Money Talks

Governments and central banks have flooded their economies with trillions of dollars stimulus to cushion the impact of the pandemic. A lot of that money has fueled a boom in various asset classes. One beneficiary has been the market for NFTs, or non-fungible tokens. These digital files are what bitcoin is to physical currency, and they're starting to sell for millions of dollars. Paolo Montecillo has more. For more, we spoke to Maria Paula Fernandez in Berlin. She's an NFT and blockchain analyst and adviser at Golem Factory, a European market place for digital assets. She's also the founder of the Department of Decentralization, a group that promotes the use of open source software.

#CryptoCurremcies #NonFungibleTokens #BlockChain

AstraZeneca's vaccine was once hailed as a life-saving injection that could protect much of the world against COVID-19. But a rising number of countries are halting its use, over concerns the vaccine could cause blood clots. Investigations are currently underway, but for now, the World Health Organisation says the injection is safe.. and as Mobin Nasir reports, many other countries are still using it. For more on this, Dr. Muhammad Munir spoke to us from the UK. He's a virologist at Lancaster University.

#AstraZeneca #SideEffects #CoronaVirusVaccine

Who runs the Grammys? Women! Beyonce and Taylor Swift made history - or rather 'herstory' - on music's biggest night by setting new records. And female artists dominated the 'Big Four Categories', as Natasha Hussain reports.

#GrammyAwards #Beyonce #TaylorSwift

Ten years after war broke out in Syria, the country remains roiled in conflict. Millions of people have fled their homes, with many of them seeking refuge in neighbouring Turkey. While the government and dozens of aid organisations provide Syrians with housing, healthcare and other basic necessities.. experts say helping refugees become self-sufficient is the only sustainable solution. Our correspondent Mobin Nasir reports on one initiative that's teaching Syrians new skills so they can improve their livelihoods. Our other correspondent Obaida Hitto is in Jarablus in northern Syria, where many homes continue to face a shortage of basic needs, like food and electricity.

#TurkeyBusinesses #Syria #Livelihoods

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced a new set of economic reforms centred around boosting production, investment, employment and exports.. with the aim of transforming the economy into one of the world's largest.

Erdogan unveiled the major economic blueprint in Istanbul, and said the reforms will help the country lower inflation, boost the lira and its current account deficit. He said while the coronavirus pandemic challenged the country's financial system, the economy fared better than most.He says Turkey has responded well to the health crisis and should be able to continue to enjoy economic growth beyond the pandemic.

#economicreforms #TurkeyEconomy #Pandemic

Puzzle mania has swept the UK, driven by people spending more time at home looking for different forms of entertainment. 15 million jigsaw puzzles were sold in 2020, and the revival has helped boost the country's toy market. Natalie Powell has more.

#JigsawPuzzles #BoardGames #PandemicLockdowns

Germany is on course to finalise its phasing out of nuclear power. Europe's biggest economy is one of several countries to have abandoned atomic energy in the wake of the Fukushima disaster 10 years ago. A deadly earthquake led to the meltdown of three reactors at the Japanese plant, which became the prelude to Germany's so-called energy transition. But as Sibel Karkus reports from Berlin, the result of powering down reactors seems to be just as difficult and costly as it is good for the environment.

#Nuclear #Germany #Energy

The US Congress has approved one of the biggest stimulus plans in the country's history, worth almost 2-trillion dollars. The pandemic relief bill failed to win a single Republican vote.. with the opposition party arguing the job market has recovered enough to warrant little or no new stimulus spending. But that wasn't enough to stop the Democrats from delivering Joe Biden the first legislative victory of his presidency. Paolo Montecillo reports. For more, we spoke to Christian Lawrence in New York. He's a senior cross-asset strategist at Rabobank.

#USlawmakers #StimulusPackage #PandemicRelief

For many businesses, the pandemic resulted in lost profits and forced changes in strategy. But for Danish toy maker Lego, COVID-19 provided an opportunity to rebuild and expand - one plastic brick at a time.

#Lego #ToyIndustry Lockdowns

Airlines and travel companies in the UK have reported a huge increase in holiday bookings after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced last month that international trips could potentially resume in May. Once again, Mediterranean countries top the list of popular destinations - with Turkey being a favourite location for tens of thousands of people who have already booked their flights for the summer. Mehmet Solmaz has more.

#UKtravelers #Pandemic #Turkey