the day  The most refined picnic ever? Rolls-Royce has unveiled a convertible car with a back deck that opens up to reveal cocktail tables, fridges for champagne and a parasol. | | | | And finally… Cicadas make their Olympic debut in miniature art scenes  The appearance of the insects known as Brood X along the eastern United States after a 17-year hiatus has inspired Virginia professional portrait photographer Oxana Ware to create small-scale art installations. | | | Thanks for spending part of your day with us. | | | | | |
