Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - America’s 600,000 dead

The U.S. pandemic death toll, the worst in the world, topped 600,000 this week, a stark reminder of the nation’s repeated failure to impose sufficient precautions throughout the crisis. With hundreds more dying every day, President Joe Biden said it’s also a warning that the fight is far from over. The grim milestone renewed urgency to get Americans inoculated as more contagious—and potentially more dangerous—variants spread. In a hopeful sign, however, New York lifted Covid-19 restrictions as the state, once a global epicenter, reached the 70% vaccination mark. Today, India is ground zero for the latest wave of infection. And while its death toll continues to climb, a new crisis is emerging on the subcontinent. Here’s the latest on the pandemic. —Margaret Sutherlin

Bloomberg is tracking the progress of coronavirus vaccines while mapping the pandemic worldwide. 

Here are today’s top stories  

The truce ending a 17-year trade dispute between the European Union and the U.S. is more about something else than it is about subsidies for Airbus and Boeing. Besides parking $11.5 billion in tariffs, the deal also includes a commitment for the EU and U.S. to tackle “non-market practices of third parties” which could threaten the airplane makers. That’s code for China.

MacKenzie Scott, the billionaire philanthropist and former wife of Jeff Bezos, announced she donated $2.7 billion to a variety of charities. That brings her total giveaway to $8.5 billion since July 2020. She’s not the only wealthy American giving big, either.

More signs are pointing to a bumpy U.S. recovery. Prices paid by producers (and thus by consumers) rose more than expected in May. Retail sales slipped again after an earlier, Covid bailout-fueled spike. Markets didn’t much like the new data: Here’s your markets wrap. 

Warning signs are emerging that the housing bubble may be ready to burst. New Zealand, Canada and Sweden rank as the world’s frothiest housing markets, according to Bloomberg Economics. As people everywhere scramble for more space, another trend is emerging in America: a rush for vacation homes.  

U.S. House Democrats are threatening to move ahead without Republicans on an infrastructure bill if a deal can’t be struck by the end of next week. A bipartisan group of senators have been wrangling over a tentative deal, but the White House said it doesn’t have a deadline. 

Given the deadly Jan. 6 assault on Congress by Trump supporters, one that included members of “militia,” neo-Nazis and other white supremacist groups, Attorney General Merrick Garland laid out a clearer view of how the U.S. planned to combat domestic terrorists. 

Texas is pushing homes and businesses to conserve electricity for a second day in a row to stave off blackouts as a punishing heat wave bakes the western U.S.

What you’ll need to know tomorrow 

• A judge called in a mediator to deal with Trump’s tax subpoena.
• U.S. community lenders are getting $1.25 billion in Covid-19 relief.
• Local news stations are turning to national streaming platforms.  
• An arch-nemesis of Big Tech is now one of its regulators.
• Dreams of remote work are turning into a tax nightmare. 
• Louisiana grandmother wins the equivalent of a Green Nobel prize. 
• The hottest new NFT? The original code for the World Wide Web. 

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Airbnb Is Spending Millions to Fix Nightmares  

Airbnb built its entire platform on the idea of hosts and travelers trusting one another, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. But when the absolute worst happens, millions in settlements and a secretive security team helps the company keep nightmares quiet. 

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