US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Boris Johnson have held talks, on the eve of the G7 Summit in Cornwall
It is the first time the two leaders have met face to face
President Biden announced the US will donate half a billion coronavirus vaccine doses to over 90 of the world's poorest countries
The leaders discussed transatlantic travel and a new "Atlantic Charter" aimed at refreshing the so-called "special relationship"
It's understood the president also told Boris Johnson the EU-UK row over post-Brexit trading in Northern Ireland must not affect the peace process
The G7 leader's summit will begin on Friday and will focus on global coronavirus vaccinations and climate change
The UK is Mr Biden's first stop on an eight-day trip to Europe. He will meet the Queen at Windsor Castle on Sunday
US President Jo Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson greet each other in Cornwall
We're going to pause our coverage of today's events in Cornwall.
The team on board with you today were Lucy Webster, Jack Hunter, and Sinead Wilson.
We'll be back tomorrow with full coverage of the main summit.
Thanks for following along with us.
Good night.
Reality Check
President Biden's announcement that the US will donate half a billion vaccines to help the fight against coronavirus seems like a huge figure.
It will involve giving away 200 million Pfizer-BioNTech jabs this year, and another 300 million by June 2022 to be used by poorer countries.
But is that enough to make a difference?
The scale of the task is enormous, and the Covax vaccine-sharing programme for poorer countries is facing severe shortages.
It aims to distribute 1.8 billion doses globally by early next year, so the US donation will help.
But experts believe that the US vaccines, and smaller commitments made by other countries, still fall far short of what’s needed.
Laura Kuenssberg
Political editor
The summit - accompanied by the image of the two leaders' wives barefoot in the sand - is a shift, the start of something new after a terrible year.
Johnson and Biden have talked with conviction about shared values.
But that doesn't mask the areas where they might disagree.
The Americans are very unhappy about the situation in Northern Ireland, where Brexit is creating problems for the peace process.
A new respectful relationship is easy to promise, but it's up to these leaders to convincingly create.
The US president has announced plans to donate half a billion Pfizer vaccine doses to over 90 of the world's poorest countries.
President Joe Biden said the US "knows first hand the tragedies of this pandemic - we've had more people die in the United States than anywhere in the world".
"We know the tragedy, and we also know the recovery" he said.
"This is about our responsibility, our humanitarian obligation to save as many lives as we can", he added.
Biden said he discussed with UK Prime Minster Boris Johnson how together the two nations can "lead the global effort against Covid-19"
He said the pandemic had been a "major focus" for the UK's presidency of the G7 to "focus and coordinate resources to help vaccinate the world".
Biden said US values "call on us to do everything we can to vaccinate the world against Covid-19.
"It's also in America's self interest - as long as the virus rages elsewhere there is a risk of new mutations that could threaten our people", he added.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden will be joined in Cornwall tomorrow by the rest of the G7 leaders for the start of the official summit.
Along with President Biden, Italy’s Mario Draghi, and Japan’s Yoshihide Suga will attend the gathering for the first time.
Canada’s Justin Trudeau is flying in as will Emmanuel Macron, the French president, Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, and EU President Ursula von der Leyen.
Guest invitations have also been extended to Australia’s Scott Morrison, India’s Nehendra Modi, South Korea’s Moon Jae-in and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa.
Image source, .G7: Boris Johnson on talks with Joe Biden
Boris Johnson has said the UK-US relationship is a "massive strategic importance" for the security of the world.
The UK prime minister has said there is “so much” the US presidential team want to do together with the UK, including security, Nato and climate change.
Johnson says talks with US President Joe Biden were “great, they went on for a long time”.
The prime minister has said that there is "complete harmony" on the need to find solutions to the Northern Ireland protocol.
Asked if President Biden "urged" him to solve the problems that have been raised in Brexit talks with the EU, Boris Johnson said: "No, he didn't, but what I can say is that America - the US, Washington, the UK, plus the EU have one thing we absolutely all want to do and that is to uphold the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and make sure we keep the balance of the peace process going."
Johnson said this was "absolutely common ground".
The prime minister added: "There is complete harmony on the need to keep going, find solutions and make sure we uphold the Belfast Good Friday Agreement."
James Landale
Deputy political editor
The two leaders were all smiles and warm words, saying they were thrilled to meet each other.
The president said he and the prime minister had something in common, namely that they’d both married way above their stations.
Mr Johnson replied he was not going to disagree with Mr Biden on that or indeed anything else.
And that is indeed likely on some of the issues before them including the pandemic, climate change and global security.
They both also signed a new updated version of the Atlantic Charter to encourage greater cooperation between their countries.
Where there is friction is on trade across the Irish sea where the President has made it clear that he does not want the UK-EU row over the Northern Ireland Protocol to imperil the stability provided by the Good Friday Agreement.
Boris Johnson 'won't disagree with Joe Biden on anything'
The UK Prime Minister has said he is "not going to disagree with his US counterpart on anything" ahead of the G7 summit in Cornwall.
He was responding to the US President's joke that they both married "way above their station".
Talks between the two leaders may be overshadowed by discussions between the UK and the EU about the Northern Ireland Protocol.
It's understood the US President will warn Johnson not to let Brexit put the Good Friday Agreement at risk.
Top EU official Maros Sefcovic has said the UK must start checking goods entering Northern Ireland, as agreed in the 2019 Brexit "divorce" settlement.
But the UK says it is ready to ignore the rules to prevent further disruption - sparking threats of EU retaliation.
Image source, ReutersLast year’s G7 summit should have taken place in the US - but it was called off because of the pandemic. The leaders met over video instead.
This year, all the leaders and their delegations have been subject to a strict testing regime.
