The banned vigil, Covid Independence Day in America, $70 million digital art, and Texas relaxes Covid restrictions. This is your TODR news daily briefing for the 12th March. In the first story of the daily briefing today, we're going to discuss a planned vigil. Yesterday we discussed the horrific and tragic news of the disappearance and possible murder of Sarah Everard.
This case has shaken the UK to its core, sparking conversations about how to make women feel more safe when walking home on the streets. After all, Mrs Everard was walking home when she disappeared, prompting many women to question whether the same could happen to them too. Many have wanted to channel this anger, frustration and sadness into something, which is why some have organised a vigil from Mrs Everard on Saturday, taking place in many different cities across the UK, but with the main event taking place on Clapham Common, near where Mrs Everard went missing, an event which has appropriately been called Reclaim these streets, and the central event at the vigil will be a minute silence. However, this event and the whole vigil itself may not be allowed to happen.
After announcing the event, the Metropolitan Police has stated that gathering would be unlawful. This has caused backlash not just from the public, but also from politicians. In fact, it's even prompted the organisers to take the Metropolitan Police to the High Court. After all, last year the police turned a blind eye to the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as various protests on the right.
This protest too would likely be unlawful in relation to the coronavirus restrictions, but it didn't seem to matter that much last summer. Some are hoping that the police will do the same in relation to this vigil. Some have actually gone further, with Caroline Nokes, a Conservative former minister and chair of the Women and Equality's Committee telling the telegraph, of course the vigil should be allowed to happen. It can be done socially distanced with great care.
The home secretary needs to step in, recognise the gravity of this crime, and the way it's made people feel. She needs to tell the Met Police to allow it to go ahead, so that all who want to share their thoughts for Sarah Revarades and their concerns about their own safety can do so. At the time of writing, no statements have been made by either the home secretary or the government, so we'll have to keep an eye on what happens this weekend. In the second story today, we move to the US to discuss the potential coronavirus unlocking timetable.
On the one-year anniversary of coronavirus being classified as a pandemic, President Biden may have speech to the US, updating the public on the progress it was being made with vaccinations, and the plans to unlock the country. He made clear that when he took office, only 8% of those over 65 had gotten their first vaccination, and that now 65% had. He added that this meant that grandparents that had not been able to hug their grandchildren are now able to do so. Mr Biden added that his goals to issue 100 million vaccinations in the first 100 days will be beaten, with his target already being hit on his 60th day as president.
This allowed him to make the promise that all eligible adults will be offered their first dose of the vaccine by May 1st, significantly earlier than the UK. Who aims to offer all adults the vaccine by the end of July, nearly three months after the US. If all goes to plan, then President Biden stated that the 4th of July would mark Independence Day from the virus. He stated that this would allow people to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood, and you could have a cookout or a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day.
But this happened though, it's very important that people continue social distancing, continue to wear masks, and continue to wash their hands frequently. But what a morale boost an open 4th of July could be for the US and Biden's young administration. If you want more US stories like this one, then you ought to check out the TRDR US channel. Over there we do full breakdowns of American news stories, including a recent video on the debate around minimum wage, and why the US minimum is so low.
That video and the channel can be found linked down below. In the third story of the daily briefing today, we discuss digital art. Don't worry, we're not going to review it or anything, because quite frankly, I'm not sure as much we can actually intelligently say about art. But the asking question today is a piece entitled every days, the first 5,000 days, which features 5,000 individual images digitally stitched together.
The artist, Mike Winkelman, stitched one additional image onto the artwork for each day since March 2017. After being auctioned, it sold for $69.4 million. Now you might be starting to wonder exactly how digital artwork could be sold. After all, if it's just an image file, then what exactly was purchased?
Does anyone else who displays the image owe the artist that same amount? Well no, the individual who bought the artwork bought it alongside something known as a non-fungible token, or NFT. Before we explain exactly what this is and how it works, allow us to first explain why there's a precedent for this in the real world. Some of you may remember the banana gaffetape to the wall called comedian, selling for $120,000 in 2019.
You might remember that another artist ate the banana, and at the time, your thought may have been damn, he'd say a $120,000 banana, and same here, that's what we thought as well. But it turned out we were both wrong. That's because the $120,000 wasn't for the 30 cent banana and few inches of gaffetape. It was for the letter of authenticity, claiming that whoever owned it could replace the banana and the gaffetape, and as a result, still own the art.
Anyone can tape a banana to a wall, but only three people can claim to own this artwork. This is the same principle with the digital art sold today. The individual who bought it bought the NFT, which records the purchase on a digital ledger known as the blockchain. This is effectively so that things that can be duplicated like digital art can be verified by someone.
It doesn't even just have to be art, and NFT was used to sell the first tweet on Twitter only the other week, and it was sold for $2.5 million. Youtubers have also got in on the act, with Logan Paul making millions from selling NFTs in recent weeks. What do you think though? Is this the next step in collective artwork, and the natural progression from more obscure art such as the comedian?
Or is just another way for rich people to waste their money? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, as well as telling us what TODR NFT we should be making millions from. In the final story this week, we're moving to Texas and Mississippi to discuss coronavirus relaxation. On Tuesday this week, it was announced by the governors of the two aforementioned states that their mask mandates will be lifted and businesses will be allowed to reopen.
This has been met with frustration by politicians and scientists alike. As we mentioned earlier in the briefing, US President Joe Biden has not yet encouraged states to unlock. About the sharp divergence from the advice offered by the federal government in Mississippi and Texas, President Biden said, I think it's a big mistake. Dr.
Anthony Fauci seemed to agree, stating I don't know why they're doing it, but certainly from a public health standpoint, it's ill-advised. He said that it's just inexplicable why you'd want to pull back now. Anyway, we'll have to keep a closer eye on the situation and if it ends up dramatically affecting case numbers in the states. If you want to know more about Texas' approach to COVID and the way it differs from other states like California, then we made a video about that on the TODR US channel.
It's also linked down below. Anyway, for those of you who think news is too long, be sure to check out Monday's daily briefing. Read the newsletter by signing up at todionews.co.uk forward slash daily. Listen to the briefing by searching for TODR news on your podcast app or watch the briefing over at youtube.com forward slash TODR daily.