Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group says it will buy at least 100 million doses of a Covid-19 vaccine from Germany's BioNTech for use in mainland China next year, if the vaccine receives approval.
The vaccine developed by BioNTech and US partner Pfizer has been administered to the public in Britain and the United States. Photo: AFP
The Chinese government has not announced supply deals with Western drugmakers. Instead it has partnered local firms.
Fosun said it would be entitled to 60 percent of annual gross profit from sales of doses it would make from imported bulk ingredients, and 65 percent of profit from sales of doses imported ready for use.
For the initial supply of 50m doses, Fosun would make an advance payment to BioNTech of $US303.80m ($NZ426m) - half by 30 December and the remainder after regulatory approval - the firm said in a Hong Kong stock exchange filing.
The vaccine developed by BioNTech and US partner Pfizer has been administered to the public in Britain and the United States, and has received emergency-use approval in several other countries.
Sandra Lindsay, left, a nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Centre, is inoculated with the Covid-19 vaccine by Dr Michelle Chester, in New York City. Photo: Pool/Getty Images/AFP
China has granted emergency use status to two candidate vaccines from state-backed Sinopharm and one from Sinovac Biotech Ltd. It has approved a fourth, from CanSino Biologics, for military use.
Separately, Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products aims to have enough capacity to produce at least 100m doses of a vaccine candidate from British partner AstraZeneca by year-end.
Late on Tuesday, Tibet Rhodiola Pharmaceutical Holding said it had agreed to double the supply of the Sputnik-V vaccine to its Russian home. It now aims to make enough doses for at least 40m Russians next year.
Fosun Pharma has brought two BioNTech candidate Covid-19 vaccines into clinical trials in China and is yet to receive regulatory approval for either.
- Reuters
A lead forecaster at Fiji's Meteorological Service says Cyclone Yasa has the strength to potentially wipe out villages in the coming days.
The public is being warned to prepare to be hit by a devastatingly severe cyclone with impacts to be felt late Thursday and into Friday.
Photo: Fiji Met Service
Cyclone Yasa is a category five storm, packing winds of up to 315 km/h.
Its forecast track has it moving across the main islands of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu as it snakes southeast.
Fiji Met Service forecaster Steven Meke said the public needed to prepare for the worst.
"The impacts will be devastating for Fiji.
"We should be expecting, as it moves closer to us, a lot of storm surges. That's what was experienced in the last category five we had so that is what we are anticipating as well."
Meke said the winds brought about by Yasa could be hugely destructive.
"We are also expecting a lot of destruction caused by the winds that are brought about, so that is what we are trying to tell the public.
"That should be very devastating for any infrastructure that it will encounter. So that is generally one thing that we are trying to tell the members of the public, because we already know that these infrastructures that are existing in some of our villages could easily be wiped out by a storm of this magnitude."
Meke said people were bracing for the storm but many people had limited options when it came to shelter.
Schools are closed in preparation for the cyclone, with many set to be used as evacuation centres.
Cyclone Yasa forecast track Photo: Fiji Met Service
Fiji was hit by category five Cyclone Harold in April, which killed one man, injured others and caused millions of dollars worth of damage.
In 2015 Cyclone Winston, another category five storm, killed 44 people and left many homeless.
Moderna's vaccine is safe and 94 percent effective, regulators say, clearing the way for US emergency authorisation.
Photo: AFP
The analysis by the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) means it could become the second coronavirus vaccine to be allowed in the US.
Americans across the country began receiving jabs of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine a day ago.
The US coronavirus death toll has passed 300,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Endorsement of the Moderna vaccine by FDA scientists was announced two days before the vaccine panel meets to discuss emergency approval.
What were their findings?
The 54-page document said there were "no specific safety concerns" and that serious adverse reactions were rare.
If approved by the team of experts later this week, and by the FDA's vaccine chief, shipments could begin within 24 hours.
The FDA found a 94.1 percent efficacy rate out of a trial of 30,000 people, according to the document they released.
The most common side effects included fever, headaches, and muscle and joint pain.
Last week, the FDA released similar data from Pfizer before voting to issue approval.
