| Patchy efforts | Across her 16 years in power in Germany, Angela Merkel the scientist — a true believer in fighting climate change — has been forced to give way to Merkel the politician. Even as she oversaw a boom in renewable energy and positioned her country as a world leader on the environment, she made substantial concessions to the coal lobby, to protesters against new wind farms, and to manufacturing, particularly carmakers. Fresh worries | The recent rise in Covid-19 cases shows no sign of abating in the U.S. states that have fueled the uptick as the delta variant proliferates. Nationally, infections are likely to increase nearly 40% from last week by the week of Aug. 14, according to forecasts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. - Read how fresh restrictions in Asia are denting the pursuit of "travel bubbles."
- England is rolling out daily testing so workers in critical services can avoid self-isolation, amid concerns staff shortages are threatening crucial supplies.
 Indonesia has taken the lead in new cases of Covid-19, with a streak of 50,000 infections a day marked by people dying alone. Across the world in the U.K., however, a similar number of cases has had an entirely different impact that marks a key difference: vaccinations. Tougher stance | U.S. President Joe Biden said new sanctions on the chief of Cuba's military and its Interior Ministry are only the start of retaliation for Havana's crackdown on demonstrators. Human rights groups say 500 to 600 people have been jailed after one of the largest protests in decades and the true figure may be even higher, since many families are afraid to come forward. Power play | Xi Jinping affirmed China's control over Tibet with his first visit as president. Beijing this year marked the 70th anniversary of its assertion of sovereignty over a region where its military build-up and ethnic-assimilation polices have drawn international criticism, and is now the center of border tensions with India. Bolstering support | Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro promoted a centrist outside his inner circle to be his chief of staff as he maneuvers to maintain congressional support amid police and senate probes into the government's handling of the pandemic. The far-right president has deepened his alliance with the "centrao," a powerful bloc of lawmakers that has been crucial in blocking calls for his impeachment. What to Watch -
When a nearly empty National Stadium in Tokyo lights up tonight to mark the start of the delayed Summer Olympics, Covid-19's scar on the event will be glaring — there will no celebratory cheering and winners will place medals around their own necks. -
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators is closing in on a $579 billion infrastructure deal after agreeing to pay for it in part by delaying a costly Trump-era Medicare regulation. -
Mississippi yesterday called on the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the constitutional right to abortion, raising the stakes in a polarizing clash the justices are set to hear in the term that starts in October. -
Tanzanian authorities plan to charge the main opposition leader, Freeman Mbowe, with conspiracy to commit terrorism and plotting the assassination of government leaders following his arrest Wednesday. -
The funeral for assassinated Haitian President Jovenel Moise will be held today against the backdrop of growing unrest in his home town of Cap-Haitien. Pop quiz, readers (no cheating!). Which country allegedly enlisted a longtime associate of Donald Trump to promote its policy interests with the U.S. during Trump's presidency? Send your answers to balancepower@bloomberg.net. And finally ... Offshore wind farm developers are facing community backlash on both sides of the Atlantic. Oceanfront towns have fought against power lines running ashore from wind farms, even as the massive turbines are mostly out of sight. In a dramatic move yesterday, New Jersey's Governor Phil Murphy signed a law stripping coastal communities of the right to block projects off the state's coast.  Windmills near the coast of Rhode Island. Photographer: Eric Thayer/Bloomberg | 
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