authorities in south australia are preparing to reopen the border with victoria and greater sydney. irus in the past 2a hours. our sydney correspondent, phil mercer says the relaxation of internal restrictions, is an important milestone. the state of queensland is reopening now to the whole of new south wales and the state of victoria. this is the first time in more than 250 days that cleans lands‘s borders have been fully open. as you say, other restrictions in other parts of the country are now being lifted. in the last hour or so we have heard from the western australian state government and they are to reopen their borders with a victoria and new south wales in a weak‘s time. in a week's time. many internal borders in this country were closed in an attempt to curb the spread of covid—19. it wasn't universally popular, the federal government said those state border closures where unnecessary but state and territory leaders were adamant they need to protect their populations. if you look at australia's numbers, this is a country that has recorded about 28,000 coronavirus cases, jus

authorities in south australia are preparing to reopen the border with victoria and greater sydney as state records no new coronavirus cases in 2a hours. lockdowns have seen a surge in tv watching around the world. we see how the pandemic has changed things onset. 0h, we see how the pandemic has changed things onset. oh, my lord. everything's changed. first of all we have to be tested every single day. warm welcome to our viewers on pbs america and around the globe. new scientific analysis seen by the bbc suggests the goals from the paris climate agreement are coming within reach. the tracker study looks at the latest promises from countries including china as well as the plans of the us president—electjoe biden. from the uk's wettest february on record to raging wildfires in california. the fingerprints of climate change link to human activities have become increasingly clear this year. but efforts to curb greenhouse gasesis but efforts to curb greenhouse gases is the root cause of global warming has so far had limited impact. when countries are signed the agreement in 2015, they und

so everybody in greater sydney needs to be on high alert.ould be getting on public transport without wearing a mask. nobody in greater sydney should be going to a supermarket or place of worship or other high—risk areas without wearing a mask. it would just be crazy if people are undertaking those activities without wearing a mask. the harder all of us work together, the better christmas we will have. 0ur correspondent in sydney, phil mercer, has been giving us more details. there have been four key pillars to australia's coronavirus strategy — mass testing, sophisticated contact tracing, strict lockdown and the closure of international borders to foreign travellers. it is that sophisticated contact tracing that is now in full swing in sydney as the authorities raised to try to find a source of 28 infections in the northern beaches district of the city. —— as the authorities race. 28 infections might not seem a large number compared to other countries, for example, but in the australian context it is significant, the authorities here are urg

authorities in south australia are preparing to reopen the border with victoria and greater sydney ass deforestation of the amazon ra i nfo rest as deforestation of the amazon ra i nforest in as deforestation of the amazon rainforest in brazil reaches its highest level in a decade, scientific analysis agree the paris climate agreement girls are within reach. and, why covid—19lockdown measures have seen a surge

authorities in south australia are preparing to reopen the border with victoria and greater sydney asurge in tv watching around the world. we see how the pandemic has changed things onset. 0h,

greater sydney residents can have ten guests plus kids for three days only before reverting back to existingist at the university of new south wales in sydney. she believes the rules the state has imposed are not strict enough to spread the outbreak. —— stop the outbreak. from an outbreak management perspective, no, sadly no. the northern beaches had had a number of cases that seemed to be declining, but from an outbreak management perspective, you would expect zero cases, or at least —— for at least twice and incubation period, as this is a large cluster, and you would suggest no—one visits you at home if you live in the northern beaches, even in the northern focused area, because what will happen is people will visit and of course there may well be increases in clusters. and i know this is a difficult time, christmas is a difficult time, but we have had eid and chanukah and those celebrations have been disturbed. this is 2020, and this has been a terrible year. i understand that our premiere doesn't want to disappoint people, because in australia christmas is very important for everyone ac

authorities in south australia are preparing to reopen the border with victoria and greater sydney as seen a surge in tv watching and online streaming around the world. oh, my lord, everything has changed.

meanwhile, greater sydney residents have been told they can have ten people plus kids for three daysn epidemiologist at the university of new south wales in sydney. professor, thank you so much for joining professor, thank you so much forjoining us. are these measures the right measures? from an outbreak manager perspective, no. sadly, no. the northern beaches have had a number of cases, they seem to be declining, but from an outbreak management perspective, you would expect zero cases for at least twice in incubation period, because this is a very large cluster, and you would suggest that no one visits you at home if you live in the northern beaches, evenin live in the northern beaches, even in the northern focused area because what will happen is people will visit and of course there may well be increases in clusters, and i know this is a difficult time, christmas is a difficult time, but we have had ede and hanukkah where those celebrations also have been disturbed, and this is 2020. this is a terrible —— terrible year, andi this is a terrible —— terrible year, and i understand th