Moderna was founded in 2010 and so far has never had a product approved by the FDA.
The company's stocks have seen a nearly 700 percent increase so far this year.
How does it differ from the Pfizer jab?
The Moderna vaccine requires temperatures of around -20C for shipping - similar to a regular freezer.
The Pfizer jab requires temperatures closer to -75C, making transport logistics much more difficult.
Like the Pfizer jab, the Moderna vaccine also requires a second booster shot. Moderna's second jab comes 28 days after the first.
The company is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and has said that if approved, the "vast majority" of its vaccine would be manufactured there.
Pfizer's drug is being manufactured in several countries, including Germany and Belgium.
- BBC
A top member of US President Donald Trump's Republican Party, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has congratulated Joe Biden on winning the presidential election last month
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has congratulated Joe Biden on winning the presidential election last month. Photo: AFP/ Getty Images
Senator McConnell spoke after the electoral college formally confirmed Biden's victory over Trump.
The Democrat won 306 electoral college votes to Trump's 232.
President Trump still refuses to concede, making unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud.
Relations with the Senate, currently controlled by the Republicans, will be crucial to Biden's presidency.
On Tuesday, he travels to Georgia to campaign for the Democrats in next month's Senate run-off elections. Two seats will be decided on 5 January and could determine whether or not his party takes control of the chamber. Democrats already control the House of Representatives.
Speaking on the Senate floor, McConnell said: "Today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden."
President-elect Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. Photo: AFP
Also congratulating Biden's running-mate, Kamala Harris, he added: "All Americans can take pride that our nation has a female vice president-elect for the very first time."
President Trump does not appear to be changing his stance.
Tweeting on Tuesday, he said without offering evidence that "tremendous evidence" of voter fraud was "pouring in".
- BBC
People in Fiji are being warned they may get a direct hit from a powerful cyclone this week.
Cyclone Yasa is now a category four, with a growing likelihood that it will pass directly over Fiji's two main islands on Friday as a category five, the highest possible.
Stephen Meke, a lead forecaster at the Fiji Meteorological Service, said the cyclone already has winds gusting as high as 260km/h.
Cyclone Yasa is forecast to pass close to Fiji's main islands as a category five on Thursday or Friday. Photo: Fiji Meteorological Service
He said ocean conditions are perfect for it to strengthen further in the coming days, and people should heed warnings.
"All the ingredients for further intensification is there," Meke said. "This is massive for Fiji, it will be very destructive for Fijians.
"We should expect a lot of rain, a lot of disaster, a lot of flood, even storm surge to be happening. That is what we are anticipating."
Already, towns and villages are boarding up their houses and stocking up on food and water supplies.
The government also announced that all schools would be closed on Wednesday ahead of the cyclone's expected arrival.
All students between years one and eleven have been asked to stay home, but year 12 and 13 students with exams will still have to sit them.
If Cyclone Yasa does strengthen as forecast, it would be the second category five cyclone in the region this year after Cyclone Harold cause extensive devastation in Vanuatu in April. It is nearly five years since Cyclone Winston - also a category five - wreaked havoc across Fiji.
In a video address, prime minister Frank Bainimarama urged people to hunker down and prepare for heavy rain, damagin winds, coastal inundation and flooding.
"Let's remember Cyclone Harold, at the last minute it ramped up in strength and ended up being worse than predicted," he said. "Do not be caught off guard."
"I urge communities to use this time to trim tree branches, clean drains, board up homes, prepare emergency kits and take other steps to keep your homes and communities safe."
Cyclone Zazu heads out to sea
Meanwhile a second storm, Cyclone Zazu, has moved away from the Tongan islands of Vava'u towards the ocean between Tonga and Niue.
Zazu is now a category two system with average winds of up to 95 km/hr. It is moving in a southeast direction and is forecast to be 240km from Alofi, 490km from Nuku'alofa by this afternoon.
There have been no reports of major damage from Vava'u as yet.
Australian authorities have issued evacuation warnings for low-lying towns in northern New South Wales (NSW) as storms batter the nation's east coast.
