Texas’s Arctic blast, Facebook’s Australia gambit: Weekend Reads

[Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( It was a week few Texans will forget: power outages caused by an [Arctic]( blast left millions of people without heat and some with no clean water. It also sparked a wide debate over who was to blame for the failure of the energy-rich state’s electricity infrastructure. Leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations held their first, virtual, meeting of the year, with Joe Biden’s debut on the world stage as U.S. president buoying efforts to reset the transatlantic relationship after the era of Donald Trump. In Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Facebook has [re-engaged]( with the government after escalating tensions saw the social media company disable a raft of pages in the country including some related to official Covid-19 vaccine information and charities. Dig deeper into these and other topics with the latest edition of Weekend Reads. — [Karl MaierÂ]( Snow covered Zilker Park in Austin, Texas, on Feb. 18. Photographer: Thomas Ryan Allison/Bloomberg Click [here]( for this week’s most compelling political images and tell us how we’re doing or what we’re missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net. [G-7 Skirts the China Question, Yet Need for Answers GrowsÂ]( While G-7 leaders felt relief at the new sense of transatlantic cooperation during their first gathering of the year, [Ian Wishart](, [Alberto Nardelli]( and [Arne Delfs](explain they tiptoed around a key issue: what to do about the growing challenge of China. [In Texas’s Black-Swan Blackout, Everything Went Wrong at Once]( The Arctic blast that left millions without power in Texas ignited a blame game between advocates of renewable energy and those who back traditional sources, but there’s one thing most experts agree on: The U.S. electricity system needs a total revamp. [Rachel Adams-Heard](, [Naureen S. Malik]( and [Brian Eckhouse]( investigate. [Frozen Texans Rely on Wits and Dogs to Find Water and Warmth]( The winter blitz and power outages that crippled Texas tested the boundaries of rugged individualism across the state. As [Justin Bachman]( and [Josh Saul]( write, that has forced many residents to take basic needs into their own hands. Cruz was responding to [criticism]( of his decision to fly to Cancun, Mexico, with his family while the state he represents was hit by widespread power outages in the wake of a historic winter storm. He has faced little [blowback]( from fellow Republicans. [Facebook’s Australia Face-Off Could Backfire Across the Globe]( Facebook’s dramatic move to block Australian news sharing escalated a broader battle against global regulation. As [Vlad Savov]( reports, the gambit looks likely to backfire. [U.S.-Iran Standoff Shows Difficulty of Salvaging Nuclear Deal]( The Biden administration has sought to extend an olive branch to Iran to entice the Islamic Republic back to talks on resuscitating the 2015 nuclear deal. But as [Nick Wadhams]( and [David Wainer]( explain, it’s not going to be easy. [Britain’s Next Answer to Covid Is to Prepare to Live With It]( The U.K. has had great success in rolling out a vaccination program faster than anywhere else in Europe. But as [Emily Ashton](, [Alex Morales]( and [Deirdre Hipwell]( write, that means Prime Minister Boris Johnson is now coming under pressure to figure out what comes next. [Pfizer Herd Immunity Study Stymied by Iceland’s Wins Over Covid]( A push by Iceland to get Pfizer’s backing for a nationwide study on the ability of vaccines to quickly create herd immunity hit a snag. The tiny island nation has done too good a job keeping Covid-19 in check. [Kristen V. Brown]( and [Ragnhildur Sigurdardottir]( explain what happened. [Disinformation Campaign Targets Hongkongers Seeking U.K. Visas]( As China curbs opposition in Hong Kong, it doesn't want dissidents moving to the U.K., Canada and Australia and continuing their efforts from afar. As [Alberto Nardelli](, [Kari Soo Lindberg]( and [Kitty Donaldson]( report, Beijing is starting to warn people who use their dual nationality to relocate out of Hong Kong that they risk becoming stateless. [Saudi Ultimatum to Move In or Lose Out Unsettles Global Firms]( Some businessmen see Saudi Arabia as waking sleeping giant, with planned mega-projects worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Yet, [Zainab Fattah]( and [Lin Noueihed]( report on how the Kingdom’s ultimatum for global companies to move their regional hubs to Riyadh by 2024 or lose business is the kind of decision making that has made some wary of investing there. [Kim Jong Un’s Wife Back in Public After Unusual One-Year Absence]( [Jon Herskovitz]( reports on the public reappearance of the wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's wife, Ri Sol Ju, after more than a year. Kim Jong Un and his wife Ri Sol Ju in 2017. Source: STR/AFP [Upheaval Is Coming to South Africa Over the Shift Away From Coal]( [Antony Sguazzin](, [Paul Burkhardt]( and [Akshat Rathi]( look at one of the most polluted regions on Earth to see how South Africa is attempting to pilot a “just energy transition” from coal to clean power even when it means big job cuts. [EU’s New Fiscal Weapon Is Operational, It’s a Lifeline for Italy]( European Union governments banking on hundreds of billions of euros in pandemic recovery funds can start putting forward their plans as the 27-member bloc’s Recovery and Resilience Facility becomes operational. [Viktoria Dendrinou]( writes that the fund is part of last summer’s landmark agreement to provide stimulus spending with jointly backed debt. [And finally](bbg://news/stories/QOS1PODWLU6M) ... News that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration withheld nursing home Covid-related fatality data from the legislature as it handled a federal probe has rocked the Statehouse. As [Keshia Clukey]( reports, now Democratic lawmakers who once took a back seat to the governor are angry, with some calling for the emergency powers he was granted at the start of the pandemic to be revoked. Cuomo speaking during a news conference in New York on Oct. 5, 2020. Photographer: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg  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