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Here’s what you need to know
Brits receive their first Covid-19 vaccines… On “V-day,” high-risk groups will be the first to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech shots. And if the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is approved in coming weeks, the UK will test giving patients a dose of each of the available vaccines.
…while their PM heads to Brussels to push through Brexit gridlock. Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen talked on the phone yesterday, but working out their differences will require an in-person meeting.
Romania’s prime minister resigned. Ludovic Orban’s centrist National Liberal party was narrowly defeated by the populist opposition Social Democrats, with whom he has ruled out forming a coalition.
Hungary and Poland face a deadline. If they refuse to lift their veto on the European Union’s budget, the bloc will start preparing a new pandemic recovery fund without them.
Goldman Sachs will fully own its China business. The US firm has applied to boost its ownership of a securities joint venture from 51% to 100%, deepening its investment in the world’s second-largest economy.
Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, and ANZ are headed for trial in Australia. The banks face criminal cartel charges in the country’s biggest white collar criminal case.
Europe wants Google to step up its fight against disinformation. European Commission vice president Vera Jourova, after meeting with the tech giant’s CEO Sundar Pichai, called on the firm to be more transparent in its efforts.
President-elect Joe Biden picked his next secretary of defense. If confirmed, retired general Lloyd Austin would be the first Black person to head the Pentagon. Meanwhile, a government watchdog says president Donald Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan politics.
Rehabbing big pharma’s reputation
“With the world in dire need of Covid-19 drugs and vaccines, the biopharmaceutical industry has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reset its reputation.” —Eli Lilly’s CEO, Dave Ricks, during a second-quarter earnings call
In a September 2019 Gallup survey, 58% of Americans held a negative view of the pharmaceutical industry; only the federal government scored worse. But heightening vaccine buzz is likely to bring about a change in public opinion. While drugmakers won’t make a ton of money from this vaccine (at least not right away), the reputation points they score could be worth their weight in gold.
Charting pandemic relief impact
Adding to months of stalled talks, the US Congress failed over the weekend to agree on legislation to bolster the American economy, although the governing body is expected to pass a stopgap relief plan alongside a broader funding bill on Friday. Relief couldn’t come soon enough: Similar pandemic measures in the spring made a big impact.
US pandemic relief also proved more generous than more automated stabilizers deployed in some European economies, in part because those measures are more targeted at maintaining living standards than America’s fiscal firehose.
Bullish or bearish
👎 Bearish on blockchain’s promise. Technology whizzes have spent years trying to use bitcoin’s blockchain architecture for other applications in finance, but so far blockchain companies have produced more press releases than viable enterprises. According to DocuSign CEO Daniel Springer, blockchain is still too expensive for the kinds of things his company does.
👍 Bullish on the bitcoin model. Using cryptocurrency to achieve environmental goals seems equally elusive, but Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is optimistic. His new company WOZX, launched by the energy-efficiency crowdfunding company Efforce, entitles holders to a share of profits from energy efficiency projects around the world. But will it work?
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Surprising discoveries
We’ve got another monolith. A fifth metal structure popped up on the UK’s Isle of Wight, while a US artist group hinted it might be responsible for them all.
A new high powered telescope has uncovered “ghostly circles.” Astronomers are so baffled they called the radio signals “WTF” at first.
Breakdancing is coming to the Olympics. For the Paris Games in 2024, the International Olympic Committee also confirmed skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing.
This man’s eight-year-old school photo went viral. Now well into his thirties, he was surprised to discover his prepubescent image used to depict the stepson of a fictional “teenage stepdad.”
Portugal’s president announced his second term…at a bakery. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa had wanted to confirm his candidacy at a bookshop, but most were shut due to coronavirus restrictions.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, unexplained space signals, and viral school portraits to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our iOS app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Mary Hui, Alex Ossola, Tripti Lahiri, Liz Webber, and Susan Howson.