Fire evacuation points on Fraser Island were underwater due to high tides and huge waves, a week after blazes ravaged the island. Photo: AFP
Emergency officials today said they had fielded about 150 calls for help in the past 24 hours.
Huge swells pummelled the coasts of NSW and south-east Queensland on Monday, causing major erosion.
An already-depleted beach at Byron Bay - a popular holiday spot - had all but disappeared, locals said.
Authorities said the storm had moved south today, bringing the threat of flooding to inland NSW.
They told communities around the Tweed River to evacuate today, after it burst its banks. Some electricity, internet and other utility networks were also disrupted.
Meteorologists said the system had already released an amount of rain similar to a cyclone - about 1000mm over four days.
The storms have affected a 1000km stretch of Australia's east coast - including cities such as Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
Australia is experiencing a La Niña weather pattern, which typically brings more rainfall and tropical cyclones during the nation's summer.
The NSW State Emergency Service said it had carried out 12 flood rescues so far, and warned people to stay indoors and avoid driving through floodwaters.
Some roads in the area between Tweed Heads and Taree were already closed due to floods.
The rain has eased in Queensland, but authorities there warned of dangerous tides up to 30cm higher than normal. All beaches in the area were closed.
Yesterday, officials recorded 8m-high swells and gale force winds exceeding 104km/h (64m/ph) at Byron Bay.
The neighbouring states have received about 2500 calls for assistance since Friday, mostly for water damage to homes and fallen trees and power poles.
There have been no confirmed reports of injuries or deaths, but authorities said they were investigating a man's death in a car crash on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.
La Niña season
A La Niña season is historically associated with increased rainfall and floods in Australia.
Two of Australia's three wettest years on record have been during La Niña events, and floods have been recorded in 12 of the 18 events since 1900.
Typically, La Niña sees a 20 percent increase in average rainfall from December to March in eastern Australia, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
Scientists said climate change was also intensifying La Niña's impact, and making weather patterns more erratic.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian - whose state was worst-hit in last summer's bushfires - said experts were expecting conditions to be "worse than what we have seen in quite a number of years".
"I am hoping what we have seen over the last few days won't be repeated frequently over summer but it could," she said.
"I know for many residents in northern NSW, they are used to flooding conditions, but what the bushfire season taught us last year is to expect the unexpected."
-BBC
Actor Craig McLachlan says he will have "a lot" more to say in the new year after he was found not guilty of assault and indecent assault charges dating back to 2014.
Craig McLachlan plays the part of Billy Flynn during the final rehearsal of the hit musical 'Chicago' in Sydney on May 14, 2009. Photo: AFP
The verdict, for all 13 charges, was delivered during a hearing at the Melbourne Magistrates' Court this morning.
The seven indecent assault charges and six common assault charges related to the time in which McLachlan was a performer in a Rocky Horror Show theatre production.
The complainants in the case were four women.
Magistrate Belinda Wallington said she accepted some of the complainants' evidence, but it did not meet the high criminal standards required to prove the charges.
"The four complainants were brave and honest witnesses," she said.
"I was not persuaded that there was evidence of collusion between the complainants. I was not persuaded that there was evidence of motive or that the complaints were made for reasons for career ambition or for any other such reason."
During one of the alleged incidents, Wallington said McLachlan was accused of inappropriately tickling the inner thigh of a woman on stage, known as CC.
"I'm unable to exclude the possibility that an egotistical, self-entitled sense of humour led the accused to genuinely think that ... CC was consenting to his actions," she said.
Wallington said her full findings were 105 pages long and would be released to the parties and media later today.
Speaking outside his lawyer's offices in Sydney after the verdict was handed down, an emotional McLachlan said he and his partner Vanessa Scammell would have more to say in the New Year.
"As you can imagine, we have a lot to say," he said.
"We've maintained a dignified and respectful silence for the past almost three years and put our trust in the law.
"And here we are today."
He thanked his legal team, including barrister Stuart Littlemore QC, whom he praised for his "extraordinary energy and humanity".
"But for now, Christmas is upon us, go and enjoy Christmas with your families - we're going to this year. Stay safe, be kind to each other. We'll see you in the new year," he said.
