| Biden's Sharp-Elbows China Policy Hints at More Trump-Style Pain
Six months into his presidency, Biden is revealing a hard-edged China policy that suggests relations between the world's two biggest economies are only going to get worse. Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Taiwan have already become major flashpoints, Nick Wadhams, Saleha Mohsin and Peter Martin report.
The U.S.-China Tech Conflict's Front Line Goes Through Belgium
The historic Belgian city of Leuven is known for its centuries-old university and as the headquarters of brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev NV. Less so, Alan Crawford writes, as the location of a semiconductor research organization that is now the center of both political and industry attention. Biden Faces Hard Sell in Asia for Anti-China Digital Trade Pact
As the U.S. mulls a digital trade agreement to counter China, it faces a key problem: Many countries in Asia don't want to join any deal seen as challenging Beijing, whose tech giants are deeply entrenched in the region. The deal could set out standards including rules on the use of data, trade facilitation and electronic customs arrangements.  South Africa Pushed to the Brink in Test of Ramaphosa Authority
Deadly protests in South Africa are stretching the nation's social fabric to breaking point, scarring an already weakened economy and exposing fault lines within the party that's held power for more than a quarter-century, Antony Sguazzin and S'thembile Cele report. EU Kicks Off Biggest Push Yet on Climate and Braces for a Fight
The EU has rolled out an ambitious climate plan to transform every corner of its economy, and braced for years of tough negotiations to turn it into reality. Among the measures, the bloc will bring new industries such as shipping into what's already the world's largest carbon market, Ewa Krukowska and John Ainger explain. Angela Merkel's Unfinished Business
Merkel's remarkable run as Germany's first female chancellor made her the undisputed queen of Europe, a staunch defender of multilateral institutions, who outlasted enemies and allies alike. And yet, Chris Reiter and Sam Dodge explain, for all her virtues as a crisis fighter, the Germany that Merkel created is running out of gas.  The sudden surge in balseros, or rafters, setting sail from Cuba for the South Florida shore is — like the spontaneous protests that broke out in Havana last weekend — is a sign that living conditions on the island are rapidly deteriorating 16 months into the pandemic. Defying Trump Ensures a Bruising 2022 Fight for Anthony Gonzalez
In a world without Donald Trump, Anthony Gonzalez would be a rising star in the Republican Party: son of Cuban immigrants, first-round draft pick of the Indianapolis Colts, Stanford business school graduate. The 36-year-old was — until he voted with nine other Republicans to impeach Trump for inciting the Capitol riot. Joshua Green reports. U.K. Fraud Unit Finds Bribe Network Behind World's Cobalt Hub
U.K. prosecutors say they have proof of an alleged money-laundering ring spanning from Africa to Europe that paid almost $380 million in cash bribes to authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Michael J. Kavanagh explains the money siphoned off over a five-year period is more than Congo's total 2020 spending on health care.  Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia during a lockdown. Photographer: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg Australia's 'Covid-Zero' Strategy Reaches Limit With No Plan B
Just a few months ago, Australia's virtually Covid-free status made it the envy of the world. Then the delta variant flipped the script. Even as the U.S. and U.K. reopen, Australia seems to be stuck in place. And it's all for a daily caseload a third the size of New York's and less than 3% of what London is currently encountering, Jason Scott writes. Hunger Crisis Forces Middle-Class Indians to Line Up for Rations
Legions of Indians saw their economic toehold ripped away in lockdowns over the past year as more than 15 million lost their jobs in May alone at the height of a Covid-19 wave, Archana Chaudhary reports. That's leading to an increase in hunger, particularly in urban areas, in a nation that already accounts for nearly a third of the world's malnourished people.  Murals in West Belfast, Northern Ireland. Photographer: Mary Turner/Bloomberg U.K.'s Divided City Seeks to Escape a Past Inflamed by Brexit
Britain's departure from the EU has thrust Northern Ireland into the spotlight. But, as Morwenna Coniam writes, there's a growing number of people in Belfast who no longer identify with the divisions of the past and they will ultimately decide where one of Europe's most inflammable regions goes next. How Mexico Forgot Its Covid Crisis
Viewers wouldn't know it from watching President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's regular televised address, but Mexico was becoming one of the world's deadliest Covid hot spots. The government's alternate version of reality included an undercounting of cases and deaths, Nacha Cattan and Vernon Silver explain. And finally ... Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is pushing forward with a revolution, moving the kingdom away from theocracy and risking a backlash from the religious establishment that has long controlled every aspect of social and legal life in the birthplace of Islam. As Donna Abu-Nasr writes, the crown prince wants to draw foreign investment and build the kingdom's entertainment and tourism sectors in order to open up the oil-dependent economy.  The Saudi Aramco driving school for women in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Photographer: Mohammed Al-Nemer/Bloomberg | 
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