Business as usual | Trump has paid little heed to a resurgence in U.S. coronavirus cases — which yesterday hit a record level — announcing no new steps to curb the outbreak and continuing with a normal schedule of meetings and travel as hospitals fill with patients. Top administration officials say there will be no repeat of the lockdowns that collapsed the U.S. economy in March. Legislative impasse | The U.S. House passed a sweeping overhaul of policing rules, prompted by Floyd's death, on a near party-line vote with little expectation it will break a partisan stalemate that's put any Senate plans to act on hold. Trump accused Democrats of wanting to "weaken the police," in part because the bill would make it easier for officers to be sued in brutality cases. Key Republicans said it's likely a dead issue in the Senate. Preparing for the worst | However much Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he will be able to arrange a trade deal with the EU by the year's end, firms in Britain are already bracing for the possibility he won't. Even if negotiations do make progress in the weeks ahead — with extra sessions agreed to for July and August — companies are having to make hard choices to reduce their risks. Changing of the guard | His track record has propelled him to the forefront of Singapore's fourth-generation of leaders. As the city-state prepares for elections next month, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat is tipped to succeed Lee Hsien Loong when he steps down before he turns 70 in February 2022. It will be a significant change for the nation, which for all but 14 years has been run by Lee or his late father, Lee Kuan Yew. Collateral damage | Indian and Chinese troops are still locked in a standoff on their contested Himalayan border, despite an agreement to reduce tensions after their worst military clash in 45 years. The strain is starting to show on India's trade ties, with supply chains of U.S. companies based in India facing disruption as customs officials at major ports and airports halt clearances of industrial consignments coming in from China. What to Watch - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro now says he believes he's already had the coronavirus — after denying he'd had it and mingling with supporters without a facemask.
- An Oxford-educated historian is set to trounce a former Wall Street broker who has praised Trump's response to the coronavirus in Iceland's presidential election tomorrow.
- Germany is preparing to strike back against the U.S. if Trump follows through on his threat to target the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline with additional sanctions.
Pop quiz, readers (no cheating!). Which country will become on July 10 only the second Asian nation to hold a national election during the pandemic? Send your answers to balancepower@bloomberg.net. And finally ... Two-and-a-half years after Zimbabweans poured into the streets to celebrate the military ouster of Robert Mugabe, the party is over. As Antony Sguazzin, Ray Ndlovu and Brian Latham explain, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has failed to deliver on his promised political reform and a wave of foreign investment. The economy has collapsed and the army has been deployed to violently quell protests. Such is the public disquiet that many ruling party leaders, including some with military links, are losing patience with Mnangagwa, the man known as "the crocodile." Demonstrators sing protest songs after police cordoned off the street in 2019 as they protest over the government's management of the economy. Photographer: Tafadzwa Ufumeli/Getty Images Europe |
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