News Headlines - 22 March 2021

▽EU rebuffs UK calls to ship AstraZeneca COVID vaccines from Europe | Reuters

The European Union is rebuffing British government calls to ship AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines produced in a factory in the Netherlands, an EU official said on Sunday.
Former EU member Britain has so far administered many more vaccines than EU countries in proportion to the population.

▽Anti-lockdown protests: 36 arrested as demonstrators clash with police in London | The Independent

Dozens of people have been arrested as police attempted to halt thousands of anti-lockdown protesters marching through the centre of London.
Demonstrators trailed by police paraded banners and lit flares as they walked from Hyde Park along Oxford Street, Chancery Lane, the Embankment and Parliament Square before heading up Whitehall.
Scotland Yard said 36 people had been arrested by 6.45pm, most for breach of Covid regulations.

▽Australia: Parts of New South Wales declare natural disaster following floods - CNN

The Australian government has declared a natural disaster in large swaths of New South Wales (NSW) as heavy rains batter the state and force thousands to evacuate.
Rains have been inundating communities since Thursday, but parts of the east coast tipped into crisis on Saturday as a major dam overflowed, adding to swollen rivers and causing flash flooding.
The NSW and federal government have signed 16 natural disaster declarations in areas spanning the central and mid-north coast, from Hunter Valley near Sydney to Coff's Harbour, said NSW Emergency Services Minister David Elliott in a news conference on Sunday.

▽Jack Dorsey’s First Tweet Sells as NFT for $2.9 Million - WSJ

The first tweet that Twitter Inc. Chief Executive Jack Dorsey posted to the microblogging site in 2006 has sold as a nonfungible token for about $2.9 million, the latest digital collectible to haul in more than $1 million amid a flurry of interest from buyers.
The winning bidder, Malaysia-based blockchain company Bridge Oracle CEO Sina Estavi, technically owns a digital certificate of the tweet-“just setting up my twttr,” according to Valuables, an NFT marketplace for buying and selling tweets that ran the auction.

▽Lego offers set with new space shuttle Discovery and Hubble Space Telescope - CNN

Lego is launching a new set that is out of this world: the space shuttle Discovery and the Hubble Space Telescope.
The set, which will be released on April 1, was created in partnership with NASA to mark the 40th anniversary since the first space shuttle flight on April 12, 1981, that started a new era in space exploration.
The shuttle model costs $199 and has more than 2,300 pieces. Aimed at adults, the model features realistic details like an opening payload bay, retractable landing gear, opening cockpit, space arm, and five seats for the crew. It measures more than 8.5 inches high, 21 inches long and 13.5 inches wide to make it easy to display, according to a news release from Lego.