US wants WHO help in covid investigation

The Biden administration is calling for a full investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. White House senior Covid-19 advisor Andy Slavitt said on Tuesday that “whatever the answer may be” the world needs to know whether the virus came from a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology or from a natural anomaly. “We need to get to the bottom of this…we need a completely transparent process from China,” Slavitt, whose son was last week revealed to have long-term covid, told reporters. He called on the World Health Organization to assist in the investigation. He was backed by White House chief medical advisor Dr Anthony Fauci, who said that it still hasn’t been 100% proven that the coronavirus jumped from an animal to humans. CNBC, the FT and Newsweek have more.

Moderna vaccine 100% effective in adolescents

Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel has said that the pharmaceutical company’s coronavirus vaccine is “highly effective at preventing Covid-19 in adolescents” following clinical trials of more than 3,700 12- to 17-year olds. Indeed, Moderna says that the vaccine proved to be 100% effective two weeks after the second doses were administered in that age group. If approved by the Food and Drug Administration--Moderna plans to apply in early June--it would join the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as the second available to adolescents in the USA. Moderna also started trials of its vaccine in children ages 6 months to 11 years old back in March this year. NBC, USA Today, and The Irish Times report.

Amazon to create 600 new jobs in Luxembourg…

Weeks after announcing it would be adding significantly to its workforce in Metz, retail giant Amazon has said it will add 600 new jobs in Luxembourg. A statement from the company on Tuesday said it would be recruiting management staff but also in various R&D field including software development, data science, machine learning and solutions architecture.

…faces lawsuit in DC

District of Columbia attorney general Karl Racine has filed a lawsuit against Amazon for causing “prices across the entire online retail sales market to be artificially inflated”. The lawsuit says Amazon has been charging third-party sellers on its site fees of up to 40% of a product's price and prevents them from charging less on other platforms. Amazon responded by saying “sellers set their own prices for the products they offer in our store.” The Washington Post, CNBC, the FT, and BBC have details.

George Floyd family lobbies for police reform

Relatives of George Floyd met with Joe Biden and vice-president Kamala Harris at the White House on Tuesday, the one-year anniversary of the murder of Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Philonise Floyd, George’s brother, said after the meeting that Biden was “a genuine guy. They [Biden and Harris] always speak from the heart.” The family is lobbying for police reform including a national registry of police misconduct, a ban on racial and religious profiling, and an overhaul of qualified immunity for police officers. According to reports, Biden spent time during the one-hour private visit playing with George's seven-year old daughter Gianna. But George’s sister Bridgett did not attend and said that Biden had broken a promise to have the reform passed into law in time for the anniversary. CNN and the BBC have more.

Belarus: opposition calls for tough action from west

Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has called for a tougher response from the west to pressure the administration of president Alexander Lukashenko. Talking about the fate of journalist Raman Pratasevich, who was taken from a Ryanair flight that was forced to land in Minsk at the weekend, Tsikhanouskaya said it was clear he was acting “under pressure” in a video confession broadcast on Tuesday. “He’s been taken hostage in an act of state terrorism,” she said. Tsikhanouskaya has called for Belarus’s “democratic forces” to take part in next month’s G7 summit in the UK and for the Biden administration to impose “sanctions and political isolation” on Lukashenko. The Guardian and Deutsche Welle have more.

New Fonds de Belval director

Daniela Di Santo has taken over the reins of Fonds Belval after serving as its interim director since 1 March of this year. Delano reports.

Epstein guards avoid jail time

Two prison guards accused of falling asleep and surfing the internet on the night Jeffrey Epstein killed himself have escaped jail sentences under a deferred prosecution agreement. Tova Noel and Michael Thomas will serve six months of supervised release and complete 100 hours of community service if they cooperate with a Department of Justice probe into the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death. Reuters and CNBC report.

Uefa opens proceedings against Super League trio

European football authorities have started disciplinary proceedings against Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus “for a potential violation of Uefa's legal framework” following their refusal to reject the European Super League they had initially joined along with nine other clubs. The BBC and Sky Sports have details.

Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Duncan Roberts