Monday Morning Briefing: U.S. vaccine campaign launches with first shipments 'delivering hope' to millions

What you need to know about the coronavirus today

‘Delivering hope’ to millions
Cargo planes and trucks with the first U.S. shipments of coronavirus vaccine fanned out from FedEx and UPS hubs in Tennessee and Kentucky on Sunday en route to distribution points around the country, launching an immunization project of unprecedented scope and complexity.

Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky suggested the very first injections of the vaccine will be given in his state, home to the UPS Worldport sorting facility in Louisville - one of two distribution command centers. The other is the FedEx air cargo hub in Memphis, Tennessee.

“Today, we’re not hauling freight, we’re delivering hope,” said Andrew Boyle, co-president of Boyle Transportation, which was hired by UPS to help ferry vaccine.

COVID-19 infections are still rising in 71 countries. There have been at least 71,379,000 reported infections and 1,610,000 reported deaths caused by the new coronavirus so far.

Asian leaders find support sliding
Japan and South Korea grappled with surging cases and growing public frustration, with Japan suspending a contentious travel subsidy program and South Korea closing some schools and considering its toughest curbs yet. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga had ruled out halting the program, citing economic considerations, but that changed after weekend polls showed his support being eroded over his handling of the pandemic.

Germany to stay in lockdown
Germany is unlikely to lift its lockdown early next year, a top aide to Chancellor Angela Merkel said, signaling Europe’s biggest economy will have to contend with the crippling restrictions well into the winter months. Merkel and German state leaders agreed to shut most stores from Wednesday until Jan. 10 to reverse a tide of infections that lighter restrictions introduced last month had failed to tame.

New Zealand agrees on ‘travel bubble’ with Australia
New Zealand agreed to allow quarantine-free travel with Australia in the first quarter of 2021, nearly a year after it locked down its borders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the cabinet had agreed in principle on a trans-Tasman, quarantine-free travel bubble pending confirmation by Australia’s cabinet and no significant change in circumstances in either country.

Single-patient study adds to debate over remdesivir
A single-patient study conducted by British scientists has found that Gilead’s antiviral drug remdesivir could be highly effective against COVID-19, raising questions about previous studies that found it had no impact on death rates from the disease. The study describes how doctors who gave the drug to a patient with both COVID-19 and a rare immune disorder saw a marked improvement in his symptoms and the disappearance of the virus.

From Breakingviews - Corona Capital: F1 injection, China exports, Mink.
Lossmaking supercar maker McLaren has pulled over for a much-needed pit stop, and the pandemic has saddled some luxury fashion houses with a supply chain dilemma. Catch up with the latest financial insights.

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U.S.

Electors will gather in state capitols across the country to formally vote for Joe Biden as the next U.S. president, effectively ending Donald Trump’s frenzied but failing attempt to overturn his loss in the election. The state-by-state votes, traditionally an afterthought, have taken on outsized significance this year in light of Trump’s unprecedented assault on the nation’s democratic process. Pushing false claims of widespread fraud, Trump has pressured state officials to throw the election results out and declare him the winner.

Hackers believed to be working for Russia have been monitoring internal email traffic at the U.S. Treasury and Commerce departments, according to people familiar with the matter, adding they feared the hacks uncovered so far may be the tip of the iceberg. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the allegations.

A U.S. appeals court will hear arguments in the Trump administration’s appeal of a judge’s order that blocked a ban on Chinese-owned TikTok from domestic app stores. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington on Sept. 27 blocked the Commerce Department order hours before it was to prohibit new downloads of the app.

Environment

Coral populations from Australia’s first “Coral IVF” trial on the Great Barrier Reef in 2016 have not only survived recent bleaching events, but are on track to reproduce and spawn next year, researchers say. “I’m really excited,” said Peter Harrison, director of Southern Cross University’s Marine Ecology Research Centre, who led the development of the larvae restoration technique which involves collecting coral sperm and eggs during the annual mass spawning on the reef.

World’s biggest iceberg heads for disaster. The mass is now moving straight toward a remote south Atlantic island populated by penguins and seals. Scientists say a collision could cause a local environmental catastrophe. Iceberg A68a has been on a slow journey toward cataclysm.

Special Report

Venezuela's "law against hate" is suddenly a key tool for Nicolás Maduro to repress dissent, particularly online. A Reuters review of over 40 recent arrests found in each case that authorities used the law to detain critics of the president, his aides or allies.

Business

Falling plane values, e-commerce rise fuels boom in converting passenger planes to freighters

From Air Canada to China’s CDB Aviation, airlines and leasing firms are rushing to permanently convert older passenger jets into freighters, betting on a boom in e-commerce as the value of used planes tumbles amid the pandemic.

5 min read

Holiday retail workers seek "temporary lifeline" in warehouse jobs, if they can find one

This time of year, hundreds of thousands of seasonal retail workers across North America and Europe would usually be wrapping gifts, stirring hot chocolates, tidying Christmas displays or assisting the flurry of last-minute shoppers.

6 min read

'Dissonance' confronts Fed, with vaccine weighed against joblessness

In about two weeks, at least 9 million jobless U.S. residents are at risk of losing the unemployment benefits that have helped sustain them through the pandemic. Delayed rent, estimated at $70 billion spread among perhaps 11 million families, will start coming due.

6 min read

Canada court to hear more witness testimony in Huawei CFO's U.S. extradition case

A Canadian court will hear testimony from a technical witness in the case to extradite Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou to the United States. The witness will testify via video from Ontario about the federal police force’s email system at prosecutors’ request.

2 min read

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