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Protests

Minneapolis city council members pledged to abolish the police force whose officer knelt on the neck of a dying George Floyd, as the biggest civil rights protests in more than 50 years demanded a transformation of U.S. criminal justice.

Congressional Democrats plan to unveil a sweeping package of legislation to combat police violence and racial injustice, after two weeks of protests across the nation.

Marcus Books in Oakland, California, has served the black community in the Bay Area with books by and about African Americans for the past 60 years. It is now seeing a surge in sales for books on the history of racial discrimination in the United States.

What you need to know about the coronavirus today

Asymptomatic cases
At least half of Singapore's newly discovered coronavirus cases show no symptoms, the co-head of the government’s virus task force has told Reuters. The discovery was made in recent weeks as the country, which has one of the highest infection tallies in Asia, increased testing. “Based on our experience, for every symptomatic case you would have at least one asymptomatic case,” said task force head Lawrence Wong.

Dancing Down Under
New Zealand has no active cases of COVID-19 for the first time since Feb. 28, the health ministry said on Monday. The last person being monitored has been released from isolation as he’s been symptom-free and is regarded as recovered. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she "did a little dance" on hearing the news.

Back in business, cautiously
Worshippers wore masks, stood 6 feet apart and went through thermal scanners at Hindu temples while Delhi’s shopping malls were kitted out with disinfection tunnels as India lifted most restrictions on public places. But the capital will not allow hotels to reopen because it might need them as temporary hospitals if there were a big jump in cases. “Our cases are rising each day; we could run out of beds,” said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

'Rubbish' quarantine
The aviation industry is warning against the UK's 14-day quarantine plan for international arrivals, which went into effect on Monday. Hundreds of thousands of jobs, if not millions, could be lost in Britain if aviation is not able to resume quickly, the chief executive of London’s Heathrow Airport said. Asked by BBC Radio whether Ryanair would cancel July and August flights if the quarantine remained in place, group CEO Michael O’Leary said: “No, because the flights are full outbound of the UK. British people are ignoring this quarantine, they know it’s rubbish.”

From Breakingviews: Corona Capital - Electric cars, Ferragamo, Suntory. Boris Johnson follows Angela Merkel’s lead on car subsidies, and Suntory’s boss backs an app to help Japan’s struggling bars and restaurants. Catch up with the latest financial insights.

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Emerging from lockdown

Russians are drawing on their taste for black humor to help raise morale during the coronavirus crisis. Though case numbers are falling, Russia has the world’s third highest tally, and grumbling over what some see as over-strict lockdown rules and insufficient government support for businesses has bubbled up.

Authorities in Pakistan have stepped up enforcement of government safety measures after a rise in the daily number of coronavirus infections pushed total cases to more than 100,000. The south Asian nation lifted its lockdown last month, putting protocols in place for the reopening of markets, industries and public transport — including mandatory wearing of masks and social distancing.

New Zealand’s capital has had an extra buzz of excitement over the past week since Hollywood director James Cameron and his crew flew in to film the much-anticipated sequel of the epic science-fiction film “Avatar”. The film is among a handful of productions kicking off in New Zealand as it begins to open up after containing the novel coronavirus, and looks to its film industry to give its battered economy a boost.

COVID Science

Oxford Biomedica has signed a new manufacturing agreement with a group backed by the UK government to help it scale up production of AstraZeneca’s potential COVID-19 vaccine to cater to demand in the United Kingdom and Europe. Shares in AstraZeneca fell 2.1% in early trades on Monday after a report it had approached U.S. rival Gilead Sciences about a possible merger to form one the world’s largest drug companies.

Europe wants to be master of its own destiny in producing essential drugs and finding COVID-19 treatments, but it’s got a problem. It relies on the United States for a critical ingredient: blood plasma. European Union officials are casting around for ways to reduce the bloc’s dependence on American plasma, the liquid component of blood used in a host of drugs and now widely applied in COVID-19 experimental therapies.