Cornwall Council's Director of Public Health, Rachel Wigglesworth has said:
“Cornwall Council’s Public Health team is working very closely with the Cabinet Office, Devon & Cornwall Police, Public Health England (PHE) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to make the summit as safe as possible.”
All attendees had to have a negative Covid test before arriving for the summit. They are also taking daily lateral flow tests.
Anyone who tests positive or develops Covid symptoms will have to self-isolate and take a more sensitive PCR tests to confirm the result.
If the PCR test is positive, they must continue to self-isolate. If not, they can return to the summit.
Last month, the entire Indian delegation had to self-isolate when ministers from the attending countries met for preparatory talks.
Image source, Getty/ ReutersThe Queen will meet US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden at Windsor Castle on Sunday, at the end of Mr Biden's visit to Britain.
Mr Biden will be the 12th serving US president the Queen has met as monarch.
The Queen, 95, first met a serving US president, Harry S Truman, as Princess Elizabeth in 1951.
She has since met all elected US leaders during her 69 years on the throne, except for Lyndon B Johnson.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe Queen met her first serving US president as monarch, Dwight D Eisenhower, at the White House in October 1957
Jill Biden and Carrie Johnson took a bare foot stroll on beach with Wilfred
As his daddy discusses climate change, Covid and Brexit with the US president, one year old Wilfred Johnson has been spotted on the beach with his mother and the First Lady.
Boris and Carrie Johnson's son was born just days after the prime minister was discharged from hospital last year after his own brush with coronavirus.
We'll be watching to see if Wilfred makes his own waves this weekend, and charms the G7 leaders at their beachside summit.
Image source, ReutersPrince Charles cycling at his home Highgrove House, Tetbury, on Thursday
While President Biden and Prime Minister Boris Johnson are meeting in Cornwall, Prince Charles is currently hosting executives from some of the world's biggest companies at St James's Palace to urge them to work with governments to tackle climate change.
The prince is meeting the bosses of Bank of America, AstraZeneca, HSBC, NatWest and Heathrow Airport among others at St James's Palace.
Also joining the meeting are John Kerry, the US climate envoy, and Britain's COP26 President Alok Sharma.
“We have a potentially game changing opportunity to drive forward the partnerships between government, business and private-sector finance that are absolutely vital if we are to win the battle to combat climate change and biodiversity loss," the prince said.
"Unless we deploy private-sector resource, innovation and finance more effectively, we just don’t stand a chance.”
Image source, ReutersPresident and Biden and Boris Johnson have been looking at historical documents and artefacts relating to the Atlantic Charter - the 1941 joint statement made by Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt setting out their goals for the post-war world.
Eighty years on, the two leaders are expected to agree a new one, pledging to work together to solve global challenges such as the coronavirus pandemic and climate change.
The new charter will outline eight areas of co-operation including defending democracy, reaffirming the importance of collective security, and building a fair and sustainable global trading system.
James Landale
Deputy political editor
While some of the discussions between President Biden and Boris Johnson will be about the impact of Brexit in Northern Ireland, it certainly won't be the main topic.
The agenda for the summit and their own bilateral discussions is much, much bigger than that.
The diplomats around the president have made clear he has not come here to lecture the prime minister, but he will make clear his very, very deeply held view that nothing should threaten the peace process in Northern Ireland.
That point will be made but I don't think the issue will be resolved.
Neither side will let this issue dominate their talks because they have much bigger fish to fry when it comes to Covid and co-operation about vaccines, climate change, making western democracies more resilient against threats from autocracies.
As the Bidens and Johnsons stepped out for the photo call, they briefly turned their backs to the cameras to look out at the Cornish bay.
Eagle eyes will have spotted First Lady Jill Biden was wearing a jacket with lettering that spelled out 'love'.
A senior White House reporter for Bloomberg who is travelling with the US media delegation has tweeted, external she asked 'Flotus' what her "love message meant", and Mrs Biden replied:
“I think that this is a global conference and we're trying to bring unity across the globe and I think that's important right now that you have a sense of unity.”
As the PM and the president emerged from the hotel with their wives, President Biden was heard praising the stunning backdrop for the summit in Carbis Bay in Cornwall.
"It's gorgeous, I don't want to go home", he says.
And to shouts from the hordes of journalists and photographers he said he is "very pleased to be here".
Image source, Reuters
Image source, ReutersPrime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden are meeting ahead of the G7 summit.
They paused for a slightly chaotic call with the media before heading in to a private room for official talks.
As the cameras clicked the president was heard to say:
"It was a pleasure to meet your wife. I told the prime minister we have something in common - we both married way above our station."
Johnson replied: "I am not going to dissent from that."
Biden added it was a "great pleasure" to be in the UK.
Image source, ReutersUK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his wife Carrie Johnson and US President Joe Biden with First Lady Jill Biden walk outside Carbis Bay Hotel in Cornwall.
Image source, ReutersUS President Joe Biden comes to Cornwall with an array of vehicles and aircraft to help him get around.
Most iconic is the presidential plane - Air Force One - that touched down at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk on Wednesday evening. The two specially adapted Boeing 747-200B series aircraft have many advanced technologies, including protection against electromagnetic pulses and flares to throw off heat-seeking missiles.
For short trips in the air, the president uses helicopters - recognisable by their predominantly green body and white top.
Marine One usually refers to a VH-3D Sea King or a VH-60N White Hawk. Decoy versions of Marine One often fly alongside the president's helicopter.
Once on the ground, President Biden transfers from Air Force One or Marine One to Cadillac One - nicknamed The Beast. It weighs about nine tonnes (20,000lb), and has an armour-plated body and bulletproof windows.
Read more: The Beast: How Biden's getting around on his first overseas trip, external
