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What you need to know about the coronavirus today

No widespread vaccinations until mid-2021
The World Health Organization does not expect widespread vaccinations against COVID-19 until the middle of next year, a spokeswoman said, stressing the importance of rigorous checks on their effectiveness and safety.

None of the candidate vaccines in advanced clinical trials so far has demonstrated a “clear signal” of efficacy at the level of at least 50% sought by the WHO. Russia granted regulatory approval to a COVID-19 vaccine in August after less than two months of human testing, prompting some Western experts to question its safety and efficacy.

Track the global spread of coronavirus as cases surpass 26 million

Australian protests at virus restrictions grow
Australia’s prime minister pressed states to reopen their borders by December and ease restrictions, as businesses and locked-down households vented their frustration over deepening revenue and job losses. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the country would look to bring more Australians home, raising the cap from 4,000 a week, and suggested an eventual travel bubble with New Zealand would boost tourism and help revive the economy, which has fallen into recession for the first time since 1991. “In the absence of a vaccine, we may have to live this way for years,” Morrison told reporters.

Airlines urge London-New York trial
Major airlines want the U.S. and British governments to launch a passenger testing trial for the coronavirus for flights between London and New York to pave the way for a resumption of more international travel.
In a letter to government transportation officials seen by Reuters, the chief executives of Airlines for America, Airlines UK, Heathrow Airport and Virgin Atlantic Airways said both governments should “establish passenger testing solutions in air travel. “We believe that in the immediate absence of a vaccine, testing of passengers in aviation provides the best and most effective frontline defense.”

Jump in rural India’s cases
The sugarcane-growing village of Rajewadi in India’s west did not have a single confirmed coronavirus case until mid-August. Now one in every four people there has tested positive for the virus, with police blaming a local religious event for the spread. Such spurts in cases in small towns and villages, where mask-wearing and social distancing have nearly vanished and community gatherings are back, explain why India’s infections are rising faster than anywhere else in the world and why the country is soon set to top 4 million cases.

Berlusconi has pneumonia after positive virus test
Italy’s former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus, has been diagnosed with the early stages of double pneumonia, ANSA news agency reported. Double, or bilateral, pneumonia affects both lungs and can make breathing difficult. The condition has been seen in many cases of patients hospitalised with COVID-19. Berlusconi, 83, was taken to Milan’s San Raffaele hospital on Thursday evening, two days after his Forza Italia party announced he had tested positive for the coronavirus.

Breakingviews - Corona Capital: Banks and government, Ryanair cash.
Britain’s finance minister Rishi Sunak could hurt taxpayers by forcing lenders to chase pandemic borrowers and Ryanair’s war chest will come in handy if rivals go under. Catch up with today’s pandemic-related insights.

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U.S.

At the heart of President Trump’s law-and-order election campaign is Chad Wolf, who as acting secretary of homeland security has defied critics by championing Trump’s message in stark terms, sending U.S. federal forces into some cities and expanding the boundaries of his Cabinet post.

Little known outside Washington until now, Wolf has become one of Trump’s most visible aides. Echoing the Republican president, he paints a dark picture of Portland, Oregon, a city controlled by rival Democrats, as overrun by looters during summer protests against racism and police brutality.

Police shot and killed an anti-fascist activist as they moved in to arrest him for the alleged fatal shooting of a right-wing activist in Portland, Oregon, last weekend, officials said. Michael Reinoehl, 48, was wanted on a charge of murder when members of a fugitive task force shot him dead in Olympia, Washington after he left an apartment building and got in a car, according to police.

The day California finally allowed hair salons to reopen after months of pandemic restrictions should have been a happy one for the sisters who own Hourglass Salon + Boutique in Sacramento. Instead, they spent it hauling out boxes and figuring out how to tell customers they were closing.

“Our hearts are shattered,” Erin Banville and Melissa Burgoon wrote to clients. The popular business faced thousands of dollars in rent payments, and the state’s order allowing hair salons to serve customers indoors came days too late.

The White House has asked U.S. government agencies for extensive details of any funding that seeks to counter China’s global influence and business practices, or supports Beijing, amid growing tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Special Report

After Australia called for an inquiry into the pandemic, Beijing lashed out with a series of trade reprisals. Inside the government of Scott Morrison, discussions about China now revolve around safeguarding national sovereignty.