The ink is barely dry on Facebook's deal with the Australian government over a revenue-sharing arrangement that keeps both domestic news providers and Silicon Valley happy, and already the tech giant has unveiled ambitious plans for its operation in Europe. 

Facebook says it is to roll out a bespoke news platform in Germany from May, providing articles sourced from around a hundred existing German media outlets, including some of the most respected titles in the country's print media.

"Facebook News... [will offer] ... a strong and diverse range" of German titles, and be "a place dedicated to journalistic content," the social media giant said in a statement.

However, one of the country's biggest media publishing houses has said it will not be signing on the dotted line, describing the actions of Facebook as "problematic." 

And we speak to one media academic who tells is the full implications of Facebook's recent stance in Australia have not been taken on board by lawmakers worldwide.    

Elsewhere, the New York markets are bracing themselves for fourth-quarter results from video conferencing giant Zoom. Can a firm with a share price that has rocketed from $36 on flotation four years ago to around to $400 now, just keep on growing?  

And taking a stake in one of the hottest industries in the world (premium electric car development) hasn't stopped Churchill Capital IV Corp (CCIV) from nursing a 42 percent loss on market trading in a single week. 

While many are still baffled by what exactly SPACs (special purpose acquisition companies) like CCIV really are, the latest figures from our graph show they are fast becoming one of the biggest growth areas in international finance.

Read on for more on this and the rest of the day's business news in full.

Louise Greenwood,

Digital business correspondent 

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Tech giant Facebook has announced a deal with a string of German media partners to provide content for a local news product. Described as a "dedicated venue for journalistic content," the new site will include feature reporting from some of the country's leading heavyweight newspapers, including Die Zeit, Der Spiegel, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Handelsblatt. Speaking to reporters, Jesper Doub, Facebook's director of news partnerships in Europe, said: "Part of our user base wants to read more news." While adding that plans are under way for a similar offer in France soon.   

However, one of Germany's biggest publishing houses, Axel Springer, which controls the leading daily Bilt, has said it will not be joining, stating that it prefers to rely on existing EU copyright rules, which it says allows publishers to receive an appropriate share of remuneration. In a statement, Axel Springer commented: "Attempts by some platforms on the one hand to position themselves as news media and on the other to fob off publishers with inadequate remuneration, are problematic."

The move by Facebook to expand its news offer in European markets comes just as the firm ends weeks of heated negotiations with the Australian authorities over a revenue-sharing deal, that saw access to several local news and government information sites blocked on its platform. Facebook has not  disclosed financial terms for the partnerships backing its German launch, which will also feature several regional newspaper partners as well as fashion, motoring and sports publishers.  

Fourth-quarter results from video conferencing firm Zoom are expected after the bell in Monday's trade. The firm's revenue surged by 367 percent in the third quarter to $777.2 million, but its share price has sharply fallen in recent days, as analysts question whether the firm, one of the biggest winners in lockdown, may be losing out to newer rivals, plus a widely reported "Zoom fatigue" in the corporate sector.   

U.S. President Joe Biden has tweeted his support for the right of workers to unionize, just as staff at Amazon's biggest domestic site vote on whether to organize a collective. In a video address, Biden referenced "workers in Alabama," where the e-commerce giant's Bessemer fulfilment center is located, adding: "There should be no intimidation, no coercion, no threats (of workers)". 

Amazon is now the second-biggest private employer in the U.S. but has never recognized unionized labor and has been accused of negligence to employees during the COVID-19 outbreak. Results of the postal ballot by the 6,000 workers at the site are expected later this month.  

Oil prices have rebounded after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a huge stimulus package to deal with the effects of COVID-19 on the world's biggest economy. Brent crude futures for May were up almost 2 percent in Asian trading, to $65.66 per barrel. 

Meanwhile, Saudi oil giant Aramco has asked banks to extend a $10 billion loan it secured last May, suggesting the OPEC member is betting on prices staying higher for the medium term. Aramco, the $25.6 billion flotation of which in December 2019 was the biggest share listing in history, may use the loan to seek further acquisitions from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, according to sources. 

Meanwhile, shares in the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Churchill Capital IV Corp (CCIV) fell 42 percent last week, wiping out more than $8 billion in recent market gains. Analysts are warning that SPAC funds are now attracting the attention of amateur traders looking beyond heavily shorted stocks such as GameStop for a quick return. CCIV recently confirmed a merger with Tesla rival, electric car maker Lucid in an equity deal valued at $11.75 billion.

In what has been called the "largest-ever reform" of the Hang Seng, market authorities in Hong Kong are planning to double the number of stocks in the benchmark index. Under the plans, the Hang Seng indexes will increase the number of listed firms, cap the shares of individual companies and fast-track new listings, in a bid that should allow hi-tech firms seeking flotation and better market access. It comes as record investor appetite has pushed the Hong Kong Stock Exchange past the 30,000 point for the first time in almost two years, after listings by heavyweight Chinese firms such as Tencent Holdings. 

