Biden presents pandemic recovery programme
Joe Biden outlined the $1.9trn economic stimulus package he will submit to the US congress after he takes office. Measures include direct cash payments to families and small businesses, raising the minimum wage, temporarily increasing unemployment benefits, and more spending on education, healthcare, infrastructure and climate change. Taxes on corporations and wealthy families would likely rise. Sources: Bloomberg, CNBC, Financial Times, The Guardian and NPR.
J&J vaccine on track
Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose covid vaccine candidate was safe and 100% effective in a preliminary trial. Results from a larger study are expected to be released later this month, and it could be available in Europe on 1 April. Sources: CNBC, Marketwatch, New York Times and Reuters.
Previous virus infection offers protection: PHE study
Patients who contract covid-19 will likely be immune from being reinfected for at least 5 months, according to preliminary research by Public Health England. Sources: AFP, BBC, CNN and Reuters.
France curfew extended
The French government has moved up its nightly curfew from 8pm to 6pm nationally. The 6pm to 6am rule has already applied to the departments neighbouring Luxembourg since 2 January. Sources: BBC, DPA, France 24 and Euronews.
Latest Luxembourg covid-19 figures
There were 114 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday, with 499 people receiving inoculations. Source: Delano and health ministry.
No Sunday shopping
Luxembourg’s small and medium-sized enterprises ministry has cancelled the authorisation for retailers to open on Sundays for the winter sale period. Shops had previously been set to operate on Sundays between 24 January and 14 February. Sources: Paperjam and SME ministry.
Space wine back on terra firma
12 bottles of Bordeaux wine and several vine snippets that spent a year on board the International Space Station, as part of an experiment run by Luxembourg-based startup Space Cargo Unlimited, have returned to Earth. The bottles will be opened, tasted and chemically analysed starting in late February. Sources: AP, Cnet, Spaceflight Now and USA Today.
Blackrock boomed in Q4
Investors put $391bn of their cash into funds run by Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, in the fourth quarter of 2020. That brought assets under management to $8.68trn, compared to $7.43trn the previous year. Sources: Barron’s, Bloomberg, CNBC and Seeking Alpha.
DB Schenker will “postpone all shipments” to UK “until further notice”
The German logistics group DB Schenker has joined other firms in suspending delivery service to Britain due to post-Brexit paperwork bottlenecks. Sources: Bloomberg, DW, Financial Times and The Loadstar.
Norwegian cuts transatlantic flights
The budget carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle said it would withdraw from the long-haul market and focus on the European short-haul and domestic markets. Sources: AP, Financial Times, The Guardian and Reuters.
German big tech bill passes
Germany’s parliament approved a law, targeted to tamp down digital giants, that would permit the country’s competition authority to preventatively ban market-abusing behaviour before companies gain outsized influence. Sources: Euractiv, Lexology and Politico.
Fleetwood Mac co-founder sells royalty rights
Mick Fleetwood became the latest artist to sell his catalogue rights. The music publisher BMG bought Fleetwood’s share of more than 300 songs, including ‘Dreams’ and ‘Go your own way’, for an undisclosed amount. Sources: BBC, Financial Times, The Guardian and Rolling Stone.
Tintin drawing sold for record amount
“The Blue Lotus”, a 1936 painting by the Belgian illustrator Georges Remi, better known as Hergé, sold for €3.2m. Sources: BBC, DW, Reuters and the Telegraph.
EU top court’s first Irish language case
The European Court of Justice, in Kirchberg, issued its first opinion in the Irish language. The case involves the requirement that pet medicines sold in Ireland be labelled in both English and Irish. The ECJ has now heard cases in all 24 official EU languages. Sources: Courthouse News Service, Euronews and RTE.
EU top court says minors can’t be deported if they will be homeless
The European Court of Justice ruled that EU countries cannot deport unaccompanied minors if they are unsure the children will have a suitable place to stay when they return. Sources: DW, Ansa and @EUCourtPress.
Navalny warned that he’ll be arrested upon return
The Russian prison service said that Alexei Navalny, the opposition leader currently recovering in Germany after being poisoned, faces 3 years of detention if he returns to Russia as planned on Sunday. Sources: DW, The Guardian and Reuters.
North Korea displays new missile
A ballistic missile that can be launched from submarines was featured in a military parade in Pyongyang. Sources: BBC, DW, The Guardian and Reuters.
Here are 5 science & technology stories you may have missed
Environment: 2020 tied with 2016 as the hottest year on record, per The Guardian. Fauna: Researchers analysing high speed video determined that woodpeckers do not get stuck in trees because their upper and lower beaks peck independently of each other, per Science magazine. Fauna: Researchers documented the existence of two dwarf giraffes, per Smithsonian magazine. Medical history: Nature reviews a new book about Elizabeth Blackwell, first woman doctor in the US (who graduated medical school in 1849), and her sister Emily Blackwell, who was the country’s third female physician, while Smithsonian magazine says they’ve been ‘shortchanged’ by history. Medicine: Scientists do not know yet if people who’ve been vaccinated can still transmit the virus that causes covid-19 or not, per Quartz.
Japanese town builds giant gorilla scarecrow
Residents of Chikuzen, about 1,000km southwest of Tokyo, constructed a 7m straw “gorilla to encourage people to tough out the coronavirus pandemic,” per the Kyodo news agency. Last year, the town of Takikawa, in northern Japan, put up a pair of giant wolf robots, to scare off bears, per CBS News.
Siegfried of Siegfried & Roy dies
The magician Siegfried Fischbacher, of Siegfried & Roy, died of cancer in Las Vegas at the age of 81. Sources: BBC, DPA, DW and People.
Dish on SATC paycheques
The 3 stars of the Sex and the City reboot, And Just Like That..., will reportedly earn more than $1m per episode, per Variety.
Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Aaron Grunwald