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Here's everything you need to know today - in under 3 minutes.

Today's big stories

🔥 BHP's locked in a stand-off with an Aussie billionaire

🩺 Apple's upping its health-tech game with new features

💉 Telstra will give you cash for jabs

Oh, and get this...

Australia Post will need to pause parcel pick-ups from e-commerce retailers in locked down states (lookin' at you NSW and Vic), because 500 of their staff are in COVID iso. Soz shopaholics.

BHP and Twiggy go head-to-head over a Canadian nickel miner

Background: In the left corner, we have BHP, the $145 billion Australian mining company. In the right corner, we have Twiggy aka Andrew Forrest aka Australia's richest man, who is the Chairman of Fortescue Metals Group (FMG for short). And boy, is the battle of the billionaires getting hot and heavy. 

What happened: BHP has been facing shareholder pressure to start shifting towards renewable energy sources. So, it locked in a deal with Tesla to supply nickel for its electric car batteries. And then it made a $352 million offer for a Canadian nickel explorer.

What else: Here's where it gets juicy, fam. Twiggy's got lofty goals for FMG to be carbon neutral by 2030. So he's threatened to go into a bidding war with BHP over this nickel explorer.

So what's the key learning?

💡The race to future-facing commodities is on - and slow and steady just won't cut it. You gotta be quicker than a laptop-shut after a full day on Zoom.

💡Future-facing commodities are things that will see more demand in the future. And you betcha nickel is one of them, thanks to a huge surge in demand for electric vehicles.  

💡The key ingredient in EVs is nickel, which means mining companies that are heavily into oil and gas can potentially save themselves from extinction by getting their fossil-fueled hands on nickel mines. 

Apple wants your blood...pressure

Background: Apple has made its fair share of gadgets in the past. We're talkin' laptops, iPads, AirPods...and of course, the Apple Watch. 

What happened: Over 100 million people in the US own an Apple Watch, and this baby has some pretty nifty features already. It delivers notifications, lets you make calls and it helps you stay healthy with activity trackers. 

What else: Now, Apple's planning on upping its health-tech game with new tools telling users their blood pressure, and a thermometer to help with fertility planning. They even want to be able to detect sleep apnea and spot diabetes in the future.

So what's the key learning?

💡Apple wants its health tech to be the company's "greatest contribution to mankind". Always overachieving, this crew.

💡Just like the iPhone made SatNavs redundant with its maps feature and flashlights redundant with its torch feature, Apple wants its Apple Watch to completely revolutionise the health industry. Why buy a blood pressure machine when your watch will do it for you? 

💡Calm ya farm. Innovation in the health industry tends to move pretty slowly, so we may not see these big-ticket ideas anytime soon. But with a tagline like "the future of health is on your wrist", you betcha bottom dollar they'll follow through eventually.

Telstra's dishing out rewards to fully-vaccinated customers

Background:  Australia's biggest telco, Telstra, is the latest business doing its bit to get Aussies vaccinated with a new incentive for customers.

What happened: Telstra was already offering fully-vaccinated staff (aka those with a double-dose) 200 'Appreciate points', which could be redeemed for $200 worth of gift vouchers to places like Coles, Woolies or Myer. ‍

What else: Now, Telstra is set to reward customers who are fully vaccinated with 2,500 Telstra Plus Points - or the equivalent of $25 in gifts - and it'll enter them into a 100 million point prize draw all in the name of #LetsVaxx.

So what's the key learning?

💡 Australia's vaccine rollout has been rockier than the ratings of The Bachelor. So now, the Government is mobilising the private sector to help get things moving. Seriously, they actually changed the law around promoting vaccines specifically for this reason.  

💡The Therapeutic Goods Administration put new regs in place until the end of 2022 to allow health professionals and Aussie businesses to contribute to the national conversation about vaccines.  

💡Since then we've seen Qantas dish out a year's worth of flights, Virgin off $150k in prizes, Medibank dish out its Live Better Rewards and now Telstra's Plus Points.