FirstFT: Today’s top stories | Financial Times

How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz.

Germany, France, Italy and Spain said they would resume using the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine after the EU drugs regulator said there was a “clear scientific conclusion” that the jab was “safe and effective”.

Emer Cooke, head of the European Medicines Agency, on Thursday said its investigation had concluded that the AstraZeneca vaccine was “not associated” with a potential risk of blood clots noted recently by some scientists, adding that the benefits of the shot outweighed possible risks.

“If it were me, I would be vaccinated tomorrow,” said Cooke.

EMA officials said they could not “definitively” rule out a link between potential side effects of blood clots. “A causal link with the vaccine is not proven, but is possible and deserves further analysis,” the agency said. Cooke recommended an awareness campaign that aimed to “spot and mitigate any possible side effects” of the vaccine.

Meanwhile, the US plans to send 4m doses of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine to Canada and Mexico, the White House has announced, the first time the country has accepted a request to send unused vaccines across its borders. (FT)

Coronavirus digest

• Shares in SK Bioscience, a South Korean Covid-19 vaccine producer, more than doubled on their trading debut after retail investors flocked to the local market’s largest initial public offering in four years.

• President Emmanuel Macron’s government has put Paris and several other regions under strict lockdown for a third time.

• Britain’s vaccine rollout has been knocked off course by the delayed arrival of vaccines from India and a need to check 1.7m other doses to ensure their stability, according to Matt Hancock, health secretary.

• The US is set to hit 100m vaccinations on Friday, weeks ahead of its target date, amid a sharp decline in hospitalisations and deaths of older people.

• The EU’s threat to restrict the export of Covid-19 jabs has exposed the potential shortcomings of the global vaccine supply chain. (FT)

Follow our live blog for the latest news and vaccine tracker for updates on the rollout of jabs around the world.

In the news

Toshiba investors secure landmark win The long-awaited showdown between the group and its two largest investors ended in an unprecedented show of shareholder strength in Japan. The result of Thursday’s extraordinary general meeting, which was expected to be very close, triggered immediate speculation that senior company management could be forced to resign. (FT)

ByteDance embarks on hiring spree in Singapore The owner of viral video app TikTok is hiring hundreds of engineers and senior management positions in the Asian city-state, as the Chinese group deepens its operations outside the mainland to satisfy global regulators. (FT)

Pyongyang says it will ignore Washington North Korea has branded Joe Biden’s attempts at low-level diplomatic outreach a “cheap trick” and promised to disregard any communication from Washington unless the US changes its stance towards the nuclear-armed state. US secretary of state Antony Blinken said both pressure and diplomatic options are on table. (FT, Reuters)

Apple warns Chinese apps not to dodge its new privacy rules A cat-and-mouse game has begun between the US group and Chinese tech companies, as the iPhone maker tries to enforce its new privacy policies in China. Apple is expected to roll out changes to iPhones in the spring that will give users more privacy from mobile advertising. (FT)

David Cameron lobbied for Greensill access to loan schemes The former UK prime minister lobbied the government to increase Greensill Capital’s access to state-backed emergency Covid-19 loan schemes, months before the finance company collapsed and left the taxpayer on the hook for potential losses. Meanwhile, Credit Suisse is to overhaul its asset management business and suspend bonuses for some executives, as it races to contain the damage from its ties to Greensill. (FT)

Junior Goldman Sachs bankers complain of 95-hour week A group of first-year investment banking analysts at the group presented management with a slide deck describing arduous working conditions last month, shining a rare spotlight on the stresses faced by young people working in investment banking. (FT)

The day ahead

Japan interest rate decision No change in policy is expected when the Bank of Japan meets on Friday, but it is expected to unveil a review of its monetary policy strategy. (FT)

US defence secretary to visit India Lloyd Austin is expected to visit the country to meet defence minister Rajnath Singh and other senior national security leaders. US senator Bob Menendez has asked the US secretary of defence to raise concerns about India’s eroding democratic values during the visit. (The Hindu)

What else we’re reading

Beijing’s war on the credit boom A campaign led by vice-premier Liu He to reduce the danger of uncontrolled lending in China’s once-rampant shadow banking sector threatens to strangle the private sector. Some warn curbing the excesses of the past decade risks an overcorrection that could stifle innovative areas of financial activity. (FT)

How the KitKat went global How does a chocolate made from cacao aged in Scottish whisky barrels end up advertised to Japanese consumers — and also discovered by an English journalist living in New York? Because our current levels of global interconnection, writes Gillian Tett. But as digital platforms, cargo ships and planes create connections (and contagions), we are also living through an anti-globalisation backlash. (FT)

Asian-Americans suffer surge of Covid-era hate crimes Police said the suspect in this week’s shooting in Atlanta, Robert Aaron Long, 21, a white man, said his crimes were not racially but sexually motivated. Long’s claims bear further investigation. They offer little comfort to an Asian-American community that has suffered a surge of hate attacks in recent months. (FT)

Smiley faces lead to frowns under Singapore’s protest laws The only thing more baffling than a police force investigating someone for holding a sign with a smiley face, is a police force doing it twice, writes Stefania Palma. The city-state’s assembly rules have veered into absurdity, critics say, with charges now lodged for holding up emojis. (FT)

Boris Johnson must prioritise the security of women Too often violence and harassment of women are seen as a series of separate criminal justice issues rather than part of a bigger picture, writes Robert Shrimsley. This is one woman’s experience of a random and violent attack. (FT)

Lockdown your budget before the economy opens up As pandemic restrictions ease, economists expect the “coiled spring” of pent-up consumer spending will help the UK economy bounce back. Consumer editor Claer Barrett has tips to hang on to the good money habits some have picked up under lockdown. (FT)

Podcast of the day

Spying in the digital age How should we respond to the SolarWinds and Microsoft hacks? Helen Warrell, defence and security editor, talks to cyber security expert Dmitri Alperovitch about how the west responds to such attacks. (FT)