Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - Going backwards

It was a wrenching first hearing before the special Congressional panel investigating the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection. On that day almost seven months ago, when Congress was formalizing the election of Joe Biden as president, followers of Donald Trump assaulted scores of police officers, ransacked the U.S. Capitol and hunted members of Congress who had sought shelter. On Tuesday, four officers testified about being overrun by crowds that included white supremacists, so-called militia groups and neo-Nazis who hoped to disrupt the transfer of power. One officer recounted: “This is how I’m going to die.” Another officer, who suffered a heart attack after being repeatedly electrocuted with a taser, slammed Republicans who have been seeking to defend the attackers, calling them “disgraceful.” Though the committee has two Republican members, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy torpedoed a fully bipartisan, 9/11 style commission. —Margaret Sutherlin

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

U.S. health regulators told Americans to put their masks back on as the delta variant continues to rage. New guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised that fully vaccinated individuals should wear masks in public indoor settings in areas where the virus is spreading rapidly. They also recommended masks in K-12 schools, while Biden said he’s weighing a vaccine mandate for federal workers. It’s a reminder that variants developing among the unvaccinated—both those without access to shots and those who choose not to be inoculated—are endangering the progress that’s been made, and threatening to send the world hurtling backwards. Here’s the latest on the pandemic. 

A rout by major tech companies ended a five-day market winning streak on Tuesday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 posted its biggest drop in more than two months. All three of the major U.S. equity indexes fell from their latest all-time highs. Megacap tech stocks like Apple and Microsoft slid ahead of earnings. Here’s your markets wrap.

Beijing’s sweeping crackdown on its technology and education sectors continues to send out shockwaves with the yuan and bonds slumping, a sign some fear may extend to other sectors. The selloff has made some investments cheap, but not everyone thinks this is the time to rush in.  

In a major surprise at the Tokyo Olympics, U.S. gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from the team competition citing her mental health. Biles, considered by many the greatest in the world at her sport, said she would make a decision about solo events later this week. The U.S. team lost out on the gold medal. 

The White man accused of killing eight people at Atlanta-area massage businesses, most of them women of women of Asian descent, pleaded guilty to murder in four of the killings. He still faces the death penalty in the four other homicides.

A team of watchdogs led by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen are taking interest in Tether and Facebook-backed Diem, and the financial risks posed by stablecoins, a fast-growing corner of the cryptocurrency industry.

Tunisia’s president Kais Saied pushed back against global protest that he just staged a coup. His decision to dissolve parliament and fire the prime minister have shaken the only democracy to emerge from the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. 

• Negotiators are trying to salvage the U.S. infrastructure deal.
• Moderna’s foreign manufacturers are facing delays. 
• Another tech company is facing internal pressure over discrimination.
• A heatwave could strain power grids supplying 40% of Americans. 
• Finance looked for a big suburban move. So how’s it going now?
• After big hacks, there's a new federal push to shore up security.
• Robinhood wants your nickels and dimes.

Sponsored Content We’re making the future of work Welcome to a new way of working. Go behind the scenes to see how we’re helping businesses make the most of available workspace and keeping employees safer and more productive. Learn more. Honeywell

At the Clam in New York, there are no scallops on the menu. Over in Napa Valley, the executive chef  at PRESS, took them off, too. And in Atlanta, at tapas spot the Iberian Pig, the chef didn’t stop at scallops. The Alaskan halibut and blue crab are gone, too. For restaurants across the U.S., the re-opening from lockdown has been anything but easy. They’ve struggled to hire back enough staff and have been rocked by cost increases and shortages. Seafood is just the latest in the inflation story.

Like getting the Evening Briefing? Subscribe to Bloomberg.com for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and gain expert analysis from exclusive subscriber-only newsletters.

Get the latest on what’s moving markets in Asia. Sign up to get the rundown of the five things people in markets are talking about each morning, Hong Kong time