DAILY DOSE: February 5, 2021
Posted on 02/05/2021
1. In late January 2021, Russia and the United States agree to extend the START treaty by five years, despite claims of Russia continually violating the agreement.
2. Christopher Plummer dies at the age of 91. The Canadian actor, known for roles in The Sound of Music and more recently Knives Out, has died. He passed peacefully at his home in Connecticut, with Elaine Taylor, his wife.
3. U.S. President Joe Biden meets with House Democrats in push for US$ 1.9 trillion COVID plan.
4. Germany’s Angela Merkel to extend country’s coronavirus lockdown by two weeks.
5. Digital currency Ethereum hits new record high of US$ 1,750 ahead of CME futures launch.
6. PayPal discloses Venmo app is being investigated by U.S. consumer watchdog.
7. Google Cloud announces multi-year partnership with Twitter Inc.
8. The United States’ European Union trade tariff policy is under review, the White House said on Friday.
9. Luckin Coffee Inc. is a Chinese coffee company and coffeehouse chain. It was founded in Beijing in 2017. Luckin Coffee filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in New York, less than a year after the company said that more than a quarter’s worth of business may have been faked. The coffee chain did it to protect the company from lawsuits by U.S. creditors, including bondholders owed US$ 460 million and shareholders. Luckin’s coffee shops in China will remain open and operations won’t be affected by the filing, according to a statement issued on Friday.
10. Mobile operators and internet service providers in Myanmar received a government directive on Friday to block access to social media firms Twitter and Instagram in the country until “further notice”, Norwegian telecom Telenor said in a statement. Myanmanr recently had a coup driven by the country’s military.