| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Friday, October 22, 2021 by Farouq Suleiman | Hello Here's what you need to know. Biden backs down on corporate tax hikes, Australia's Melbourne reopens as pandemic restrictions ease and U.S. SEC takes aim at executive pay. | | | | | Today's biggest stories  President Joe Biden speaks during a town hall about his infrastructure investment proposals with CNN's Anderson Cooper at the Baltimore Center Stage Pearlstone Theater in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. October 21, 2021. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst U.S. President Joe Biden backed away from pledged tax increases to fund planned infrastructure and social spending, and also said he was open to reforming Senate voting rights by "fundamentally altering" its filibuster custom.
Steve Bannon could face criminal prosecution for refusing to cooperate with a probe into the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol after the House of Representatives voted Thursday to hold him in contempt of Congress.
Brawling factions of the Democratic Party worked feverishly toward agreement on a huge U.S. social spending bill, even as Senator Joe Manchin said there would not be a deal "anytime soon" on broad outlines of legislation that is a pillar of President Joe Biden's agenda.
Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer and wounded a director when he discharged a prop gun on a movie set in New Mexico, authorities said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled a plan to ban new permitting of oil wells within 3,200 feet of communities, calling it a move that will both protect public health and further the state's goals to combat climate change.
A Haitian man identifying himself as the leader of the gang that kidnapped a group of American and Canadian missionaries said in a video posted on YouTube that he was willing to kill "these Americans" if he does not get what he needs. |  A barber cuts a man's hair on the first day of eased coronavirus regulations, following a lockdown to curb an outbreak, in Melbourne, Australia, October 22, 2021. REUTERS/Sandra Sanders WORLD Melbourne residents flocked to the city's pubs, restaurants and hair salons in the early hours of Friday after the world's most locked-down city emerged from its latest spate of restrictions designed to combat the spread of COVID-19.
The Pfizer /BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine showed 90.7% efficacy against the coronavirus in a clinical trial of children 5 to 11 years old, the U.S. drugmaker said.
White House officials are gearing up for a virtual meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping they hope will show the world Washington can responsibly manage relations between the rival superpowers, people familiar with the matter say.
Sixteen people were killed in an explosion and fire at a gunpowder and chemicals plant in Russia's western Ryazan province, Russian state TV said, and one man was taken to hospital with serious burns.
The carbon-intensive production of plastics is on pace to emit more greenhouse gases than coal-fired power plants within this decade, undercutting global efforts to tackle climate change, a report said.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth, 95, will spend Friday resting and undertaking light duties after she spent a night in hospital for the first time in years for what Buckingham Palace termed "preliminary investigations". |  Pedestrians cast shadows as they walk on a street in Tokyo August 3, 2009. REUTERS/Stringer BUSINESS The new Democratic leadership of the U.S. securities watchdog has a message for Corporate America's highly paid executives: if your company screws up, your pay is at risk. Clawing back compensation is shaping up to be a key part of the SEC's agenda as it cracks down on corporate misconduct.
Unless China Evergrande takes quick steps for an orderly restructuring of its debt pile and steps up asset sales, its last-minute bond interest payment this week will do little to shore up creditors' support for the developer, analysts and lawyers said.
Apple's talks with China's CATL and BYD over battery supplies for its planned electric vehicle have been mostly stalled after they refused to set up teams and build U.S. plants that would solely cater to the tech giant, three people with knowledge of the discussions said.
Only 10 major European banks may need to raise capital as a result of the rollout of new global rules and their shortfall could be smaller than $31.43 billion, according to draft European Union regulation seen by Reuters. | | | | | | | | | Video of the day  U.S. CDC clears Moderna, J&J COVID-19 boosters The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna Inc and Johnson & Johnson, and said Americans can choose a different shot from their original inoculation as a booster. | | | Thanks for spending part of your day with us. | | | | | |
