At Covid’s mercy

[View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( While political scuffles erupt in rich nations over attempts to enforce vaccine requirements in jobs, schools and public spaces, [most]( of the world’s population still hasn’t gotten a shot. Take the Democratic Republic of Congo. The nation of 100 million has given doses to less than 0.1% of its people, [Michael J. Kavanagh]( and [Antony Sguazzin]( report. The U.S. and the U.K. have fully vaccinated 57% and 68% of their populations. There are fears that inoculation gaps could spawn virus mutations capable of overwhelming vaccines, and that underscores the futility of trying to defeat Covid-19 when poorer countries aren’t really in the fight. Six out of seven infections go [undetected]( in Africa, the World Health Organization says. Yet there are signs of progress. President Joe Biden announced the [donation]( of an additional 17 million Johnson & Johnson shots to the African Union yesterday after the U.S. drew criticism for being too stingy. That’s on top of 50 million already pledged to the group of 55 countries with a population of 1.25 billion. But it’s not just Africa. Russia, which boasts it created the world’s first coronavirus vaccine, is [struggling]( to convince people to roll up their sleeves. With only about a third of its population vaccinated, infections and deaths hit record highs today and parts of the country are reimposing social restrictions. Even states that are cautiously loosening restrictions as their vaccination rates climb, such as [Singapore]( and Australia, are fearful of a resurgence in infections from the more virulent delta variant. With so much of the world still at the mercy of Covid-19, the war against the virus that’s already caused so much death and destruction remains far from won. — [Michael Winfrey]( A medical worker administers a vaccine to a man in Goma, Congo on Oct. 8. Photo credit: Xinhua News Agency 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. Global Headlines Courting change | A bipartisan panel set up by Biden to consider Supreme Court reforms [wrote]( favorably of creating term limits, but said that while it would be legal to increase the number of justices, it may not be wise. The commission, which will hold a public meeting today, was established after former President Donald Trump filled three vacancies with conservatives during his four years in office. Firmer footing | Chinese President Xi Jinping was speaking with European Council chief Charles Michel today, with Beijing and Brussels seeking to overcome a spat over alleged human rights [abuses]( in Xinjiang. It follows other chats between senior officials as Beijing prepares for German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s exit and tries to restart the European Parliament’s approval of an investment pact she spearheaded. - China’s drive to root out [cryptocurrencies]( has unearthed hundreds of miners siphoning power at state firms. - China’s central bank broke its silence on the crisis at China Evergrande Group, saying risks to the financial system stemming from the developer’s struggles are “controllable” and unlikely to spread. Scholz’s push | Olaf Scholz steps up his [drive]( to succeed Merkel today when his Social Democrats meet with the Greens and the Free Democrats to see if they can bridge significant differences in efforts to form a coalition government. If they make progress, a Scholz-led German government may take shape before the end of the year. A few months ago, the U.S. economy looked like it was roaring back from the pandemic slump. Now the recovery is starting to look more like a grind. As [Alex Tanzi]( reports, the spread of the delta variant has held back millions of Americans from spending on services, while supply chains are still creaking and inflation is stretching household budgets. Best of Bloomberg Opinion - [Another Day, Another Purge at Turkey’s Central Bank: Daniel Moss]( - [So Was Sweden a Covid Success or Failure?: Justin Fox]( - [Is Nuclear Power "Green"? The EU Shouldn't Be the One Deciding]( Not enough | Rich nations have come up [short]( in meeting their pledge to provide $100 billion a year to help poorer nations cut planet-warming emissions and adapt to climate change, with most of the blame falling on the U.S. That failure, [John Ainger]( writes, may undermine any hope for a grand deal at the COP26 talks that start this month in Glasgow. Dirty cotton | When a fashion industry group called China out over its treatment of Uyghur Muslims, the idea was to nudge Beijing toward human-rights reforms while cleaning up a [troubled]( corner of the $60 billion global cotton business. But in the 12 months since, western brands like Levi Strauss have scaled back involvement and others have gone silent after China took measures to defend itself. What to Watch - European Union leaders are poised to [authorize]( next week emergency measures by member states to blunt the impact of the energy crisis on the most vulnerable consumers and companies. - The British government is considering [suspending]( limits on the number of drop-offs that foreign truck drivers can make during U.K. trips to try to ease the country’s supply-chain problems. - France said the U.S. must [drop]( trade tariffs against European countries over digital levies after all sides joined a global agreement on overhauling international taxation. - Former President Barack Obama plans to [attend]( COP26 as the White House looks to flood the pivotal meeting with dignitaries to demonstrate the U.S. commitment to curb global warming. - South African security forces [freed]( two cabinet ministers held hostage by war veterans demanding reparations for their involvement in the fight against White-minority rule a quarter century ago. Pop quiz, readers (no cheating!). Which nation asked Saudi Arabia to reopen consulates and re-establish diplomatic ties? Send your answers to balancepower@bloomberg.net. And finally ... Flight-rusty airline pilots are reporting potentially [disastrous]( errors as they get back in the cockpit after pandemic-enforced layoffs. One aborted a takeoff after forgetting to start his plane’s second engine. Another pulled out of a landing 800 feet (240 meters) from the tarmac when he realized he hadn’t lowered the wheels. The U.S. incidents were logged on a safety database funded by the Federal Aviation Administration, a decades-old program that’s now flashing warning signs. Qantas pilots inside a flight simulator. Source: Cam Campbell/Qantas Airways  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. 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