2021年3月9日星期二

Tuesday Briefing: Republican donations surge despite corporate boycott after Capitol riot

Today's top stories

Republicans are raking in the cash, how Toyota thrives when the chips are down, and the Turkish lake that may hold clues to life on Mars

Right after the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, dozens of companies announced they would halt political donations to the 147 Republican lawmakers who voted to overturn Donald Trump’s presidential election loss.

Two months later, there is little sign that the corporate revolt has done any real damage to Republican fundraising.

The U.S. House of Representatives will take up by tomorrow the Senate version of the sweeping $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package backed by President Joe Biden, Speaker Nancy Pelosi says.

With plenty of practice sending out coronavirus relief payments, the U.S. government should be able to start delivering $1,400 checks almost immediately once Congress finalizes a new aid bill and President Joe Biden signs it, tax experts say.

We take a look at how COVID-19 vaccinations are changing U.S. seniors' daily lives in ways large and small a year after the pandemic drove many in the high-risk group into forced isolation.


Sylvia Baer meets for lunch with other seniors weeks after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, March 5, 2021. REUTERS/Maria Alejandra Cardona

WORLD

A general view of an exposed island of old microbialites at Salda Lake in Burdur province, Turkey, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

As NASA's rover Perseverance explores the surface of Mars, scientists hunting for signs of ancient life on the distant planet are using data gathered on a mission much closer to home at a lake in southwest Turkey.

Britain’s monarchy is keeping its silence after Meghan and Prince Harry sparked a crisis by alleging that a family member made a racist remark about the color of their son’s skin. Meghan’s father Thomas Markle has weighed in, saying he does not think the royal family is racist and he hopes that the alleged remark was just a “dumb question”.

A Brazilian Supreme Court judge has annulled the criminal convictions against former leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a move that could allow the popular politician to run in next year's presidential election.

Senegal opposition leader Ousmane Sonko has called for more protests against President Macky Sall after being indicted and released on bail over a rape charge that has sparked violent unrest across the country. We explain why protests are shaking one of Africa's most stable democracies.


Business

Tesla's stock extended losses and is now down by a third from its January record high, making it the third time in about a year that the electric car maker’s shares have corrected that dramatically. It has now moved behind Facebook, which it overtook in December.

Bitcoin mania has fueled a surge in fundraising by Chinese companies seeking to expand their cryptocurrency operations or move into the red-hot sector. We look at how a jump in prices and signs of growing acceptance of the technology by mainstream institutions have fed the market boom.

Toyota may have pioneered the just-in-time manufacturing strategy but when it comes to chips, its decision to stockpile what have become key components in cars goes back a decade to the Fukushima disaster. We take a look at why Toyota has so far been largely unscathed by a global shortage of semiconductors.

Singapore has launched a travel "bubble" business hotel that allows executives to do face-to-face meetings without a risk of exposure to the coronavirus, in one of the world's first such facilities.

Video

Burger King roasted for Women's Day tweet

The Turkish grandmother taking on a coal mine

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