Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - America’s fifth wave

Tom Barrack Jr., the founder of Colony Capital and a former top fund-raiser for Donald Trump, was indicted for illegally lobbying for the United Arab Emirates. According to federal prosecutors, Barrack, 74, and two others engaged in unlawful efforts to advance the interests of the UAE in the U.S. at the direction of senior UAE officials. They did so by influencing the foreign policy positions of Trump’s first presidential campaign, and then those of the Republican’s administration, the government said. Barrack was also charged with obstruction of justice and making multiple false statements to law enforcement agents. Prosecutors, meanwhile, cast Trump as a victim. —David E. Rovella

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

Biden administration officials say they’re starting to see signs of relief for the global semiconductor supply shortage, including commitments from manufacturers to make more automotive-grade chips for car companies that have had to idle production.

Taiwan will set up its first office in Europe using its name, drawing a rebuke from China and praise from the U.S. as the island democracy seeks to strengthen its diplomatic presence around the globe.

Bankers actually need to work 72 hours a week. According to Mary Erdoes, the chief executive of JPMorgan’s asset and wealth management business, this is why.

With just a few days before the Games begin, things are going from bad to worse for the Tokyo Olympics. The latest wave of infections has fueled criticism of Japan’s decision to go ahead with them. Japan’s pledge to hold a safe games has been battered by a jump in cases in Tokyo and as visiting athletes test positive for the virus. Now an increasing number of Japanese companies have decided against sending executives to Friday’s opening ceremony.

For a century, the Indian Council of Medical Research was a little known government body quietly studying illnesses in New Delhi. But during the pandemic, it’s taken on a powerful role that’s made it a controversial face of India’s struggles with Covid-19. As a key adviser to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it’s increasingly drawn criticism from the nation’s doctors and independent scientists who question its drug recommendations and lack of transparency on data related to variants. While pandemic observers have been watching the tremendous toll suffered by India this year, a consensus was building that the government’s reported deaths, at 414,000, were less than the actual number. Now, a comprehensive new study posits that India’s loss of life could be ten times that number. In the U.S., where the confirmed death toll is approaching 610,000, the delta variant now fully dominates new infections. And with 55,000 new U.S. cases on July 19, almost 8 times as many just one month ago, it appears that America’s fifth wave of infections has arrived. Here’s the latest on the pandemic.

BHP Group is the world’s biggest miner. So it’s no small thing that it’s considering getting out of oil and gas, a multibillion-dollar exit that would accelerate its retreat from fossil fuels. 

As haze from wildfires envelops the East Coast, out west the so-called Bootleg blaze in southern Oregon has swelled to become the biggest among scores of wildfires engulfing the region. The monstrous, climate crisis-fueled inferno is clearly visible from space.

• Another billionaire in space: Jeff Bezos went up, then came down.
• A father’s tale of Airbnb trying to handle the death of his daughter. 
• Israel threatens Unilever over Ben & Jerry’s West Bank protest.
• E-commerce platform startup just raised $100 million in funding.
• Bloomberg Opinion: Gauge your worries by these inflation metrics. 
• Bloomberg CityLab: America’s long history of jailing immigrants.
• How few new cars are there? The rich are forced to buy used Bentleys.

Companies are buying carbon offsets like never before. They’re also facing unprecedented scrutiny over whether helping to fund green projects elsewhere really makes up for their heat-trapping emissions. The most common offsets are based on avoiding the release of additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, for example by preventing deforestation. The other, much more expensive option is to fund programs that actually remove CO₂ by planting forests or employing machines that capture greenhouse gas from the air and store them away. Should companies be allowed to use cheaper “avoided emissions” to deliver on their promises to eliminate pollution? Bloomberg Green reports on the difference between net zero and “carbon neutral.”

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