Crypto News: The mounting civilian death toll in Russia’s war: Weekend Reads

As the largest-scale military operation in Europe since World War II continues, Russian attacks hit civilian targets in Ukraine, striking a mall in the central city of Kremenchuk and an apartment building and recreation center near the Black Sea port of Odesa, killing dozens.

US President Joe Biden returned home after successful summits of the Group of Seven and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to face a raft of domestic problems, including the fallout over the Supreme Court's decision last week to end nationwide abortion rights.

Xi Jinping urged Hong Kong to focus on the economy after an era of "chaos," in a landmark visit by the Chinese president that offered few clear answers for how to balance Beijing's demands for limiting perceived foreign threats with the city's desire to remain an international financial hub.

Delve into these and more of Bloomberg's top political stories from the past seven days in this edition of Weekend Reads. — Karl Maier

Emergency services fight fires at an apartment building in Odesa. Source: Ukrainian Emergency Service

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NATO Returns to Combat Stance to Counter a New and Hostile World
NATO agreed to the biggest upgrade of its military presence in Europe since the end of the Cold War, redrawing the continent's security in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Natalia Drozdiak reports on the summit in Madrid where alliance leaders agreed to put more than 300,000 troops on high alert and beef up its European defenses with extra forces.

NATO leaders formally invited Sweden and Finland to join the military alliance, paving the way for reshaping European defense by lengthening its border with Russia.

NATO Finds Embrace in China's Backyard, Stoking Xi's Worst Fears
Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine, China has blamed NATO for antagonizing Moscow and accused the US of seeking to set up a similar alliance in the Asia-Pacific. Isabel Reynolds reports that the presence of four leaders from the region in Spain this week will only make Beijing more paranoid.

China's Xi Says Hong Kong Is 'Reborn From the Ashes' on Visit
Touting a "reborn" Hong Kong, Xi returned to the former British colony to mark its 25th anniversary of Chinese rule. Kari Lindberg and Rebecca Choong Wilkins write that it was his first trip to Hong Kong since overseeing crackdowns on political dissent and Covid-19 that risked the semi-autonomous city's future as an international center of commerce.

Xi swears in John Lee as Hong Kong's chief executive on Friday. Photographer: Justin Chin/Bloomberg

Supreme Court's Term Ends With Guns, Roe and Protests
The US Supreme Court moved boldly in its first full term with three Donald Trump appointees with far-reaching rulings on guns, religion and federal regulatory power along with a historic decision that eliminated the constitutional right to abortion. As Greg Stohr explains, its sweeping rulings are likely to reverberate for decades.

Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in as the first Black woman to serve on the court.

Trump's 2024 Prospects Dented by Jan. 6 Probe, GOP's Toomey Says
Republican Senator Pat Toomey told Bloomberg Television that the House committee investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol has damaged Trump's chances of winning back the White House in 2024. Steven T. Dennis provides the details on what he said in the interview.

Hutchinson, a former assistant to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, testified on Tuesday to the committee on the Capitol riot, providing a front-row seat into the workings of Trump's inner circle during the attack and days beforehand.

Taken: Tax Liens Cost Generations of Black Americans Their Land
Sales of repossessed assets have stripped thousands of Black families of their property — along with the potential to increase wealth. Read Margaret Newkirk's in-depth account of how it unfolded.

Russian Industry Faces Code Crisis as Critical Software Pulled
Russia's reliance on foreign software to run its factories, farms and oil fields is turning into one of the biggest headaches for domestic industry as more global IT providers pull out of the market in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

Iran Nuclear Talks Likely to Resume After Biden's Mideast Trip
European-led efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal will probably resume following Biden's visit to the region this month, after an intense round of talks in Doha failed to overcome differences, sources say. Jonathan Tirone, Golnar Motevalli and Simone Foxman lay out what's at stake.

Soviet Terror Made Sacrifice Second Nature for Baltics
The three Baltic states' position on NATO's border with Russia has kept them in a heightened sense of alert. Ott Tammik, Milda Seputyte and Aaron Eglitis explain how the people of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have long and bitter memories of domination by Moscow that are driving them to the front line of the response to Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

Estonian soldiers during a NATO exercise on April 14. Photographer: Ben Birchall/PA Images/Getty Images

'No Place Like Home' for Johnson Returning to Sleaze and Strikes
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson returned home after an eight-day summit dash from Rwanda to Spain via Germany's Bavarian Alps to face spreading labor unrest, a slumping pound and data showing the economy is getting worse. Alex Morales and Emily Ashton outline the key issues.

Johnson suspended a member of Parliament from the Conservative Party a day after the lawmaker quit his government post as a political enforcer over an incident involving excessive drinking.

Bolsonaro's Brawl With a Top Justice Tests Brazil's Democracy
In the run-up to October's election, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is facing stiff competition from Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a leftist former president. But as Andrew Rosati and Simone Iglesias write, an even bigger challenge may come from a Supreme Court judge.

And finally … Gabon, the world's second-most forested nation, aims to create 187 million carbon credits, almost half of which may be sold on the offsets market in what would be the single largest issuance in history. As Michael J. Kavanagh and Natasha White report, the Central African nation, which is 88% covered by tropical rainforest, is trying to find a way to preserve its carbon-absorbing wilderness while diversifying its economy from oil, demand for which is expected to plunge in coming decades.