pull up the drawbridge and renew those border restrictions, technically 5 million people across greater sydney allowed to leave the state and travel anywhere else and australia. it would probably be unrealistic to expect new zealand to welcome us with open arms at the moment without quarantine. paul: managing editor for a soy and new zealand, and johnson. -- for australia and new zealand, ed johnson. millions of americans will see their funds expire because president trump has refused to sign a still is package. more on that story now. >> we are better off with stimulus that we are without stimulus. i do not think that $2000 checks make much sense. the real issue is going to be sustaining this expansion. you think about it, the $908 billion stimulus bill would probably pay out to hunter $50 billion per month for the next three months. $250b per month the next three months. the level of compensation is running below what we would've expected. gdp is running $70 billion below what we would have expected it would. so, in a way, it is unprecedented. muchve stimulus already, more than filling out t

under a strict lockdown in a bid to contain a growing krone virus outbreak or gatherings across greater sydney have also been restricted there are now 70 cases linked to the cluster australia had recently gone more than 2 weeks without any locally transmitted cases dr sun jr. is an associate professor of infectious diseases at the australian national university there he says the outbreak in sydney's northern beaches suburb is likely linked to a super spreader event. we've got about 68 cases but all the cases in this northern beaches outbreak seem to be linked to the northern beaches i'm in particular a clump in the northern beaches where we think a super spreading event may have occurred the only thing is some of those people infected at that event live in other parts of sydney and c.v. is a very big city about the 43rd biggest the world 2034 square kilometers and people could have spread it so the next few days will be very important and it's really vital that people get tested if they have the mildest sentence that you know make testing the genetic sequencing of this northern beaches outbrea

there are now clusters outside of that in greater sydney and the concern is that this looks a lot likein sobourne during the winter 18 new cases of covid-19 reported in sydney and some concern growing over the spread of that. let's get to karina mitchell for a check of the first word headlines. topna: in the u.s., the infectious disease doctor says the vaccination plan is lagging and repeats his worry about a post-christmas infection surge. anthony fauci said he hoped more people would be given a shot by now. takehere, the e.u. will 100 million doses of the biontech vaccine with the virus variant described as a game changer. will findnd the u.k. their brexit trade deal, formalizing the accord they agreed upon last week. it will be signed in brussels and then flown to london for the prime minister's approval. berdych lawmakers will have one day to debate the deal with thes johnson wanting it on book before the u.k. exits the e.u. on new year's day. set to. and china are agree on a deal after seven years of intense discussion and concerns about human rights. sources in brussels say a pro

it is going to be difficult for people in the greater sydney area, they need to be higher -- on higho the new south wales premier, they are saying she does not want to understate how serious this outbreak is. we will continue to monitor that, but we have already seen a response from the state in terms of visitors going into western australia needing to quarantine and test as well as visitors not being allowed to get into victoria if you are from the greater northern beaches area where we have seen that initial point about rick. let's get the ash point of outbreak. karina: microsoft is said to have been hacked as part of a suspected russian campaign that hit several u.s. government agencies as well. sources they the attack took advantage of the widespread use of software from a company called solar wind. they say hackers used multiple tools, backdoors, and mauer implants that allowed them to remain undetected for years. president trump has threatened to veto a $740 billion defense spending bill risking a split within the republican ranks and testing their loyalty. that unhappy about a

around a quarter million of sydney's residents have been put on lockdown to try to get on top of the virus, and state leaders around australia have blocked entrance from the greateron. contact tracers still remain nervous because they haven't shown who patient zero is in this cluster. they believe the variant of the virus might have come frlt united stat -- from the united states, though they're not sure who brought it in. australians feel pretty lucky going into this holiday season with no covid cases in icu at this time.

around a quarter million of sydney's residents have been put on lockdown to try to get on top of the virus, and state leaders around australia have blocked entrance from the greater city region. contact tracers still remain nervous because they haven't shown who patient zero is in this cluster. they believe the variant of the virus might have come frlt united stat -- from the united states, though they're not sure who brought it in. australians feel pretty lucky going into this holiday season with no covid cases in icu at this time. >>> and we continue on. you're watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. thank you for being with me. christmas week is shaping up to provide major coronavirus relief for americans in two ways, a second vaccine and an economic stimulus. this hour we are seeing the very first recipients of the moderna vaccine. the goal right now according to the nation's testing czar is to inject 20 million doses by the first week of january, which is encouraging for a nation said to surpass 18 million positive cases by the end of the day today. and, of course, there are those in hospitals. there are 113,000 americans hospitalized right now, and at any moment