Supply snarls, energy crunches, climate pressure: Weekend Reads

[View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( President Joe Biden insisted his U.S. economic plan will become law, even as he [conceded]( it won’t pass Congress with $3.5 trillion in new spending, given disputes between progressive and centrist Democrats. Elsewhere this week, leaders around the world continued to struggle with supply chain [disruptions]( and energy [shortages](, with China’s economy being hit on [all sides]( — a property slump, energy crisis, weak consumer sentiment and soaring raw material costs. Beijing and the European Union moved to [mend fences](, with President Xi Jinping speaking by phone with both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Council chief Charles Michel. At stake is a big investment treaty now stalled in the European Parliament due to a [rift]( over alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang. Poorer nations still lag in their Covid-19 vaccination efforts [even]( as more developed countries re-open further. The U.S. will [open]( its borders to vaccinated foreigners on Nov. 8.   Delve into these and more of Bloomberg’s best stories from the past seven days in this edition of Weekend Reads. — [Rosalind Mathieson]( The People's Energy offices in Dalkeith, Scotland. The failed company supplied gas and electricity to around 350,000 homes and 1,000 businesses. Photographer: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images Europe [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-20 Climate Talks Stall Ahead of Rome Summit The world’s major economies are gridlocked in efforts to agree concrete steps to tackle climate change just two weeks before a crucial summit in Rome, sources say. You can read our exclusive story on what they are arguing about [here](. - Biden has embraced [climate action]( more than any other U.S. president, but his team could arrive in Glasgow this month for the COP26 meeting with not much to show other than earnest pledges. - Senator Joe Manchin’s opposition could [doom]( a clean-power plan that Biden backs. A climate change rally in Washington yesterday. Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg Putin Sees European Gas Crisis as Russia’s Golden Chance Fresh from [crowing]( over Europe’s gas crisis, Russian President Vladimir Putin now sees a chance to capitalize on it. [Irina Reznik]( and [Henry Meyer]( report exclusively on how Putin wants to press the EU to rewrite some of the rules of its gas market after years of ignoring Moscow’s concerns. - For European nations looking for ways to protect citizens and businesses from [skyrocketing]( energy prices, Spain has a dispiriting message: there’s only so much governments can do. - A potential new SPD-led German government wants to abandon coal as a power source eight years earlier than planned, a [big win]( for the planet but a challenge for a country already struggling with energy supplies.  Iran Pushes to Reopen Saudi Missions as Talks Inch Ahead Iran has asked Saudi Arabia to reopen consulates and re-establish diplomatic ties as a prelude to [ending the war]( in Yemen, in talks brokered by Iraq. [Fiona MacDonald]( and [Ben Bartenstein]( report on the four rounds of talks the Islamic Republic has held with Riyadh, with the aim of easing years of tension. - [Jonathan Tirone]( explains what Iran-watchers should be looking at when it comes to [parsing the tea-leaves]( on the potential revival of the 2015 nuclear accord. President Ebrahim Raisi at his first news conference in June after his election win. Photographer: Ali Mohammad/Bloomberg Covid Quickens GOP Populism Tilt From Old Pro-Business Brand The [conflicts]( between businesses and Republican leaders like Texas Governor Greg Abbott over vaccine mandates highlight the GOP’s shift from a pro-business, anti-regulatory party to one that answers to a populist base. [Mark Niquette]( explains how anti-vaccine politics have run into strategies by firms to operate their businesses safely and as they see fit. - [Read about]( the nation that has vaccinated less than 0.1% of its 100 million people. In the 12 months since a fashion industry sustainability group whose members include Nike and Walmart published a statement on allegations of forced labor in cotton-growing Xinjiang, several brands have suffered setbacks in China, one of the world’s biggest producers and consumers of the fabric. You can read about that dispute [here](, and how there are few signs of a truce from Beijing. Biden Confronts Supply-Chain Crisis Stretching Past His Grip The American president wants to break a logjam at [U.S. ports]( and stave off a holiday season of shortages and delays — bottlenecks that officials and stakeholders say extend far beyond the reach of the White House. As [Jennifer Epstein]( and [Josh Wingrove]( set out, his options are scant and amount to serving as a deal broker. Kim showed off his increasingly varied missile [arsenal]( designed to frustrate U.S. [defense systems](, in a rare indoor military display. He was quoted by state media as saying the regime’s “efforts for peace” won’t come at the cost of its ability to defend itself. Hong Kong Risks Global Status as Singapore Opens Up to World The divide between Asia’s two main financial hubs in handling the pandemic is growing ever wider, with one opening up to global travel and the other maintaining one of the world’s [harshest]( quarantine policies. - [Read]( our interview with Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam. Handling more than a third of the U.K.’s ocean freight, Felixstowe port is battling a [collision]( of incoming full containers and outgoing empties. Logjams are worsening around the world, including on the U.S. West Coast, where Los Angeles terminals will run 24 hours a day at the urging of Biden. Best Of Opinion This Week - [China Won't Save Evergrande for Many Good Reasons: Shuli Ren]( - [Purges Are Just Another Day at the Office in Turkey: Daniel Moss]( - [The U.S. Has No Plan B on Iranian Nukes. Israel Does: Eli Lake]( - [Trade Policy Is Foreign Policy in U.S.-China Rivalry: Hal Brands]( - [Want to Save Democracy? Start Participating: Jonathan Bernstein]( Xi’s Crackdown Defeats Last U.S. Social Media Giant For years, LinkedIn thrived in China on the unlikeliest of compacts, complying with Beijing’s ever-changing [censorship]( demands while largely averting a backlash back home. That all ended on Thursday. - A group of private sector employees in China have begun an online campaign to share their working hours, to [protest]( the excessive work culture in the country. Taliban Record So Far Shows Why the G-20 Is Reluctant to Help Leaders failed to agree on how to deal with the Taliban at an extraordinary summit, pledging only to channel aid through the United Nations as a humanitarian crisis looms. The group’s track record since taking power in Afghanistan — laid out in [this story]( — helps explain the reluctance. A Taliban fighter as devotees leave after Friday prayers at a Kabul mosque. Photographer: Hoshang Hashimi/AFP/Getty Images U.S. Labor Unions Are Having a Moment, With Covid-19 to Thank Unions are finding they suddenly have the upper hand — or at least, a more solid footing — when it comes to negotiating wages and benefits, spurring a flurry of new [picket lines](. Nearly 40 workplaces across the U.S. have gone on strike since Aug. 1, according to Bloomberg Law’s database of work stoppages, almost double the same period last year. And finally … It started as a bit of a joke, but the “broochsignal” has become a way to convey hints on the direction of monetary policy at the Russian central bank. When the market first started focusing on the pins she wore at briefings last year, Governor Elvira Nabiullina was coy about whether her choices had broader significance. But in an interview she now says her selections —  known to only a handful of people before she appears — contain [serious messages](. “I choose the brooches myself.” Nabiullina after a rate decision in February 2020. Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/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]( [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( | [Ad Choices]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022