Biden looks to ease tensions with Europe, tackle climate change at global summits

ROME – With a proposal for his signature domestic agenda in congressional hands, President Joe Biden turns his attention to international affairs this weekend at a pair of global summits with some of the world’s most powerful leaders.

A catalog of complex issues ranging from climate change to the coronavirus pandemic to global supply chain disruptions awaits Biden and other leaders when they convene for the two-day Group of 20, or G-20, summit, which opens Saturday in a modernist, cloud-shaped convention center in Rome.

First, though, Biden, a devout Roman Catholic, and first lady Jill Biden had a private audience Friday with Pope Francis at the Vatican. Their motorcade arrived just before noon Rome time and was greeted by a dozen Swiss Guards in blue and gold striped uniforms.