Irish border options dominate Brexit talks
The Guardian reports that British prime minister Theresa May sets off for a two-day visit to Northern Ireland on Tuesday. May is adamant that she will find a way to deliver a Brexit that “commands broad support across the community” and that British parliament will also approve. The BBC says that the so-called “maximum facilitation” option for the Irish border is again gaining traction. In Brussels, European Commission general secretary Martin Selmayr met with MPs from the cross-party Brexit Committee, but later tweeted that “on the EU side, nobody is considering” legally binding assurances on the backstop--a statement that The Spectator analyses more deeply. German chancellor Angela Merkel said that a creative solution could be found, Reuters reports. Meanwhile, The Irish Times has an excellent “bullshitter’s” guide to everything related to Brexit.
Trump to nominate Malpass for World Bank
Despite all the rumours surrounding Ivanka Trump earlier this year, US president Donald Trump will apparently announce on Wednesday that senior treasury department official David Malpass is his pick as the U.S. nominee to replace Jim Yong Kim as president of the World Bank. Reuters says Malpass is a “Trump loyalist and a skeptic of multilateral institutions”. The news agency says several capitals have been informed of the nomination and that “European shareholders of the bank were not likely to block it.”
Boeing shares hit record
Shares in aircraft manufacturer Boeing hit an all-time high on Monday on the back of fourth quarter results, CNBC reports. CEO Dennis Muilenburg said he sees “strong demand in China overall” that could further boost the company’s performance over the next two decades.
Alphabet concerns over advertising revenue
Continuing pressure on advertising prices and decreasing margins saw shares in Google parent company Alphabet fall by 3% on Monday. CNBC says 4th quarter results show that cost per click on Google properties dropped 29% from last year and 9% from the previous quarter.
Cryptocurrency millions inaccessible
Account holders with Canadian cryptocurrency platform Quadriga have been denied access to their funds after the founder of the currency exchange died. Gerald Cotton was apparently the only person with the encrypted access to the money--some $190 million, according to The Guardian. A “cold wallet” on Cotten’s computer is only accessible physically, says Reuters.
Deadly Paris fire
The BBC reports that a fire in a Paris apartment building in the early hours of Tuesday has left 7 dead and 30 injured. The death toll of the blaze in the city’s 16th arrondissement could still rise.
Dirty thieves
Thieves who mounted a bank heist in Antwerp over the weekend crawled through sewers to access the vaults, The Guardian reports.
Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Duncan Roberts