Beirut Tragedy, Tech War and India’s Virus Strike: Weekend Reads

[Bloomberg]( Follow Us //link.mail.bloombergbusiness.com/click/21145343.93503/aHR0cHM6Ly90d2l0dGVyLmNvbS9icG9saXRpY3M/582c8673566a94262a8b49bdB2ad39787 [Get the newsletter]( Already grappling with the intensifying coronavirus pandemic, the last thing the world needed this week was more turmoil. It got some anyway. U.S. President Donald Trump opened a new front in his trade war with China, while the blast that destroyed Lebanon’s main port, killing at least 100 people and wounding thousands, has forced a reckoning after decades of political corruption and mismanagement. In India, the 600,000 women volunteers who are the driving force behind the country’s coronavirus response efforts are going on strike, China escalated its crackdown against pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong and Spain’s former monarch is heading into exile. Dive into these and more of our best stories from the past seven days in this edition of Weekend Reads. — [Michael Winfrey]( Rubble on a residential street in Beirut, Lebanon, on Aug 5. Photographer: Hasan Shaaban/Bloomberg [Click here]( for Bloomberg’s most compelling political images from the past week and tell us how we’re doing or what we’re missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net. [Trump’s WeChat Ban Brings China Cold War Into a Billion Homes]( With the stroke of a pen, Trump made his fight with China hit home for billions, generating confusion, panic and fear around the globe. Read how the expanded fight against Beijing could have huge ramifications for the world's biggest economies and the people who live there. - And [click here]( for a story about how Trump’s rapid-fire escalation of attacks show how he's decided to make confronting Beijing a priority with less than 90 days to go before the U.S. election. [Pro-Trump Judge May Not Be Right-Wing Enough for Her Critics]( Federal Appeals Court Judge Neomi Rao has consistently sided with the White House, raising worry among Democrats that Trump might pick her to replace Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg if he gets the chance. But as [David Yaffe-Bellany]( explains, Rao’s biggest obstacle may be conservatives. Trump’s new campaign manager credited the revival of the president’s daily briefings with a [narrowing of the gap]( in opinion polls with Democratic nominee Joe Biden. [Biden the Former Deficit Hawk Wants to Be Biden the Big Spender]( Biden will inherit one of the biggest budget deficits in U.S. history if he becomes president. As [Jenny Leonard]( and [Tyler Pager]( explain, he won’t rush to reduce it and is promising to invest in caregiving and clean energy, buy more made-in-U.S. goods, and narrow racial wealth gaps. A Shattered Beirut Leaves Lebanese Asking If They Have a Future]( Lebanon is no stranger to turmoil. But as [Lin Noueihed]( explains, the blast that ripped through Beirut deepens the hardship of a country reeling from endemic corruption, its [worst financial crisis]( in decades and an escalating epidemic. [Number Fever: The Pepsi Contest That Became a Deadly Fiasco]( Dive deep into this story about a 1990s Pepsi marketing stunt that promised Philippine soda drinkers a chance at a million pesos. As [Jeff Maysh]( reports, an error at a bottling plant led to 600,000 winners — and to lawsuits, rioting, and even deaths. [Exile of Juan Carlos Shows Constitutional Cracks in Modern Spain]( He gave up his crown and was stripped of official income. Now Juan Carlos I is leaving the country where he reigned for almost four decades. [Ben Sills](, [Millan Lombrana]( and [Rodrigo Orihuela]( look into how the public humiliation is driven by a desperate effort to shore up Spain’s monarchy. [Hong Kong’s New Security Czar Loves Art, Distrusts Foreign Media]( Artist. Propagandist. Urban planning enthusiast. Traditional Chinese medicine student. [Zheng Yanxiong]( doesn’t fit the mold of a top Communist Party security agent, but he’s now in charge of the powerful and secretive body created to impose a [new security law]( in Hong Kong. [India’s Army of 600,000 Virus-Hunting Women Goes on Strike]( They [helped]( eradicate [polio]( and reduce the number of [women dying]( during child birth. But as [Shruti Srivastava]( reports, months of harassment, underpayment and lack of protection from Covid-19 have pushed the ranks of Indian women health workers to breaking point. Indian health volunteers work in Meerut, India on June 9. Photographer: XAVIER GALIANA/AFP [With Debt Deal Done, Argentina Must Answer: What’s the Plan?]( Argentina’s $65 billion deal with private creditors merely marks the first stage of a battle to rescue its crisis-prone economy. [Patrick Gillespie]( explains how President Alberto Fernandez must now address a three-year recession, with rising poverty, inflation near 45% and multinationals fleeing the country. [And finally]( ... Michael Render, the rapper and activist better known as Killer Mike, has been saying the same thing for years: America needs Black banks. As [Lananh Nguyen]( reports, after George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis, he’s urging fans to #BankBlack to save the few lenders that are still standing.   Like Balance of Power? | [Get unlimited access to Bloomberg.com](, where you'll find trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters.  You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Balance of Power newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022