The U.K. has eased its lockdown further with the reopening of non-essential shops and perhaps the most keenly-missed social hotspot — pubs — able to welcome customers to their gardens again on Monday. Hairdressers, beauty and nail salons and indoor leisure facilities such as gyms and spas are now allowed to reopen and overnight stays […] Read more
Controversy over AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine has sparked some investor concerns about its stock, according to Jefferies – but it’s not all bad news for the British pharmaceutical company. Australia, the Philippines and the African Union have become the latest to either curb or abandon planned purchases of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca coronavirus shot due to possible links to […] Read more
The British government and health experts in the country have rushed to defend the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford following concerns over a possible link to blood clots. On Wednesday, the U.K.’s health and vaccine regulators issued a change of guidance over who should receive the shot. They now recommend that […] Read more
Europe’s medicines regulator found a possible link between the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford and rare blood clotting issues — though it said the benefits of getting the shot still outweigh its risks. Unusual blood clotting with low blood platelets will be added as a “very rare” side effect to the vaccine’s […] Read more
China — The value of the cryptocurrency market topped $2 trillion for the first time on Monday driven by a rally in ether, the second-largest digital coin. In just over two months, the market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market has doubled, according to price tracking website CoinGecko, as retail and institutional investors pile into the space. […] Read more
President Emmanuel Macron extended movement restrictions to cover the whole of France and said schools would close for three weeks as he sought to push back a third wave of COVID-19 infections that threatens to overwhelm hospitals. Macron said he was extending the lockdown rules already in place in Paris, swathes of the north and parts of […] Read more
More Senate Democrats are pressuring President Joe Biden to extend rescue measures as the U.S. recovers from a coronavirus-fueled economic drubbing. Twenty-one members of the Senate Democratic caucus wrote to the president Tuesday urging him to include recurring direct payments and enhanced jobless benefits as part of his recovery plan. The senators, led by Finance Committee Chair […] Read more
LONDON — Algeria, Chad, Iraq and Nigeria will be among the first countries to experience political instability as oil producers feel the effects of a transition to low carbon energy production, according to a new report from risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft. In its 2021 Political Risk Outlook, published Thursday, the firm cautioned that countries that […] Read more
German Chancellor Angela Merkel reversed plans on Wednesday for a coronavirus lockdown over Easter amid criticism from experts and officials over the move. The plans had called for placing the country in a strict lockdown over the Easter holiday — which would have seen all shops and churches close from April 1-5. “We must try […] Read more
Turkey’s lira fell dramatically on Monday morning after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fired the country’s central bank chief — the third to be fired in two years — sending shockwaves through the investor community. The currency plunged more than 16% in early morning Asian trading, according to analysts, hitting 8.4 against the dollar compared to […] Read more
