Paris (AFP)

Highlights, new measures, new reports: an update on the latest developments in the Covid-19 pandemic around the world.

- More than 875,000 dead -

The pandemic has killed at least 875,703 people around the world since the end of December, according to a report established by AFP from official sources on Saturday at 11:00 GMT.

The United States is the most affected country in terms of deaths, with 188,501 dead.

Brazil (126,203 dead), India (69,561), Mexico (66,851) and the United Kingdom (41,537) follow.

Ranked third among the most bereaved countries, India has also become the third country in the world to cross the four million case mark, with a record 86,432 new infections on Saturday in the country where the pandemic does not seem to be abating.

- Vaccine less than 10 euros -

The cost of the future vaccine being developed by Sanofi and GSK laboratories against Covid-19 "is not yet fully defined", but will be "less than ten euros" per dose, according to Olivier Bogillot, president of Sanofi France.

The Anglo-Swedish competitor AstraZeneca has meanwhile announced the price of 2.50 euros per dose for its vaccine.

- Events in Australia ... -

Australian police said they had arrested dozens of protesters in Melbourne on Saturday marching in the country's second city against official coronavirus restrictions.

The illegal gathering had been promoted on social media among groups following conspiracy theories related to the coronavirus, and calling for an end to containment measures.

- ...in Italy -

About a thousand people demonstrated on Saturday in the center of Rome to protest against the obligation to vaccinate children of school age and the wearing of masks.

"No to the obligation to vaccinate, yes to freedom of choice", "No mask at school, no distancing", "Personal freedom is inviolable" and "Long live freedom" proclaimed signs brandished by the demonstrators, the majority of whom did not wear a mask.

- ... and in Croatia -

"The Covid is a lie, we are not all Covidiots", or "Take off the mask, turn off the TV, live your life to the fullest", proclaimed several thousand Croats gathered in Zagreb on Saturday.

The number of contaminations has jumped in Croatia since the reopening of borders to summer visitors, exceeding 200 per day in August and reaching a record 369 new cases on Thursday.

- New cuts at Virgin -

Plagued by the pandemic, the British airline Virgin Atlantic announced that it was cutting 1,150 jobs in addition to the 3,550 already announced, to "ensure the survival" of the company which is 51% owned by billionaire Richard Branson, Delta Airlines by holding 49 %.

- Berlusconi: stable condition -

The state of health of the former head of the Italian government Silvio Berlusconi hospitalized Thursday due to a pulmonary infection due to Covid is "stable".

His doctor explained on Saturday that "the respiratory and clinical setting confirms a regular and expected evolution and therefore leads to cautious but reasonable optimism".

Friday, the same doctor had indicated that the Cavaliere, 84 years in three weeks, "can be defined as a patient at risk because of his age and his former pathologies", including an open heart intervention.

- Reward -

Italian photographer Fabio Bucciarelli won the Visa d'or News, the most prestigious award at the Visa pour l'Image photojournalism festival, for a report in Bergamo, an Italian city at the epicenter of the pandemic in Europe.

In this northern Italian town, he photographed the suffering of the sick in their beds, surrounded by caregivers in white overalls, crowded funerals and hospitals during the first weeks of the epidemic.

- US Open: Mladenovic excluded -

France's Kristina Mladenovic and her doubles partner, Hungary's Timea Babos, were disqualified from the US Open women's doubles draw by a decision by local health authorities, the American Federation (USTA) announced on Saturday.

This decision is based on the fact that Mladenovic is one of the players who have rubbed shoulders with Frenchman Benoît Paire, tested positive for coronavirus and excluded from the tournament a week ago.

As such, she must "remain in quarantine, in her room," said the authority in a statement.

burs-kd-ot / ber / lb / ahe / roc

© 2020 AFP