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Russia says its vaccine is 92% effective
Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine is 92% effective at protecting people from COVID-19 according to interim trial results, the country’s sovereign wealth fund said on Wednesday, as Moscow rushes to keep pace with Western drugmakers in the race for a shot.

The initial results are only the second to be published from a late-stage human trial in the global effort to produce vaccines.

The results are based on data from the first 16,000 trial participants to receive both shots of the two-dose vaccine.

California, Midwest states clamp down again
California and several states across the U.S. Midwest tightened restrictions on residents on Tuesday as the nation’s top infectious disease specialist called on Americans to remain vigilant until a vaccine can be approved and distributed.

The new clampdowns were announced as the number of COVID-19 infections surged again in the United States with the onset of colder weather, straining hospitals and medical resources in some cities.

“There’s a real thing called COVID-19 fatigue, that’s understandable,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, told CNN in an interview. “But hang in there a bit longer, do the things you need to do and we’ll be OK.”

Trudeau scolds provinces
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday urged premiers of the country’s 10 provinces to “do the right thing” and take stricter measures to fight a rapidly spreading second wave of the coronavirus.

Over the past week Canada has posted a daily average of more than 3,800 cases. The central province of Manitoba announced a major shutdown beginning on Thursday.

All social gatherings will be forbidden, restaurants closed except for takeout meals, and recreational facilities shut.

UK ready to roll out vaccine once regulator gives all-clear
Britain is ready to roll out tens of millions of COVID-19 vaccines to the public with care-home residents and the elderly first in line for a jab that medics hope will allow the world to return to some semblance of normality.

England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam said the country was ready to roll out a vaccine once regulators approved it as safe, quipping that he had told his 78-year-old mother to be ready for a jab.

“Do I think we will then move at pace to keep up with the volumes that are supplied to us? Yes I absolutely do,” Van-Tam told reporters.

Coronavirus kills 15,000 U.S. mink
More than 15,000 mink in the United States have died of the coronavirus since August, and authorities are keeping about a dozen farms under quarantine while they investigate the cases, state agriculture officials said.

Global health officials are eying the animals as a potential risk for people after Denmark last week embarked on a plan to eliminate all of its 17 million mink, saying a mutated coronavirus strain could move to humans and evade future COVID-19 vaccines.

Track the spread global spread here.

Breakingviews - Corona Capital: Alibaba, London, Insurers Alibaba pulls out all the stops for its annual retail extravaganza and Finnish insurer Sampo goes on a Covid-19 diet. Catch up with the latest financial insights.

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TOP STORIES

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden will further lay the groundwork for his new administration as President Donald Trump pursues a flurry of lawsuits challenging the election results in an effort to cling to power. Trump has declined to concede, instead lodging unsupported charges of election fraud that have gained little traction.

Top Republicans in the U.S. Congress for now are supporting President Trump’s attempt to challenge President-elect Biden’s victory, but some senior aides said Trump must soon produce significant evidence or exit the stage. A handful of Republican senators have said they recognize Biden as last week’s winner. Many more have not but are suggesting limits to their patience in giving Trump the benefit of the doubt.

China urged the United States to stop boosting ties with Taiwan, after Washington and Taipei announced they would hold economic talks this month that Taiwan’s government described as a “major milestone” in relations. China considers democratically-ruled Taiwan its own territory with no right to formal ties with other countries including new arms sales and visits to Taipei by senior U.S. officials.

Thousands of Ethiopian refugees were fleeing into neighboring Sudan as federal troops continued to battle local forces in the closed-off northern Tigray region. With outsiders barred and communications down, the status of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s week-long offensive against regional rulers the Tigray People’s Liberation Front was unclear.

Thousands of Armenian demonstrators, chanting “Nikol is a traitor”, demanded Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan resign over a ceasefire that secured territorial advances for Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh after six weeks of fighting. The ceasefire, announced on Tuesday, ended the worst fighting in the region in decades, and has been celebrated as a victory in Azerbaijan.