Hearing told any inappropriate contact was 'accidental'
In November, McLachlan told the court he was "stunned and flabbergasted" when he was informed of the claims against him.
He said any inappropriate touching "could only have been accidental", and that "horseplay" and "pranks" occurred regularly backstage between members of the cast.
He said he often hugged and kissed fellow performers, a practice he said was "commonplace" in show business.
He denied his words or actions ever had a sexual meaning, connotation or ambition.
McLachlan in defamation case against ABC, Fairfax
Accusations against McLachlan came to light after the publication of a joint ABC-Fairfax investigation.
In a separate court matter, McLachlan launched defamation proceedings against the ABC, Fairfax (now Nine) and an actor after the stories were published.
In early 2019, a stay was ordered on that trial until the completion of criminal proceedings in Victoria.
McLachlan has starred in television, theatre and film productions since the 1980s.
While acting in Neighbours, he won the Gold Logie award as Australia's most-popular television personality in 1990 and then won an ARIA Music Award in 1991.
In recent years, he was nominated for several Logies for his performances in the ABC series The Doctor Blake Mysteries.
- ABC
US attorney general Bill Barr will be leaving his job just before Christmas, President Donald Trump said.
US attorney general Bill Barr Photo: AFP
Barr, in a letter to Trump seen by Reuters, said he would leave his post on 23 December.
The letter came shortly after Barr had briefed the president about the Justice Department's review into the Trump campaign's allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 election. In it, Barr pledged the allegations "would continue to be pursued."
In the letter, Barr also praised what he called Trump's historic record, saying he had helped boost the economy, strengthen the military and curb illegal immigration.
Barr's fate in the waning days of the Trump administration had been in question since he said last week that a Justice Department investigation had found no sign of major fraud in the November election, contradicting Trump's false claims.
At the time, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said of Barr's statement: "I guess he's the next one to be fired."
Since the 3 November election, the president, who has made repeated and unsubstantiated claims that the election was stolen, and dozens of his legal team's lawsuits challenging the results have failed.
Trump's legal defence team had accused Barr of failing to conduct a proper inquiry.
Deputy attorney general Jeff Rosen will become acting attorney general.
- Reuters
By Michael Martina and Jarrett Renshaw for Reuters
Democrat Joe Biden has won the state-by-state electoral college vote that formally determines the US presidency, all but ending President Donald Trump's floundering campaign to overturn his loss in the 3 November election.
US president-elect Joe Biden. Photo: AFP
California, the most populous state, delivered its 55 electoral votes to Biden, officially putting the former vice president over the 270 votes needed to secure the White House. Based on November's results, Biden earned 306 electoral college votes to the Republican Trump's 232.
Earlier in the day, electors in several major battleground states where Trump has unsuccessfully sought to reverse the outcome - Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin - also voted for Biden, who is set to take office on 20 January alongside running mate Kamala Harris.
Traditionally a formality, the electoral college vote - set for Monday (Tuesday NZDT) by federal law - assumed outsized significance because of Trump's unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud.
Biden planned a prime-time address at 7.30 p.m. ET on Monday (1.30pm on Tuesday NZ time) to mark the occasion and call on Americans to "turn the page" on the Trump era.
"The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago," he was expected to say, according to excerpts released by his transition team. "And we now know that nothing - not even a pandemic - or an abuse of power - can extinguish that flame.
"In this battle for the soul of America, democracy prevailed."
There was next to no chance that Monday's voting would negate Biden's victory and, with Trump's legal campaign to reverse the results failing, the president's dim hopes of clinging to power rest with persuading Congress not to accept Monday's electoral vote during a Jan. 6 special session - an effort that is virtually certain to fail.
Once in office, Biden faces the challenging task of fighting the coronavirus pandemic, reviving the US economy and rebuilding relations frayed with US allies abroad by Trump's "America First" policies.
Threats of violence
In Arizona, at the beginning of the electors' meeting there, the state's Democratic secretary of state, Katie Hobbs, said Trump's claims of fraud had "led to threats of violence against me, my office, and those in this room today," echoing similar reports of threats and intimidation in other states.
