Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - Garland sues Georgia

The U.S. Justice Department is filing a lawsuit over the sweeping new Republican-backed voting law in Georgia. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the bill, passed in March, intentionally discriminates against Black voters. While Garland has kept a low profile in his early months in office, the lawsuit puts him in the middle of the conflict over Republican efforts to impose new voting restrictions after former President Donald Trump’s false assertions that he was robbed of re-election by voter fraud. For his part, President Joe Biden said he will travel the U.S. to warn voters against the GOP-led effort. —Margaret Sutherlin

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

Here are today’s top stories  

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced Friday to 22 years and six months in prison for murdering George Floyd, a videotaped killing that triggered the most profound racial upheaval in the U.S. since the civil rights era.  

The S&P 500 had its best week since February, with financial and retail shares beating the tech giants. It may be too early to say that the reflation trade has come back in full force, but at least the anxiety regarding the Federal Reserve’s hawkish tilt has eased. Here’s your markets wrap. 

The delta variant of the coronavirus is “the most transmissible of the variants identified so far” and has spread to at least 85 countries, the head of the World Health Organization warned Friday. U.S. health officials paused distribution of Eli Lilly’s combination antibody therapy due to fears it won’t combat two increasingly common variants. Here’s the latest on the pandemic.

Manhattan prosecutors informed Trump’s company that it could soon face charges stemming from a long-running investigation of its business dealings.  

Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure deal is already under threat a day after it was announced. Eleven Republicans face pressure from their party to bolt after the president explicitly tied its signing to a multitrillion dollar spending package supported by Democrats.

Virgin Galactic shares surged Friday after the company received regulatory approval to fly customers into space, moving the budding industry founded by billionaires one step closer to reality. 

Investors hunting for returns in the red hot U.S. real estate market are tapping a new strategy: building massive portfolios of houses to rent out on Airbnb. The shift in strategy comes as record-low home inventory pushes prices higher.

What you’ll need to know tomorrow 

• The Big Take: China crushed Jack Ma. His fintech rivals may be next.  
• Biden named a special envoy for LGBTQ issues and rights.
• Among the missing in Florida’s collapsed tower: vaccine tourists.
• A record-setting heat wave is heading for the western U.S. 
• Nations relaxing Covid limits for tourist dollars face EU pressure. 
• The U.S. House reinstated Obama-era methane caps for oil and gas.
• Women did three times the amount of childcare that men did in 2020.

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  Millions Who Needed Covid Aid Didn’t Get It

  A record number of Americans applied for unemployment during the pandemic. New data shows almost 9 million people without work missed out on benefits, revealing a gaping hole in the country’s social safety net. 

  
  Indianapolis-area resident Barb Ashbrook was denied unemployment benefits because of a part-time job that paid $121 a week.  Photographer: John-David Richardson for Bloomberg Businessweek

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