The stutter-step response to the coronavirus pandemic continues as countries figure out how to handle the spreading delta variant. There are about 31,000 new cases every day in the U.K., but that’s not stopping Prime Minister Boris Johnson from plowing full steam ahead with reopening. Singapore is also easing curbs. But in Melbourne, Australia’s second biggest city, a new lockdown is in place, its sixth since the crisis began. And if you’re an Australian expat looking to go home, you may be out of luck. Despite rising infections, travel is restarting, too—though only in fits and starts. JetBlue will resume its New York to London route next week while Hong Kong is making it easier for residents to come home. And at the U.S.-Canada border, which has been mostly closed to leisure travel since March 2020, restrictions are being lifted.  

Tencent Holdings led the way downward in a China stocks rout after state media decried video games as “spiritual opium,” prompting the company to float a potential gaming ban for kids and triggering fears of a broader crackdown on that industry. It’s all part of a capitalist smackdown by President Xi Jinping. Investors have been poring over his past utterances to figure out what’s coming next. 

As unprecedented wildfires rage across the U.S. West, their terrible power was on display when an entire California town was destroyed. Choking smoke sent across the U.S. and fears of Covid-19’s airborne transmission have driven a surge in U.S. air purifier sales. Parts of Turkey, Spain, Cyprus and the Italian island of Sardinia have also had to cope with fires this summer.  

Greenville, California

Photographer: Josh Edelson/AFP

Robinhood is becoming a meme stock itself as retail investors warm to the day trader favorite after its IPO flop. But a wild rally this week ended when major investors revealed plans to sell their shares. 

U.S. President Joe Biden set a goal for electric vehicles to make up half of all vehicles sold in the U.S. by 2030, and Detroit automakers are taking it seriously. In China, social media influencers are driving the sales of electric cars.

New York City will require proof of vaccination for workers and customers at indoor restaurants, gyms and entertainment venues. Will that budge the city’s holdouts? Similar moves have met with protests in places like Paris, while Italy is doubling down on its “green pass.” The New York auto show was nixed for a second year as America’s delta-fueled fifth wave grows. Meanwhile, work from home may be here to stay: More banks are pushing back return to office dates. 

Protesters demonstrated along the Piazza Duomo in Milan on July 24 against the introduction of a mandatory “green pass,” which proves its holder has had one vaccine dose, recovered from the coronavirus or tested negative within 48 hours. The pass is required in Italy to access indoor dining and entertainment.

Photographer: Miguel Medina/AFP

• A major UN report refocuses attention on the climate crisis. 
• U.S. consumer data may answer the big inflation question.
• OPEC’s monthly oil report will be a proxy for world economic activity.
• A deadline arrives in Andrew Cuomo’s impeachment defense.
• Stay up to watch the Perseids, one of the best meteor showers.

More and More of Us Are Living in Flood Zones

Even as global warming makes flooding more common and more deadly, the proportion of the world’s population living in flood zones has increased dramatically. From 2000 to 2015, the number of people living in flood-prone areas increased by an estimated 58 million to 86 million. And that number will keep growing if cities continue to develop in risky areas.

An aerial photo taken on July 26 shows a flooded area in Weihui, China.

Photographer: STR/AFP

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

Have a financial dilemma or a nagging money question? The Bloomberg Wealth team wants to hear from you. Send your query to bbgwealth@bloomberg.net and we might just answer it in the Wealth newsletter, which you can sign up for here.

Download the Bloomberg app: It’s available for iOS and Android.

Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. Learn more.