A Trade Truce, an Iran Warning and Truly Wild Weather

(Bloomberg) --

A U.S.-EU trade deal, Donald Trump’s war of words with Iranian officials and government efforts to contend with a spate of wild weather across the globe dominated headlines this week.

Here’s a sampling of our best coverage of these and other stories from the past seven days. 

Booming Economy Hasn’t Given House Republican Candidates Election Edge
The economy is robust, consumers are spending and Republicans are still increasingly at risk of losing their grip on Congress. Arit John, Laura Litvan and Katia Dmitrieva explain why yesterday’s report that U.S. economic growth accelerated in the second quarter at the fastest pace since 2014 hasn’t translated into political safety for the majority party. 

Russia-U.S. Syria Deal Hits Trouble as Post-Summit Tensions Grow
One of the main deals announced between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at their summit last week – coordinated steps to help stabilize the situation in Syria  – is already running into trouble, Henry Meyer reports. 

War of Words With Donald Trump Is Least of Worries for Iranians
Golnar Motevalli reports from Tehran, where this week’s fiery exchanges between Trump and President Hassan Rouhani have heightened fears that a downward economic spiral is to come. 

Koch Network Contemplates Era When Neither Brother Leads Fight
John McCormick explores how the Republican political machine established by Charles and David Koch is preparing for the day the billionaire brothers will no longer be at its helm. 

Elected Leaders Are Making the World Less Democratic
More countries are holding elections, but, on average, the world is becoming less democratic for the first time in decades. While Hungarians, Russians, Turks and Venezuelans voted this year, their ballots didn’t count for much.  Bloomberg’s interactive graphics package provides the full story. 

U.K. Ministers Fear Bloody Last Chapter of May’s Brexit Thriller
Tim Ross and Kitty Donaldson chronicle the terror that’s gripped members of Theresa May’s team about the possibility that Brexit talks – set to resume in mid-August  – could fail. 

Trump’s Deregulators Emboldened by Kavanaugh Pick for SCOTUS 
Jennifer A. Dlouhy and Josh Eidelson take a closer look at how political appointees at agencies across the U.S. government are developing plans to dial back Obama-era rules in anticipation of Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation. 

Secret Tapes Have Resurgent Peru Tangled in Sleaze Again
John Quigley explains how recordings leaked in a drug-trafficking probe are imperiling Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski’s  administration  – and that of his successor – and threatening what many saw as the best chance of setting a $215 billion economy on firm footing.

Global Election Watch

• Cambodian strongman leader Hun Sen is set to extend his more-than-three-decade-run in power in tomorrow’s election, but he has to make it look credible enough to prevent the EU and U.S. from eliminating duty-free access for the garment industry.
• Click here for a preview of the challenges facing Zimbabwe’s next ruler ahead of Monday’s national elections. 

And finally…When Kathleen Howell watched the first lunar landing as a teenager in 1969, she was more intrigued by the looping route that brought the Apollo 11 astronauts from Earth to the Sea of Tranquility and back than she was by the idea of walking on the moon. Orbits became her life’s passion, and now NASA has decided that one of Howell’s specialties –  a ­near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) – would be an ideal place to put a planned way station for future human flights to the moon and eventually Mars. Whether you watched last night’s lunar eclipse or not, read more about how one woman’s math could help put humans on Mars. 

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