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The US has backed a temporary suspension of intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines, a move likely to enrage the pharmaceutical industry, which strongly opposes a so-called waiver.

Joe Biden’s top trade adviser Katherine Tai said that while the US administration “believes strongly” in IP protections, it would support a patent waiver for vaccines.

“This is a global health crisis — and the extraordinary circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures,” Tai said. 

Shares of Moderna, BioNTech and Novavax shares shed between 3 and 6 per cent on Wednesday after the White House announcement triggered a late sell-off in large pharmaceutical companies. Pfizer’s stock price fell almost 1 per cent before recovering.

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In the news

India’s Covid surge rocks shipping industry The crisis has hit the international shipping industry, which relies on India for seafarers, as crews become infected and ports deny entry to vessels. The Indian foreign minister is self-isolating after two members of its delegation to the G7 in London tested positive.

Boris Johnson’s ‘madman’ strategy Michel Barnier, Brussels’ chief Brexit negotiator, wondered whether the UK prime minister was pursuing a “madman strategy” in negotiations and came close to losing faith in Britain’s ability to keep its word, according to his diaries. Separately, UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab ended a diplomatic dispute over the status of the EU’s ambassador in London.

Archegos prepares for insolvency The family office run by Bill Hwang has hired restructuring advisers to assess potential legal claims from banks and plan for a possible winding down of its operations, according to two people familiar with the matter. It comes as banks look to recoup some of the $10bn they lost on Archegos Capital’s soured bets in March.

Olympics sponsors duck Beijing 2022 questions Multinational companies are evading questions about their participation in the Winter Olympics, as calls for a boycott grow over Beijing’s repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Eleven of the 13 companies with International Olympic Committee sponsorship deals did not comment when questioned by the Financial Times.

• Michael Bloomberg, Henry Kissinger and Hank Paulson have picked Singapore over Beijing for their next annual conference on US-China relations, citing in part China’s record on press freedom.

Facebook upholds Trump’s suspension The former US president will remain blocked from the social platform after a ruling by Facebook’s independent oversight board, which sparked a fierce backlash from Republicans. But the panel decided Facebook should review the freeze within six months and criticised the company’s opaque decision-making process.

Crypto trading volumes boom Trading in cryptocurrency markets soared to $1.7tn last month, from $1.2tn in March and less than $100bn in April 2020, while volumes in stocks and derivatives have tumbled as day traders and institutional investors increasingly set their sights on more speculative assets.

Peloton recalls treadmills after injuries and child’s death The fitness technology group has recalled its treadmills after reports of injuries and one death involving the machines, sending its shares to a seven-month low.

Bezos’s Blue Origin plans civilian space flight in July Jeff Bezos’s space exploration company has launched an online auction for the first civilian seat aboard its tourism spacecraft, scheduled for July 20. If successful, the trip would be the first commercial space flight to take a civilian into space.

The day ahead

UK elections The UK holds a host of elections on Thursday. Votes for the Scottish and Welsh parliaments and metropolitan mayoral elections, including London, will head the news but local council elections will give a sense of how the public gauges the performance of the national government in Westminster. Subscribe to our UK Politics newsletter for the ten top political stories that you need to know, every weekday morning.

• Labour is bracing for a difficult by-election this summer if MP Tracy Brabin is elected as the first-ever West Yorkshire mayor. The soaring popularity of England’s metro mayors has hit Boris Johnson’s devolution plans.

• The local elections are set to be judgment on opposition leader Keir Starmer, rather than Johnson.

• The West Midlands is Britain’s closest region to a US swing state, writes Sebastian Payne.

BoE policy meeting Some analysts expect the central bank will announce a significant change to its £150bn bond-buying programme as the bank’s monetary policy committee prepares to scale back support on the improving economic picture.

Gary Gensler testifies The Securities and Exchange Commission chair will appear before the US House financial services committee’s third meeting on explosive trading in GameStop and other so-called meme stocks in January.

Earnings round-up Becton, Dickinson and Co, Linde, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Zoetis, Volkswagen, AB InBev, Moderna, Nintendo, ING, Zalando, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, News Corp, Kellogg, UniCredit, Enel, Peloton Interactive, Trainline, Barratt Developments, Next, Reach, Rio Tinto and Superdry report.

What else we’re reading

Covid-19: a chance for Europe’s tourism industry to upgrade As the continent prepares to reopen its tourist market, with the UK setting out travel rules this week and the EU developing plans to open from next month, hotels such as the Mandarin Oriental are betting that the post-pandemic world will be more suited to high-end tourism. Has Covid-19 changed tourism for good?

Spain’s Iglesias exits political stage At one point, Pablo Iglesias expected to become Spain’s prime minister and lead a national government from the left. But this week, the leader of Podemos and former deputy premier announced the end of his political ambitions after his party placed fifth in a high-stakes election in Madrid. It was a startling denouement to his career.

What magic teaches us about misinformation We share fake news not out of malice or ineptitude, but because of impulse and inattention. It is not so different from a magic trick. In both instances, we can spot the difference between what is real and what is fake, writes Tim Harford — but only if we pay attention.

Western companies in China succumb to Stockholm syndrome It may sound strange to describe successful, moneymaking ventures in China as hostages, writes Jamil Anderlini. But many face intellectual property theft, unpredictable and predatory policymaking, intrusive surveillance and the threat of employee arrest arising from ordinary business disputes.

Are CEOs living up to diversity pledges? US corporations have pledged to spend $50bn on racial equity since George Floyd’s murder, according to a tally of public promises — yet only about $250m has actually been spent or committed to a specific initiative.

Video of the day

Is Scotland on the road to independence? As the 300-year-old union between Scotland and England strains under the pressures of Brexit and Covid-19, FT Scotland correspondent Mure Dickie takes a road trip to gauge the mood ahead of parliamentary elections. Will Alex Salmond’s Alba help or hinder pro-independence parties in Scotland?