Yellen wants quick approval of $1.9tn relief package

Janet Yellen wants the US to “act big” on coronavirus relief spending and worry about how to recover debt later. Joe Biden’s pick for treasury secretary was speaking at her confirmation hearing on Tuesday when she said that “without further action we risk a longer, more painful recession now and longer-term scarring of the economy later.” The former Federal Reserve chair told the Senate finance committee that Biden had ambitious plans for investing in infrastructure, research and development, and worker training. She also said that the US under Biden would not seek to create a weaker dollar to gain competitive advantage. And Yellen took issue with China “stealing intellectual property”. Reuters and the FT have more.

McConnell says Trump provoked Capitol insurrection

Outgoing senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has said that the mob that attacked the Capitol on 6 January was fed lies. “They were provoked by the president and other powerful people,” McConnell told the Senate. If Donald Trump is convicted, the Senate will most likely vote on banning him from running again for president. But Trump, in a pre-recorded farewell speech said that “political violence is an attack on everything we cherish as Americans. It can never be tolerated.” CNBC, Reuters and CNN have more.

Conte wins crucial vote

Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte has just scraped through a vote to stay in power, though without an absolute majority. Former prime minister Matteo Renzi had pulled his party out of the coalition and opposition parties are still likely to demand that president Sergio Mattarella pressures Conte to resign. The BBC and CNBC report.

Biden plans anti-trust tsar

Joe Biden is considering creating a position in the White House for some sort of tsar-like competition policy antitrust coordinator, says Reuters in an exclusive.

Pompeo says China is committing genocide

Outgoing US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and Joe Biden's picks for the job, Antony Blinken, have agreed on findings at the department that China has committed genocide against the Uighurs and other mainly Muslim peoples. “We are witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy Uighurs by the Chinese party-state,” Pompeo said on Tuesday. The BBC, the FT, and  Time all report.

Luxembourg coronavirus latest

85 people tested positive for the coronavirus on Monday in the grand duchy and three further people died after testing positive for Sars-CoV-2, according to figures released by the health ministry. 447 people received a second vaccine dose and 367 their first dose. Delano is providing daily updates.

Covid roundup

Germany: A new variant of the coronavirus has been discovered among 35 patients at a hospital in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, CNBC and Deutsche Welle report. Japan: as the country battles a third wave of infections, medical experts have warned that some hospitals are on the brink of collapse, while a new variant was found in three patients in the Shizuoka prefecture, The Guardian and The Japan Times report. Israel: the country’s coronavirus tsar has warned that a single dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine may be less effective than originally thought. Israel has been held up as a model for distributing the vaccine, but on Monday reported a record 10,000 new covid infections, The Guardian reports.

Luxembourg mid ranking in GDPR breaches

Luxembourg notified regulators of 375 data breaches in the past 12 months, according to global law firm DLA Piper. The grand duchy has reported a total of 920 data breaches, and ranks 18th in a league table of European countries, but has not issued any fines since the tough general data protection regulation (GDPR) entered into law on 25 May 2018. Delano has more details.

EU border control boss under fire

Fabrice Leggeri, the director of the EU’s Frontex border control task force, has been called upon to resign after being accused misleading the European Parliament in December. Leggeri had tried to explain the lack of recruitment of “fundamental rights officers” at Frontex. The force is already under investigation by the EU’s anti-fraud watchdog. The Guardian reports.

Balladur on trial

The trial has begun of former French prime minister Édouard Balladur, who is accused of illegally financing his 1995 presidential campaign with funds from international arms deals. France 24 and The Guardian have details.

Levine to be first openly transgender federal officer

Rachel Levine, who is set to become Joe Biden’s assistant secretary of health, will be the first ever openly transgender federal official if confirmed by the US Senate. The Philadelphia Enquirer and Associated Press report.

Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Duncan Roberts