Hello and welcome to the Intelligence on Economist Radio.

I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

More than two years ago, Canada arrested an executive of Huawei, a Chinese telecoms giant.

In what seems like retribution, China then detained two Canadian citizens.

We ask how this slow-rolling hostage diplomacy might be resolved.

And it's hard to put a value on digital media, easily copied and almost free to distribute.

But thanks to so-called non-fungible tokens, a price can be found for everything from film clips to tweets,

and that might have big benefits for artists.

First up, though, as of now, as of now, 19 European countries have halted or restricted the use of Oxford AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine.

The suspensions were first set in motion by reports from Norway of four cases of blood clotting

in people who had received the jab. Yesterday, Germany joined the list, saying it's found a noticeable

increase in cases of a particular kind of clot found in the brain. Europe's vaccination program

was already off to a worryingly slow start, and another wave of infections

seems to be building.

On Monday, Italy imposed new lockdown restrictions.

The record of what happened last spring, Prime Minister Mario Draghi harked back to the horrors

of last spring, calling the new measures appropriate and

proportionate. The European Medicines Agency met with the World Health Organization

yesterday to discuss safety and reiterated that it's firmly convinced that the vaccine's benefits

outweigh any risks.

But not everyone is reassured, and with case numbers ticking up in countries across Europe,

...