The pandemic is roaring back with a vengeance: Weekend Reads

Read the week’s big political stories [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( Here we go again. As a resurgent Covid-19 pandemic threatens to overwhelm Europe’s health systems, Austria imposed a nationwide [lockdown]( while other countries such as Germany, the Czech Republic and Greece are clamping down on the unvaccinated. And [unrest]( is spreading. U.S. President Joe Biden won big victories this week when he signed his $550 billion infrastructure bill and the House [passed]( his signature plan to expand the social safety net, address climate change and rewrite tax policies. In the U.K., Prime Minister Boris Johnson proposed banning members of Parliament from taking paid political consultancy work, as he tries to draw a line under accusations of [ethics]( violations that damaged the government and his ruling Conservative Party. And in China, claims by a tennis star that an ex-vice premier pressured her to have sex threatened to undermine President Xi Jinping’s authority and [tarnish]( the nation’s image. Delve into these and more of Bloomberg’s best stories from the past seven days in this edition of Weekend Reads. — [Karl Maier]( Protesters against a partial coronavirus lockdown in Rotterdam on Nov. 19. Photographer: Killian Lindenburg/AFP/Getty Images [Click here]( for this week’s most compelling political images and share this newsletter with others too. They can sign up [here](. Global Opening Threatened by New Lockdowns in Europe New Covid-19 outbreaks are threatening tighter local public health restrictions in Europe, which has until now led Bloomberg’s list of the most open places. Read [more]( on our Covid-19 Travel Tracker. - Police in Rotterdam fired warning shots as violent demonstrations [erupted]( last night over the Netherlands’s virus restrictions. Germany’s Latest Coronavirus Crisis Is Getting Out of Control The Covid crisis is going from bad to [worse]( in Germany. [Chris Reiter]( and [Tim Loh]( explain how, with infections surging and authorities slow to act amid a transition to a new government, serious cases and deaths may keep climbing. - Governments are responding at different speeds, with some essentially [abandoning]( any hope that crackdowns can be limited to the unvaccinated. Wuhan Market Reemerges as Likely Covid Origin in New Chronology [Jason Gale]( reports on new research by Michael Worobey, head of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona, that [points]( to the Huanan market in Wuhan, China, as the source of the initial outbreak of Covid-19 and not just where the virus was amplified in a super-spreading event. What’s in the House-Passed Tax and Spending Bill Backed by Biden [Laura Davison](, [Ari Natter]( and [Alexander Ruoff]( break down what is in the roughly $2 trillion bill incorporating the core of Biden’s economic agenda — [ramping]( up funding for the social safety net and increasing taxes on corporations and the wealthy. How China’s Deal With the U.S. Helped Avert COP26’s Collapse Despite their global rivalry, the close interaction between U.S. climate envoy John Kerry and Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua saved the COP26 summit from collapse. Read our [analysis]( on how it played out and what it may mean for future collaboration. An Online Army Is Drumming Up Support for a French Extremist Ultra-conservative TV star Eric Zemmour has been elevated to a kind of cult status among French-language Facebook groups, Twitter discussions and other online spaces. [Daniel Zuidijk]( explains how the pundit who may challenge Emmanuel Macron for the presidency next year is [capitalizing]( on a social media model that cheered Donald Trump. - Read this [story]( on how Zemmour came to London yesterday to meet with wealthy potential donors but refused to confirm in an interview that he plans to run against Macron. Authoritarian Leaders Are Weaker Than They Look, Thanks to CovidAlmost two years into the pandemic that left many democracies reeling, authoritarians around the globe are getting feisty. Yet as [Marc Champion]( writes, [scratch]( through the rhetoric and much of what these strongmen do reveals their vulnerability at home. Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing in 2017. Photographer: Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images Johnson Tells MPs His Handling of Sleaze Scandal Was a Car Crash Johnson finally admitted his error of trying to dodge responsibility for an [ethics]( scandal for two weeks. As [Kitty Donaldson]( and [Joe Mayes]( report, the premier told rank-and-file Tories that after their party conference in October he’d taken his eye off the road and effectively driven the car into a ditch. Chile Election Puts Free Market Model at Mercy of Angry Voters In Chile’s presidential elections tomorrow, voters will decide either to [reject]( an economic model installed during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet or stick with its free-market ethos. [Matthew Malinowski]( explains how the vote is shaping up to be a battle between two candidates from opposite ends of the political spectrum. Williams was commenting on the [disappearance]( of former women’s doubles No. 1 Peng Shuai, after her claims of sexual abuse against ex-Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli. Other top tennis figures including Naomi Osaka, Novak Djokovic and Chris Evert have expressed outrage over Peng’s case. Biggest African Bank Leak Shows Kabila Allies Looted Congo Funds The largest leak of financial documents from Africa shows how a private bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo was used to channel at least $138 million of public funds to former President Joseph Kabila’s family and associates. [William Clowes]( and [Michael Kavanagh]( detail the [scandal](. Photo Credit: Getty Images Photo Credit: Getty Images Ethiopia said it would consider [revoking]( the licenses of foreign news agencies including CNN, the BBC, the AP and Reuters, alleging their reports on the yearlong conflict between government forces and rebels in the northern province of Tigray threaten the stability of the Horn of Africa nation. How Goldman’s BRICs Flew Then Faded in Two Decades Two decades after former Goldman Sachs Group chief economist Jim O’Neill came up with the BRICs acronym for key emerging-market economies, those countries are displaying a mixed performance. As [Enda Curran](, [Ben Bartenstein]( and [Lizzy Burden]( write, China soared and India climbed, while Russia and Brazil [stumbled]( after good starts. Pfizer Fights to Control Secret of $36 Billion Covid Vaccine Recipe Western Covid-19 vaccine producers and public health officials are struggling to find common ground to close a gap between some nations; only 6% of people in Africa were fully inoculated as of early November. As [Stephanie Baker]( and [Vernon Silver]( explain, a [sticking]( point is who gets to control the secret formulas to make the shots worth billions of dollars. Residents receive vaccines in the Khayelitsha township of Cape Town, South Africa, on Sept. 8. Photographer: Dwayne Senior/Bloomberg China Pet Killings Spark Fear Among Quarantined Covid Patients A video of the fatal [beating]( of a dog in China whose owner was in Covid-19 quarantine has raised fears that officials in some provinces are exterminating animals that could have the virus, as Beijing takes aggressive steps to curb the latest outbreak. [Jenni MarshÂ](and [Michelle Fay Cortez]( dig into what’s going on. And finally … What officials are calling the [storm]( of the century cut off Vancouver, Canada’s third-largest city, from the rest of the country by land. [Marcy Nicholson]( and [Natalie Obiko Pearson]( write how the deluge sparked panic buying and a state of emergency in the area. The flooded Sumas Prairie in Abbotsford, British Columbia, on Wednesday. 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