Biden’s budget, U.S. reparations and Covid’s toll: Weekend Reads

[Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( President Joe Biden unveiled a $6 trillion budget aimed at boosting the U.S. middle class, while corporate America’s breakup with the GOP is gathering pace as Republican voters bridle against policies backed by big business. The first U.S. city to agree to pay reparations to Black families is facing the harsh reality of confronting its past. And the forced landing of an airliner and arrest of a journalist in Belarus have convinced exiled dissidents that they aren’t even safe in the European Union. The pandemic is still raging, hammering India’s overwhelmed doctors, prompting risky experimentation in Cuba, revealing incompetence in Brazil and threatening to derail the Tokyo Olympics. Dig deeper into these and other topics with this edition of Weekend Reads. — [Michael Winfrey]( People gather in front of a mural depicting George Floyd, who was killed by police, during a vigil in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Tuesday. Photographer: Tim Evans/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. Biden Budget Request Revives Big Government With Higher Taxes Biden issued his first full budget proposal Friday, detailing ambitions to dramatically [expand]( the size and scope of the federal government with vast new spending paired with significant tax increases on corporations and the wealthy, [Justin Sink]( reports. Big Business and the GOP Remain at Odds Even With Trump Gone It seemed as if corporate America and the Republican party might mend their [frayed]( ties once Donald Trump left the White House. But as [Peter Coy]( writes, relations are even worse now. First U.S. City to Back Reparations Meets Hard Reality Evanston, Illinois is the first U.S. city to agree to pay [reparations]( to Black residents for harm they suffered under structural racism. [Susan Berfield]( and [Jordyn Holman]( look at the hard questions that have surfaced. Fear of Variant Poses Deadly New Dilemma for Boris Johnson After Johnson’s former chief adviser declared he was unfit to lead the U.K. out of the pandemic, his ministers [fear]( he’ll face a bigger battle with his party if the coronavirus variant first detected in India derails his plan to lift restrictions next month, [Tim Ross]( and [Kitty Donaldson]( write. Brazen Ryanair Kidnapping Signals to Dissidents EU Isn’t Safe Exiled critics of Alexander Lukashenko have realized their adopted European homes [aren’t safe]( after the Belarusian strongman forced a commercial jet to land for the arrest of a dissident this week. [Milda Seputyte](, [Aliaksandr Kudrytski](, and [Piotr Skolimowski]( report. Pipelines Balked When ‘Blinking Red’ Hack Alert Went Off in 2012 U.S. authorities are preparing to [ditch]( voluntary rules that failed to stop the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack. As [Ari Natter]( and [Jennifer Dlouhy]( explain, that would be a defeat for energy companies that for decades stymied legislation aimed at thwarting cyberattacks. Brazil Let 70 Million Shots Get Away and Sealed Its Covid Fate The [severity]( of Covid-19 in Brazil, with 450,000 lives lost, has often been attributed to President Jair Bolsonaro. But as [Julia Leite](, [Andrew Rosati]( and [Simone Iglesias]( report, a congressional probe is making clear that incompetence at nearly every level of government is also at fault. After Truce, Israel Confronts Aftermath of Arab-Jewish Violence Deadly attacks from Arab and Jewish mobs that spilled over from fighting in Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip [shook]( an uneasy coexistence in Israel. Now the country is facing up to uncomfortable truths about its treatment of its Arab citizens, [Gwen Ackerman]( and  [Fadwa Hodali]( report. Cuba Readies Homegrown Covid Vaccines in Big Bet as Cases Surge Cuba is taking a high-risk [gamble]( that it can solve a worsening Covid-19 crisis on its own. [Jim Wyss]( looks into how the communist nation is inoculating hundreds of thousands of people with locally made shots even as they’re still being tested. After a terrifying month that saw Covid-19 [overwhelm]( India’s health system, doctors and nurses say they were pushed to exhaustion as they fought to keep their patients alive. [Upmanyu Trivedi]( looks at the silent toll of the country’s deadly second wave. German Redress For Namibian Genocide Opens Door to Other Claims Germany admitted that a colonial-era massacre more than a century ago in Namibia constituted [genocide]( and agreed to pay compensation. As [Kaula Nhongo]( and [Mike Cohen]( explain, that may open a Pandora’s box of claims for redress from other formerly occupied nations. And finally … With shortcomings in Japan’s fight against the pandemic becoming clear, few Japanese want to host the Olympics in July. [Isabel Reynolds]( and [Marika Katanuma]( look at the tough [choice]( facing Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga over whether to hold or cancel the Games. The Olympic rings on the Odaiba waterfront in Tokyo. Photographer: Charly Triballeu/AFP Getty Images   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