GameStop stock briefly tops US$500 before dropping 36% from Wednesday's closing. Trading was halted multiple times due to the climb and the crash. (CNBC)
South Carolina reports the United States' first two cases of the 501.V2 variant first detected in South Africa in people with no known travel history. (NPR)
Portugal reports new daily records for both cases and deaths, with 16,432 new cases and 303 deaths, bringing the nationwide cumulative totals to 685,383 confirmed cases and 11,608 deaths. (DGS)
Vaccine developer Novavax announces that their vaccine candidate is 89% effective in preventing severe COVID-19, based on trial data from the United Kingdom; their vaccine was less effective against new variants of the virus, based on data from South Africa. (Reuters)
One protester is shot dead and many more are wounded after attempting to storm a government building during an anti-lockdown riot in Tripoli, Lebanon. The municipality building was set on fire before protesters pulled back to the city's main square. (Reuters)
Google removes major Australian news sites from some of its search results in an "experiment" in reaction to the Australian government's calls for Google to pay these sites for their content. (The Guardian)