From Washington to Hong Kong, defiance abounds: Weekend Reads

[Balance of Power]( From [Bloomberg Politics]( [FOLLOW US [Facebook Share]]( [Twitter Share]( [SUBSCRIBE [Subscribe]](  President Donald Trump is signaling he’ll fight tooth and nail against Democrats’ impeachment efforts, by disparaging a whistle-blower complaint stemming from his controversial phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and telling donors behind closed doors, “We’re at war.” Defiance was the watchword of the week in the U.K. and Hong Kong as well. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson responded to a Supreme Court rebuke by doubling down on his plans for a no-deal Brexit, while protesters in the Asian financial hub adopted ever-more militaristic tactics. Dig deeper into these and other topics you might have overlooked this week [and click here]( for Bloomberg’s most compelling political photos from the past seven days. – [Kathleen Hunter]( U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announces a [formal impeachment inquiry]( into the president, kicking off a [dramatic escalation]( of the Democrats’ confrontation with the president in the run-up to the 2020 election. [Click here for key takeaways]( from the whistle-blower complaint and [here for a visual depiction]( of how impeachment could play out. Photographer: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg [Change in the Saudi Birthplace of Islam Is Eyed Warily Worldwide]( As the birthplace of Islam, Saudi Arabia is the country that the world’s 1.8 million Muslims look to above all others. But, as [Anisah Shukry](, [Arys Aditya]( and [Archana Chaudhary​](​​​​​​ write, the latest in a series of liberalizing reforms attributed to the modernizing influence of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman runs counter to its reputation for religious conservatism. [Sanders, Warren Compete for Who Can Tax Billionaires the Most]( Senator Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax proposal is big. Senator Bernie Sanders’ is about 60% bigger. [Laura Davison]( and [Emma Kinery]( take a closer look at the jockeying between the two top progressive 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.  Following the U.K. prime minister’s latest confrontation with Parliament, Johnson’s voters [give their own verdict]( on his fiery speech. Photographer: Jessica Taylor/U.K. parliament [Nigeria Runs on Generators and Nine Hours of Power a Day]( In Africa’s most populous country, almost everyone depends on generators, including President Muhammadu Buhari. [Anthony Osae-Brown]( and [Ruth Olurounbi]( explore one of the biggest issues Buhari faces as he tries to reform a $400 billion economy that is too dependent on oil exports, has too many inefficient state-owned enterprises and is still struggling to recover from a slump in 2016. [Hong Kong’s ‘Frontliners’ Say They’re Ready to Die for Movement]( Weeks of clashes have created determined teams of protesters whose tactics are shifting as clashes become militarized. [Aaron Mc Nicholas]( spoke to some of them, including Fung, a 24-year-old doctor who seems an unlikely candidate to stand on the front line of Hong Kong’s most violent civil unrest in half a century. A man in Beijing walks past portraits of the founding members of the People's Republic of China: Zhou Enlai, Mao Zedong and Liu Shaoqi. China is preparing to mark the 70th anniversary of Communist Party rule on Oct. 1 as President Xi Jinping faces some [serious economic headwinds](. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg [Mongolia’s Populist President Is the Trump of the Steppe]( Battulga Khaltmaa is a wealthy businessman riding a wave of discontent to the land’s highest office and cozying up to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Sound familiar? [Matthew Campbell]( and [Terrence Edwards]( profile Mongolia’s president. [Orban and Europe’s Other Anti-Immigrant Leaders Have a Secret]( While Prime Minister Viktor Orban is leading an anti-immigrant vanguard in the European Union to protect it from people he calls “invaders,” Hungary and other nearby countries are quietly opening a door to foreigners, [Zoltan Simon](, [Jasmina Kuzmanovic]( and [Marek Strzeleck](i report. [The Cold Calculus Behind Putin’s Lukewarm Embrace of Paris Pact]( After nearly four years of foot-dragging, Russia President Vladimir Putin has finally decided to ratify the 2015 Paris Agreement – and the reasons have less to do with the fate of the planet than with geopolitics and gross domestic product, [Natasha Doff](, [Ilya Arkhipov]( and [Yuliya Fedorinova]( report. Putin in Russia’s Franz Josef Land archipelago in 2017. Photographer: Anna Andrianova/Bloomberg [Dodging Death, Candidates Vie to Lead a Broken Afghan Nation]( With Afghanistan set to elect a new president in defiance of threats from a resurgent Taliban, candidate Sayed Noorullah Jalili speaks to [Eltaf Najafizada]( about how high the stakes are for the war-torn nation. [Italy’s Oil Giant Can No Longer Ignore the Civil War Next Door]( Italian giant Eni has dominated Libya’s energy industry for six decades. But as Chiara [Albanese]( and [Caroline Alexander]( explain, the company’s future there hangs in the balance of a brewing civil war. [And finally](…Wondering what life will be like in the U.K. should Britain crash out of Europe a month from now without a divorce agreement? Read [Joe Mayes]( and [Alex Morales](’s detailed account of what[ the first 24 hours]( after a no-deal Brexit might look like based on interviews, government documents, and academic research. Jazz McDonnell, a farmer in Northern Ireland, says Brexit’s tariffs and red tape may force him to slaughter all of his sheep. Photographer: Guy Martin for Bloomberg Businessweek   You received this message because you are subscribed to the Bloomberg Politics newsletter Balance of Power. You can tell your friends to [sign up here](.  [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022