Bedugul Coffee: Wednesday Briefing: U.S. Senate takes up COVID-19 aid bill

Today's top stories

Myanmar 'like Tiananmen Square,' rival drugmakers team up on vaccines, and Rocket Companies takes off

The U.S. Senate is expected to take up President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package today, with fellow Democrats seeking to advance key priorities and jettison aspects that have drawn unflattering scrutiny.

First to go will be a minimum-wage increase, which the Senate parliamentarian said last week could not be included in the package if Democrats want to invoke a special procedure that would allow them to pass the bill with a simple majority.

The United States will have enough COVID-19 vaccine for every American adult by the end of May, Biden said after Merck & Co agreed to make rival Johnson & Johnson's inoculation.

Employees at General Motors, Toyota, Target and Macy’s in Texas will keep face masks on at work, even as the U.S. state lifts most of its coronavirus curbs allowing businesses to reopen at full capacity as of next week.

Biden has withdrawn the nomination of Neera Tanden to be his budget director after she ran into stiff opposition over tweets that upset lawmakers, in the first Capitol Hill rebuff of one of his nominees.

↑ Singer Dolly Parton receives a COVID-19 vaccination at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, March 2, 2021

WORLD

↑ Protesters are seen near a barricade during an anti-coup protest in Yangon, Myanmar, March 3, 2021

Myanmar security forces opened fire on protests against military rule, killing nine people, a day after neighbouring countries offered to help resolve the crisis. "The country is like the Tiananmen Square in most of its major cities," the Archbishop of Yangon said on Twitter.

The Kremlin has played down the impact of sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union over Moscow's treatment of opposition politician Alexei Navalny, but says it will retaliate with reciprocal measures.

Pope Francis says he is going to Iraq, where one of his predecessors John Paul II was not allowed to go in 2000, because “the people cannot be let down for a second time.” Meanwhile, at least 10 rockets landed at Iraq’s Ain al-Asad air base that hosts United States, coalition and Iraqi forces.

Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon has defended her handling of sexual harassment complaints against her predecessor Alex Salmond in high-stakes testimony on an issue that threatens to scupper her dream of leading Scotland to independence.

Business

Britain will modernise its listing rules to attract more high-growth and “blank cheque” SPAC company flotations to London, after a government-backed review said the capital was on the back foot after Brexit.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission appears likely to work on its first guidelines for cryptocurrencies after Biden’s nominee to lead the agency promised to provide “guidance and clarity” to the rapidly evolving market.

Heavily shorted mortgage provider Rocket Companies saw its stock surge on Tuesday, in an eye-popping move reminiscent of the rallies that powered GameStop and other so-called meme stocks earlier in the year.

And we take a look at how Robinhood, a go-to for young traders, benefits from short sale demand.