China has warned that underpricing of rare earth commodities is leading to resource waste and driving down prices. Draft rules on a new regulatory regime for the sale of the minerals used in everything from consumer goods to electric cars is currently under way, with China's Industry and Information Technology minister Xiao Yaqing, saying: "Our rare earths did not sell at the 'rare' price but sold at the 'earth' price ... because of competitive bidding."

China's aviation regulator is considering the recertification of the troubled Boeing 737 MAX. After discussions with the Seattle aerospace giant, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) says it will proceed with airworthiness tests until the major safety concerns are properly addressed, amid ongoing problems for Boeing. China was the first country globally to ban the MAX from its airspace in 2019 after two fatal crashes that killed 346 people. 

Meanwhile, United Airlines has ordered 25 new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft for delivery in 2023. The airline has also brought forward the delivery of 35 previously ordered 737 MAX aircraft to next year. United said in a memo the agreement "will help us to grow as demand returns."

Bitcoin has rallied 7 percent after a volatile weekend session pushed it as low as $43,000. The world's largest cryptocurrency was trading at $48,500 in early U.S. trading on Monday after a report by investment bank Citigroup suggested Bitcoin could become "the currency of choice for international trade" in the years ahead due to its lack of exposure to foreign currencies and "decentralized design".

Volkswagen's iconic sports car unit Porsche is set to increase its stake in Croatia's Rimac Automobili, in a deal that could see its flagship Bugatti brand transferred to the electric car start-up. Rimac is holding a financing round that could net as much as $181 million for the firm and possibly raise Porsche's stake to just under 50 percent. VW subsidiary Porsche Engineering Group first took a stake in the Zagreb-based Rimac five years ago, in a development partnership to fund the roll-out of its electrification process, as part of a move to a greener agenda by the prestige brand. 

Trustpilot, the online consumer review platform is planning a flotation in London, which officials hope may give the London Stock Exchange a post-Brexit boost after figures showed it was losing market share to other European rivals. Copenhagen-based Trustpilot says it plans to float at least 25 percent of company stock, raising $50 million to fund growth and repay debt.

While the UK left the EU without an agreement in place over financial services, the London IPO market is off to its strongest start since 2008, with flotations from the greeting card and gift firm Moonpig, bootmaker Dr Martens and the vaping business Supreme. 

Heathrow is to charge departing passengers an extra $12.40 for miscellaneous baggage and check-in services. Europe's second largest airport, which last week revealed loses of $2.8 billion for 2020, says the Airport Cost Recovery Charge will be imposed for the rest of this year and has been agreed with airlines as the preferred way to recover costs and the COVID-19 pandemic continues to depress air travel.

French food giant Danone is to sell its stake in its Chinese dairy partner as shareholder pressure mounts for a better performance in home markets. Danone said in a statement that it is converting its stake in Hong Kong-listed China Mengniu Dairy Company into a 9.8 percent direct holding, with a view to a possible sale later this year. Danone, which owns market-leading brands including Activia yoghurt and Aptamil baby formula, has a holding in Mengniu valued at around $1.03 billion.

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Governments around the world are reassessing their relationships with "Big Tech" after Facebook finally agreed terms over sharing advertising revenues with the Australian government. Last week's deal lifted the week-long blackout of Australian news on Facebook's platform. 

CGTN Europe was joined by Robert Gutsche, senior lecturer in digital media practices at the UK's Lancaster University, and asked him about the implications of Canberra's deal with Facebook. 

What we saw here in this negotiation is really a threat to democracy and to nations around the world because Facebook said they were going to try to block them. They had the teeth to do it and they did [it]. But in this blocking of news, it wasn't just news by Australians for Australians – It was news coming from outside of Australia and the block even was to government websites, inadvertently. So there were lots of blocks on information that citizens didn't have for a week. And it's quite scary to see that this is a move that could be spread to other areas of the world.

Could this all signify the squeeze of the power of Big Tech and national governments flexing much more influence over the internet? 

I really think in order for this to spread across the globe, the U.S. would have to be behind it. This is the home of Hollywood and entertainment and indeed Facebook and Instagram and Twitter, so the U.S. would have to be on board for, I think, Facebook to be held to account in terms of taxes, but also in terms of being able to operate as a corporate citizen and one that doesn't block people from their democratic right to information. 

So this is a good step in the right direction, I think, for people who want to be paid for the content they're producing. But it's also a very dangerous step to see that Facebook has the teeth to hold to these in future negotiations. And they're going to put their cards on the table. They've shown that they will do it again and it's almost holding governments hostage.

And finally, Churchill Capital IV Corp may have taken a knock on the markets, with concern that it has overbid for its partnership with Tesla rival Lucid Motors. But as the figures show, 2021 looks to be another bumper year for special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), despite fears the market in these relatively opaque new funds may be overheating.