Minnesota police chief says shooting was “an accidental discharge”
The Twin City region of Minneapolis and St Paul is under a nighttime curfew after Daunte Wright, a 20 year old Black man, was shot and killed by a police officer during a traffic stop. Tim Gannon, police chief of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, said the officer meant to use her Taser but mistakenly fired her handgun. The officer, Kim Potter, has been placed on administrative leave. The incident took place near where Derek Chauvin, a former police officer, is standing trial for the death of George Floyd. Chauvin has pleaded not guilty to all the charges he faces. Sources: BBC, CNN, DW, The Guardian and NPR.
Cameron to face scrutiny in Greensill inquiry
The UK government commissioned an independent investigation into lobbying by Greensill Capital, a collapsed financial firm, including work done for it by David Cameron, a former British prime minister. Sources: Bloomberg, CNBC, Financial Times and The Guardian.
Fukushima radioactive water plan
The Japanese government outlined plans to release more than 1m tonnes of contaminated (but treated) water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea. The Chinese and South Korean governments have objected. Sources: Bloomberg, The Guardian, Reuters and South China Morning Post.
Suez & Veolia finally strike deal
After months of tense negotiations, the French waste and water groups Suez and Veolia have agreed to a tie-up. Veolia’s takeover values Suez at €13bn. Sources: Dow Jones, Financial Times, Marketwatch and Paperjam.
Microsoft buys Nuance
Microsoft is acquiring Nuance, a software outfit specialised in artificial intelligence and speech recognition in the health sector, in a $19.7bn deal. Sources: BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC and Techcrunch.
Darktrace plans IPO
The cybersecurity firm Darktrace could be valued at between £2.5bn and £3bn in a planned London listing. Sources: CNBC, Financial Times, The Guardian and Sky News.
Ant agrees to restructuring
The Chinese tech giant Alibaba said it would restructure its Ant financial unit (which probably means it will pare back its product line) after being fined $2.8bn by regulators for antitrust violations. Sources: BBC, Bloomberg, CNN and Financial Times.
Columbia Threadneedle to buy BMO’s EMEA asset manager
Canada’s BMO Financial Group will sell its European investment business to the US asset manager Columbia Threadneedle for $845m. Sources: Citywire, Financial Times, Pensions & Investments and Reuters.
Banking Circle scores payments contract
Luxembourg-based Banking Circle won a contract to provide financial infrastructure services to the Dutch outfit Online Payment Platform. Sources: Delano and Paperjam.
Paris plans to ban short-haul flights
French MPs voted in favour of a bill that would prohibit short-haul domestic flights between cities with rail connections, in a bid to reduce carbon emissions. The measure now moves to the French senate. Sources: BBC, The Guardian, NZ Herald and RFI.
Laschet secures “broad support” from CDU
Germany’s CDU party backed Armin Laschet, premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, as their candidate for chancellor in September’s general election. But Markus Söder, premier of Bavaria and leader of the CSU, its sister party, has not stepped aside. The CDU and CSU run in national elections together. Sources: DW, Financial Times, Irish Times and Politico.
WHO warns against “complacency”
The World Health Organization said the covid-19 crisis was far from over, with 4.4m new cases recorded last week and warning the rate was growing “exponentially”. Sources: CNBC, DW, The Guardian and RTE.
Latest Luxembourg covid-19 update
There were 128 covid-19 patients in hospital on 11 April (compared to 137 on 5 April), including 29 in intensive care (compared to 32). The reproduction rate was 0.96, below the target threshold of 1.00 (compared to 0.95). Four people died due to the coronavirus on Sunday, bringing the national total to 772. A cumulative 130,279 vaccine doses have been administered, including 34,225 people who have received two jabs. Sources: Delano and health ministry.
Digital art gallery opens physical space in Manhattan
Superchief Gallery NFT, a gallery specialised in art works sold as non-fungible tokens, has opened its doors in New York City. It sold $150,000 during its first week. Sources: Cheddar, New York and Reuters.
The one with the Friends reunion
Filming of Friends: The Reunion has wrapped, but streaming service HBO Max has not announced a release date. The American sitcom Friends was originally produced from 1994 to 2004. Sources: BBC, Entertainment Weekly, Harper’s Bazaar and the Independent.
Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Aaron Grunwald