Author: News Desk

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is reportedly under pressure to resign her post, after a disastrous and short-lived where the EU President took a decision to block vaccines travelling to the UK. The call to block vaccines entering the UK, after a dispute with drugmaker AstraZeneca vaccine over a shortage of supply, would have breached the Belfast Good Friday peace agreement by creating an internal border on the island of Ireland. The EU quickly retreated from its position after a global backlash, with Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove saying Brussels had recognised its “mistake”. AstraZeneca vaccine shortages The…

The German government slashed this year’s economic growth predictions to 3% on Wednesday citing the impact of coronavirus lockdowns, a drop from last autumn’s 4.4% forecast. Chancellor Angela Merkel and state leaders agreed last week to extend the shutdown until mid-February. GDP Growth forecast “We are currently seeing a flattening of the number of infections, which is giving hope,” said Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said. The economy shrank by a smaller-than-expected 5% last year, which marked the second-biggest economic plunge in the country’s post-war history. The record slump of -5.7 came in 2009 in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Altmaeir said Germany…

Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has said he met with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over plans to force tech giants to pay for news sourced from local media outlets, but the Facebook chief executive and founder was unable to shift the position of the leaders. Mr Frydenberg said he and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher met with Mr Zuckerberg last week after the Facebook chief executive “reached out” to the ministers to discuss the matter in more detail. Facebook wants to post without paying But the facebook founder was unable to move the Government’s position on the code. It has been alleged…

Myanmar’s military has taken control of the country after detaining de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other politicians in the early hours. Following election Fraud allegations. The armed forces in Myanmar have confirmed that they have carried out a coup d’etat, their first against a civilian government since 1962, and in apparent violation of the constitution which the military promised to honour as recently as last Saturday. But allegations by the army of widespread voter fraud, which the electoral commission denies, have led to the most direct confrontation yet between the civilian Government and the military, who share power…

Hedge fund Melvin Capital lost 53% in January, as wall street feels the hurt from Gamestop stock gamble, according to media reports. The latest surge in silver comes as the damage to one Wall Street firm becomes clearer. However, the firm received commitments for fresh cash from investors in the last days of January and ended the month with $8bn (£5.8bn) in assets after having started the year with roughly $12.5bn, according to Reuters. The firm had bet that ailing video game retailer GameStop’s stock, which traded at less than $5 five months ago, would fall further. But retail investors,…

Silver stock prices leapt to a five-month high on Monday on social media calls to buy the metal and emulate the frenzy that drove up GameStop shares. The recent GameStop surge, which was also fuelled by retail investors, was also seen as a revolt against large institutional investors. Demand for silver is going crazy and rippling through to other commodities and stocks. Shares in a handful of smaller Australian mining firms surged as small-time traders bought en masse. Coin-selling websites also reported unprecedented demand and flagged delays in delivering silver. Silver rose as much as 7% to $28.99 an ounce,…

Queen Elizabeth is set to host President Joe Biden and a slate of other world leaders at Buckingham Palace before the Group of Seven (G7) summit in June. The United Kingdom is set to host the first in-person G7 summit since 2019 in June in Cornwall, England. The G7 is composed of the U.K., the U.S., Germany, France, Canada, Italy and Japan. The queen will be joined by fellow members of the royal family, including Charles, the Prince of Wales, and his wife, Duchess of Cornwall Camilla Parker Bowles, in addition to Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, and his…

Abu Dhabi-based a thriving Gulf Startup FinTech company, Nymcard has raised $7.6 million funding in its opening series. The first round led by Shorooq Partners to fuel its growth within the Gulf and MENA region. OTF Jasoor Ventures and Venture Souq also participated in the round. Nymcard focuses on processing transactions and issuing cards, including online cards, on behalf of banks, financial institutions and FinTechs that connect to mobile platforms. It does not compete with payment giants like MasterCard and Visa, but works with them, enabling digital and mobile-first applications to process payments. https://twitter.com/NymCard/status/1305475623914295297 The Middle East Sees a booming…

Bahrain marked the completion of its UAE-funded Bahrain International Airport expansion project with a flight to Abu Dhabi to “thank colleagues and friends” at the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) on Thursday. The new expansion of Bahrain International Airport builds on a 94-year history of being the region’s first airport and aviation hub. The expansion, to which the UAE contributed $3.7 billion, has the capacity to accommodate 14 million passengers annually. “We completed the project in record time, some four years from inception to operation,” he said. The new terminal at Bahrain International Airport is four times the size…

Brief. BrIEf.Me In today’s briefing update, we look at Sunday’s top stories. Most papers focus on the vaccine showdown, Covid-19 frontline workers and the possibility gambling logos will be removed from Sport’s jerseys. Also featured: The latest Covid-19 figures, Sports, business and entertainment news.  …………………………….. Several papers set out details of what the Sun on Sunday calls Boris Johnson’s “seven hour showdown” with EU chiefs. A senior government official tells the Sunday Times and the Sun that the phone calls to  President Ursula von der Leyen were “pretty spicy”. The Mail on Sunday suggests contingency plans were drawn up to…