GameStop rallies again
Shares of GameStop soared again on Wednesday, up more than 100% at one stage, leaving analysts perplexed. Some suggested that a mysterious Tweet from major shareholder Ryan Cohen of a picture of a McDonald’s ice cream cone with a frog emoji had somehow stirred the rally. Others pointed to the announcement on Tuesday that GameStop’s chief financial officer Jim Bell will step down on March 26. But most agreed that the strong movements was not a repeat of the sort of short squeeze witnessed in January, although Reuters reports that other so-called “stonks” favoured by retail traders on trading platforms also soared in price. CNBC, Fortune and MarketWatch all have more analysis.
Johnson & Johnson vaccine nears approval
The US Food and Drug Administration is likely to grant Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot covid-19 vaccine formal approval within days. Reports say that an FDA review has found the vaccine to be safe and effective. It will become the third vaccine approved in the United States and between three and four million doses could be rolled out next week--Johnson & Johnson has a contract to deliver 100 million doses to the United States by the end of June. CNN, The New York Times and the BBC have details.
Robert Schuman Hospital row won’t go away
The controversy surrounding the premature vaccination of three members of the board at the Robert Schuman Hospital group continues. In parliament on Wednesday Pirate Party MP Sven Clement said the priority access given to HRS president Jean-Louis Schiltz and vice-presidents Michel Wurth and Claude Seywert was perhaps legal, but he called it “morally unacceptable.” Both Schiltz and Wurth declined to provide comment to our sister publication Paperjam, with Wurth calling the story “ridiculous”.
Luxembourg: positive tests soar to 2-month high
Latest figures from the health ministry show that 324 of the 12,516 swab tests taken in the grand duchy on Tuesday returned positive. That is the highest figure since the end of December. Three further people died after testing positive for Sars-CoV-2, bringing the total to 632 deaths. Health minister Paulette Lenert will hold a press conference on Thursday. Delano continues its rolling coverage.
First Covax doses land in Ghana
Some 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in Accra on Wednesday as Ghana became the first country to be a recipient of the Covax vaccine-sharing initiative. The Covax scheme, launched to enable poorer nations to start inoculation programmes, aims to deliver two billion vaccine doses globally by the end of the year. The BBC and NBC report.
Ceratizit sells stake to Austrian group
Austria-based Plansee Group will become majority shareholder in Ceratizit, in what will be the largest transaction in the Austrian company's history, we reported on Wednesday. Details of the deal remain confidential, but Plansee holds options to acquire the remaining stake in the Luxembourg company.
Tessy expecting
Tessy Antony de Nassau, former wife of Prince Louis, has announced that she is pregnant and expecting her first child with fiancé Frank Floessel. Tessy has two sons from her marriage with Prince Louis. Hello magazine reports.
Syrian colonel sentenced in Germany
A former colonel in the Syrian intelligence service, has been sentenced to four and a half years in jail by a court in Koblenz for aiding and abetting crimes against humanity. Eyad al-Gharib helped arrest at least 30 protesters and took them to the notorious al-Khatib prison, where he knew they would be tortured. The Guardian and The Independent have more.
Amnesty changes Navalny status
Amnesty International will cease labelling Alexei Navalny a “prisoner of conscience” following a campaign of messages it received regarding strongly anti-migrant views he has expressed in the past. In one video Navalny allegedly dressed as a dentist and appeared to compare immigrants to rotten teeth. The Guardian and NPR have more.
Anger at Lyon’s meatless school menus
France likes nothing more than to argue about food, so it is no surprise that a decision by the culinary capital Lyon to temporarily take meat off the menu in schools during the coronavirus pandemic has caused a public row. The Guardian and France24 report.
Record cocaine hauls
More than 23 tonnes of cocaine destined for the Netherlands has been seized by officials in Hamburg and Antwerp. The Hamburg haul alone had an estimated street sales value of between €1.5bn and €3.5bn. The BBC and Deutsche Welle have details.
New Zealand police call for more pubs
As if you couldn’t be any more jealous of New Zealand right now, the police force in the city of Dunedin on the South Island is calling for more pubs. Otago university is home to 20,000 students who enjoy what The Guardian describes as a “hedonistic vibe”, which can result in alcohol poisoning and couch burning--though that pastime seems to be losing its appeal, with only 13 incidents reported last year compared with 250 in 2010. Alcohol harm reduction officer Sergeant Ian Paulin is quoted as saying that introducing “a couple of large-capacity licensed premises that students could drink in” would help police get them in a controlled environment.
Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Duncan Roberts