Semedo gives her side of the story
Monica Semedo has shared, in her own words, the events leading up to her suspension as an MEP and resignation from the DP in an op-ed exclusively published in English on Delano.lu and in French on Paperjam.lu. In the op-ed, Semedo apologised to the three former staffers who filed harassment claims against her, writing that “I take full responsibility for my actions” and that she has learned from the episode. At the same time, she said that some of the reactions in Luxembourg “highlighted a very unpleasant segment of our society” and explained the rift with DP leadership that led her to quit the party. Semedo stated that she intends to serve out her term as MEP.
Italy’s largest party backs Draghi
The populist Five Star Movement voted to back Mario Draghi as Italy’s next prime minister, which could give the former European Central Bank chief a broadly supported and relatively stable unity government. Sources: CNBC, Euronews and Financial Times.
Trump prosecution rests
Impeachment prosecutors concluded their case against Donald Trump, for inciting violence, warning that an acquittal would “set a new terrible standard for presidential misconduct” and that “he can do this again” if not convicted. Sources: BBC, Financial Times, NPR and Reuters.
Arrests in reported terrorist plot centred around Copenhagen
Danish and German authorities arrested 14 people for allegedly planning attacks using explosive chemicals. Sources: AFP, AP and DW.
Brussels and Britain to continue Northern Ireland talks
The EU and UK had a “frank but constructive discussion” about Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trading rules on Thursday evening, promising to “spare no effort” in implementing solutions. Sources: BBC, The Guardian, Politico and RTE.
Dutch financial capital clips City
Amsterdam replaced London as Europe’s largest share trading centre in January. Sources: BBC, Financial Times, The Guardian and Reuters.
Possible aid plan for self-employed
Luxembourg’s labour minister, Dan Kersch (LSAP), has floated a wage subsidy for self-employed people who cannot work due to the pandemic. Sources: Delano and Paperjam.
Latest Luxembourg covid-19 update
Out of 11,449 PCR tests conducted on 10 February, 200 people were positive for the coronavirus. That is a rate of 31.94 per 100,000 inhabitants (compared to 31.78 on 3 February). The effective reproduction rate was 1.00, the target threshold (compared to 1.05). There were 63 patients in hospital (compared to 58), including 13 in intensive care (compared to 12). Two people died due to covid-19, bringing the national total to 604. A collective total of 19,923 vaccine doses have been administered in the grand duchy, including 4,871 people who have received a second dose. Sources: Delano and health ministry.
Bitcoin breaks record on bank boost
The price of bitcoin hit a new high (more than $48,000) after BNY Mellon, one of America’s largest banks, and the payments network Mastercard separately said they would support the cryptocurrency. Sources: Bloomberg, CNBC, Financial Times and Reuters.
BBC banned in China
Beijing has blocked the BBC World Service, citing its coverage of the treatment of the Uighur ethnic minority. The UK’s media regulator barred CGTN, China’s state-backed broadcaster, last week. Sources: BBC, DW, NPR and RTE.
Huawei taking HSBC to court
The Chinese telecoms giant Huawei asked the UK high court to force HSBC to provide documents that Huawei claims could exonerate its CFO, Meng Wanzhou, who faces extradition from Canada to the US in a trade sanctions case. Meng has denied the allegations. HSBC said the application was “without merit”. Sources: BBC and The Guardian.
Dating app soars after IPO
The value of Bumble jumped from $8bn to $13bn in its first day of trading. Sources: BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC and Financial Times.
Pot stocks come down after recent high
Shares in cannabis producers including Tilray crashed by 20%-40% on Thursday, after being driven up earlier this week by social media chatter among the same users who created the Gamestop bubble last month. Sources: Bloomberg, CityAM, CNBC and Marketwatch.
Streaming helps Disney earnings recover
Disney returned to profit in the fourth quarter, despite its theme parks being closed due the pandemic, with the number of subscribers to its Disney+ video streaming service rising from 87m to 95m in the month of December. Sources: CityAM, CNBC, Financial Times and Reuters.
ArcelorMittal: Shift in leadership and finances
Executive transition: Europe’s largest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal, said that Aditya Mittal, head of its European busines, will become the group’s new CEO, replacing his father, Lakshmi N. Mittal, who founded the company in 1976 and will become executive chairman, per Bloomberg, Delano and Seeking Alpha. Earnings: The company reported higher than expected fourth quarter earnings, swung into net profit and wiped a chunk of debt of its books, per Marketwatch and Seeking Alpha. Redundancies: ArcelorMittal will lay off 20% of its office staff as part of a plan to cut $1bn in costs, per Reuters. Outlook: The firm said it expects steel global demand to rise by 4.5%-5.5% this year, compared to -1% last year, per S&P Global.
Auditor quits adult site operator
The accounting firm Grant Thornton has resigned as auditor to several Mindgeek subsidiaries in Ireland. Mindgeek, headquartered in Luxembourg, owns Pornhub, which has been cut off by major payments networks after allegations that the adult site hosted videos featuring child abuse and sexual assault victims. Sources: Irish Independent, Irish Times, Journal.ie and RTE.
Markle wins tabloid suit
The duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, won her privacy case against Associated Newspapers, which publishes the Mail on Sunday and Mail Online, over publishing a private letter to her father. The judge set a hearing on damages for 2 March. Sources: AFP, Financial Times, The Guardian and Reuters.
Here are 7 science & technology stories you may have missed
Apps: The Danish government has released few details about its proposed “corona passport” leaving MIT Technology Review slightly skeptical. Health: Researchers have “found a coronavirus in the horseshoe bat Rhinolophus acuminatus in Thailand that was 91.5 per cent similar to Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes covid-19,” per the Straits Times. Health: People may need to get a seasonal covid-19 vaccination, like a seasonal flu jab, due to virus mutations, the CEO of Johnson & Johnson (which makes a single dose vaccine candidate) told CNBC. IT: Apple and Google have issued urgent security updates for mobile phones, per Popular Science. IT: Microsoft said about 15% of queries on its Bing search engine are misspelled and it is rolling out new spelling correction software for more than 100 languages, including Luxembourgish, per ZDnet. Public health: More than half of Israel’s population has been vaccinated, but New York magazine looks at why covid-19 infection rates keep rising and why that may persist. Virology: British researchers started a study to see if first and second doses can be administered with different coronavirus vaccines, per the AP.
Chick Corea dies
The American jazz musician Chick Corea, who won 23 Grammys, died due to cancer at the age of 79. Sources: AP, BBC, NPR and Rolling Stone.
Seafood rebranding
UK fisherman are renaming megrim sole as Cornish sole and spider crab will now be called Cornish king crab in a post-Brexit bid to attract more British buyers, per the BBC.
Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Aaron Grunwald