"While there will be those who are upset their candidate didn't win, it is patently un-American and unacceptable that today's event should be anything less than an honoured tradition held with pride and in celebration," Hobbs said.
A group of Trump supporters called on Facebook for protests all day on Monday outside the state Capitol in Lansing, Michigan, one of the hardest-fought states where Trump lost.
But by early afternoon only a handful had gathered, including Bob Ray, 66, a retired construction worker. He held a sign that read: "order a forensic audit," "save America" and "stop communism."
Under a complicated system dating back to the 1780s, a candidate becomes U.S. president not by winning a majority of the popular vote but through the Electoral College system, which allots electoral votes to the 50 states and the District of Columbia largely based on the size of their population.
Electors are typically party loyalists who represent the winning candidate in their state, with the exception of Maine and Nebraska, which allocate some of their Electoral College votes based on which candidate won each of the states' congressional districts.
While there are sometimes a handful of "rogue" electors who vote for someone other than the winner of their state's popular vote, the vast majority rubber-stamp the results.
Trump said late last month he would leave the White House if the Electoral College voted for Biden, but has since pressed on with his unprecedented campaign to overturn his defeat. On Monday, he repeated a series of unsupported claims of electoral fraud.
"Swing States that have found massive VOTER FRAUD, which is all of them, CANNOT LEGALLY CERTIFY these votes as complete & correct without committing a severely punishable crime," he wrote on Twitter.
Trump's gambit
Trump had called on Republican state legislators to appoint their own electors, essentially ignoring the will of the voters, but lawmakers largely dismissed the idea.
"I fought hard for President Trump. Nobody wanted him to win more than me," Lee Chatfield, Republican speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives, said in a statement. "But I love our republic, too. I can't fathom risking our norms, traditions and institutions to pass a resolution retroactively changing the electors for Trump."
Once the electoral college vote is complete, Trump's sole remaining gambit would be to persuade Congress not to certify the count on 6 January.
Any attempt to block a state's results, and thus change the overall US tally, must earn majority approval from both chambers of Congress that day. Democrats control the House of Representatives, while enough Republicans in the Senate have acknowledged Biden's victory to ensure any challenge would likely fail.
In 2016, Trump won the Electoral College despite losing the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton by nearly 3 million votes. The formal vote earned extra attention when some Democratic activists called for electors to "go rogue" against Trump. In the end, seven electors broke ranks, an unusually high number but still far too few to sway the outcome.
- Reuters
Members of the US electoral college have begun casting their votes in a process that will see Joe Biden formally designated president-elect.
US president-elect Joe Biden. Photo: AFP
The Democrat won November's contest with 306 electoral college votes to Republican Donald Trump's 232.
Under the US system, voters actually cast their ballots for "electors", who in turn, formally vote for candidates weeks after the election.
Despite this process, President Trump is not expected to accept the result.
Normally the electors do not get that much attention, but this year, due to Trump's persistent efforts to question and overturn the results - involving legal challenges which have been rejected by courts across the country - the state-by-state vote is in the spotlight.
Vermont, New Hampshire, Indiana and Tennessee were among the first states where electors gathered in capitals (or in Washington DC) on Monday to formally cast their votes.
The number of electors per state is roughly in line with the size of the population. California has the most electors and That vote is expected to push Mr Biden over the 270-vote tally required to win the presidency.
US president-elect Joe Biden and president Donald Trump. Photo: AFP
When the voting process is complete, the results will be sent to Washington. They will be formally counted in a joint session of Congress on 6 January presided over by Vice-President Mike Pence.
Joe Biden plans to address the nation on Monday evening after the electors have voted, his transition team has announced.
In Michigan, legislative offices in the state capital Lansing were closed on Monday due to "credible threats of violence" ahead of the electoral college vote, taking place in the state Senate.
Members of the electoral college - who cast one vote for president and one for vice-president - almost always vote in line with whoever won the popular vote in their state. Some rogue electors are known to diverge but analysts say there is next to no chance that Mr Biden's victory could be overturned.
Last month, President Trump said he would leave office in January if Mr Biden were certified the election winner. But in the lead-up to Monday's vote he has continued to make unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.
- BBC
