In Israel, Biden is emphasizing “integration.” Israeli officials have encouraged the president’s meeting with Saudi Arabia. It may already be yielding deals — an agreement to open Saudi airspace to commercial flights from Israel, a move that airlines have reportedly been lobbying for, is in the works and could be announced this week. But neither nation is the primary motivation for this tour. “We have to counter Russia’s aggression, put ourselves in the best possible position to outcompete China, and work for greater stability in a consequential region of the world,” Biden wrote. “To do these things, we have to engage directly with countries that can impact those outcomes. Saudi Arabia is one of them.”
HERE’S WHAT’S HAPPENING
Investors increasingly expect the Fed to raise rates by a full percentage point this month. After the sharp rise in consumer prices in June, the Fed is likely to continue increasing interest rates quickly, even if doing so risks tipping the economy into a recession. Inflation is likely to fall in July because of lower gas prices.
The crypto lender Celsius files for bankruptcy. The move comes a month after it froze withdrawals, raising the prospect that more than a million account holders will not be able to get their money back. An outflow of money from crypto investments has shaken the foundations of crypto banks and start-ups.
Higher fares and recession worries are not curbing the pent-up demand for air travel. Delta’s C.E.O., Ed Bastian, said yesterday that while demand was strong, the airline would limit its capacity, seeking to avoid cancellations and delays. Delta reported a profit of $735 million in the second quarter and said it expected steady demand into the winter.
President Biden’s Visit to the Middle East
The U.S. president is on a four-day trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia, after branding the latter country a “pariah” state following the brutal assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian journalist.
The Gates Foundation will increase its giving. The foundation says it plans to raise the rate of its grant making to $9 billion each year by 2026 from nearly $6 billion before the pandemic. To put that in context, the Open Society Foundations, funded by George Soros and itself one of the nation’s biggest philanthropies, reported total spending in 2020 of $1.4 billion.
A senior executive at Alphabet leaves for Goldman Sachs. Jared Cohen, a founder and C.E.O. of Google Ideas, now known as Jigsaw, will join a new organization within Goldman, reporting to its C.E.O., David Solomon. The group, the Office of Applied Innovation, will focus on new technologies and will be headed by Cohen and George Lee, a veteran Goldman banker.