Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - CIA turns to China

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency is weighing proposals to create an independent “Mission Center for China,” an escalation of its effort to gain greater insight into America’s top strategic rival. The proposal, part of a broader review of capabilities by CIA Director William Burns, would elevate the emphasis on China within the agency, where it has long been part of a broader focus on East Asia. —David E. Rovella

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

China released a five-year blueprint calling for greater regulation of vast parts of its economy, providing a sweeping framework for its ongoing crackdown on key industries. Meanwhile, Beijing partly shut the world’s third-busiest container port after a worker became infected with Covid-19, threatening more damage to already fragile supply chains.

Coronavirus booster shots are expected to be approved for Americans with compromised immune systems, but aren’t appropriate for other people at this time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. In Tokyo, a member of an advisory panel of experts said it was now impossible to control the spread of Covid-19 in the Japanese capital. “Infections are raging at disaster level,” Norio Omagari said. Here’s the latest on the pandemic.

The head of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said antitrust enforcers should move more often to block mergers that threaten competition rather than trying to fix them. That could be bad news for Lockheed Martin.

Elon Musk is complaining that two of the world’s biggest auto-chip suppliers are inhibiting the electric-car maker’s production. “We are operating under extreme supply chain limitations regarding certain ‘standard’ automotive chips,” the Tesla chief executive said.

Business and politics are colliding in Texas, where Republican Governor Greg Abbott faces a backlash over an agenda companies warn will make it harder to attract and retain the best workers. Dell, Apple, Facebook and IBM have publicly criticized some of his priorities. Abbott’s effort to curry favor with the GOP’s base by barring mask mandates numbers high among them. 

Facebook joined the list of big companies delaying their return-to-office plans thanks to the growing fifth wave of Covid-19 infections in the U.S. For now, the return date is January 2022.

Amazon withdrew a set of staff guidelines that claimed ownership rights to video games employees create even when they’re off the clock.

• It could be all over in Afghanistan in just a matter of weeks.
• Gold isn’t doing so hot as investors look to the dollar.
• MacKenzie Scott’s money bombs are helping reshape America.
• The climate crisis is killing U.S. farmworkers.
• This fired ICAP broker sued the firm for millions—or so he thought.
• She’s not even governor yet, but New York’s Hochul said she’ll run.
• Meet the woman who gets your $30 million Ferrari to Pebble Beach.

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With the delta variant threatening efforts to end the pandemic, a growing number of wealthy countries are planning or considering administering booster shots of Covid-19 vaccines, and at least one already is. Officials at the World Health Organization have characterized this as unethical as long as poorer countries still lack enough initial doses. The WHO argues such a strategy could also prolong the pandemic for everyone.

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