| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Tuesday, November 16, 2021 by Farouq Suleiman | Hello Here's what you need to know. Biden tells Xi they must ensure relations do not veer into open conflict, jury in Rittenhouse trial hears final arguments and France warns Russia as EU prepares sanctions on Belarus. | | | | | Today's biggest stories  A screen shows Chinese President Xi Jinping attending a virtual meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden via video link, at a restaurant in Beijing, China, November 16, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang Biden-Xi talks Chinese President Xi Jinping greeted U.S. President Joe Biden as 'old friend' at the start of their first video meeting. Biden and Xi stressed their responsibility to the world to avoid conflict as the heads of the two top global economies gathered for virtual talks.
Xi told Biden the two countries face multiple challenges together and must increase communication and cooperation. Joe Biden pressed his Chinese counterpart on Beijing's human rights practices in an over three-hour call while Xi Jinping warned that China would respond to provocations on Taiwan.
A senior U.S. official said the talks, went on longer than expected and there was nothing from the respective readouts to immediately suggest that either side had softened increasingly entrenched positions that have brought relations between the two countries to a historically volatile point.
Here are some of the opening remarks from Joe Biden and Xi Jinping during a virtual meeting between the two leaders.
|  Kyle Rittenhouse listens as the attorneys and the judge talk about jury instructions at the Kenosha County Courthouse in Wisconsin, U.S., November 15, 2021. Sean Krajacic/Pool via REUTERS U.S Prosecutors and defense counsel in the Wisconsin murder trial of Kyle Rittenhouse presented conflicting pictures of the defendant: an armed vigilante who provoked a series of violent encounters and a teenager who just wanted to help the community.
In his summation, Rittenhouse's defense attorney told jurors his client was attacked by rioters and acted in self-defense because he feared for his life. Here are some key quotes and moments.
Joe Biden signed into law a $1 trillion infrastructure bill at a White House ceremony that drew Democrats and Republicans who pushed the legislation through a deeply divided Congress.
Steve Bannon sought to portray the criminal charges over his defiance of a congressional inquiry into the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot as politically motivated, lashing out at President Biden and others.
Republicans in the House of Representatives introduced legislation that would decriminalize marijuana at the federal level and eliminate legal hazards facing many cannabis-related businesses while regulating its use like alcohol.
WORLD
France told Russia NATO would be prepared to defend the sovereignty of Ukraine, while Western leaders sought to tackle a migrants crisis on the eastern borders of the European Union.
The Kabul passport office has been forced to suspend operations after equipment used for issuing biometric documents broke down under the pressure of processing thousands of applications a day, the head of the office said.
Myanmar's military authorities are adding new electoral fraud charges to ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her administration for abuse of power, according to a state media announcement.
British police have identified Emad Al Swealmeen, who was killed in the blast, as the suspect behind an explosion which engulfed a taxi in flames outside a hospital in Liverpool on Sunday, a blast the authorities have declared a terrorist incident.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son of late Philippines strongman Ferdinand Marcos, has emerged as the person to beat in the 2022 presidential race, after President Rodrigo Duterte's popular daughter decided not to contest the country's top job. |  SpaceX founder and Tesla CEO Elon Musk looks on as he visits the construction site of Tesla's gigafactory near Berlin, Germany, May 17, 2021. REUTERS/Michele Tantussi BUSINESS Tesla CEO Elon Musk sold $930 million in shares to meet tax withholding obligations related to the exercise of stock options, U.S. securities filings showed. Fund manager Michael Burry of "The Big Short" fame exited bearish bets on Tesla, Google and fund manager Cathie Wood's ARK Innovation fund last quarter, according to SEC filings.
JPMorgan Chase sued Tesla for $162.2 million, accusing the electric car company of "flagrantly" breaching a contract related to stock warrants after its share price soared.
Exxon Mobil launched a sale of its oil and gas properties in the first major U.S. shale field, a spokesperson confirmed, as part of a portfolio reshuffling to focus on more lucrative assets.
A pandemic-driven boom in air cargo is providing an auspicious backdrop for Airbus and Boeing to launch new large freighters, but longer-term trends - particularly the strength of the global economic rebound - will determine whether either succeeds.
Global aerospace firms sought at the Dubai Airshow to build on signs of a tentative recovery from a global pandemic that has shattered the industry's profits, while talking up efforts to address concerns over climate change.
Bitcoin went through a major upgrade that enables its blockchain to execute more complex transactions, potentially widening the virtual currency's use cases and making it a little more competitive with Ethereum for processing smart contracts. | | | | | | | | | Video of the day  Cuba protests fold under government pressure A rallying cry for protests in Cuba in favor of greater civil rights fell flat on Monday. | | | Thanks for spending part of your day with us. | | | | | |
