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The Australian and international news stories you need to know today, Tuesday July 21.

JobKeeper and JobSeeker extended, rates cut, and eligibility tightened.

Wage subsidies will be reduced to $1200 a fortnight for full-time workers after September, as part of the federal government's overhaul of coronavirus support.

People working less than 20 hours a week will have their JobKeeper payment cut to $750 a fortnight.

Most businesses will have to re-qualify for JobKeeper by demonstrating a 30 per cent loss in revenue, with the threshold 50 per cent for major companies.

The new rates will run between September and January next year, with the revenue test to be reapplied at the start of each stage.

From January, JobKeeper will be $1000 for full-time employees and $650 for people working less than 20 hours.

JobSeeker unemployment benefit recipients will be able to earn $300 a fortnight without it affecting their payment.

The coronavirus supplement for JobSeeker recipients will drop from a current $550 to $250 at the end of September, and remain at that rate until the end of the year.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the changes in Canberra on Tuesday.

The future of the permanent JobSeeker rate is expected to be revealed in the October 6 budget.

"I am leaning heavily in to the notion that we would anticipate on what we know right now that there obviously would need to be some continuation of the COVID supplement post-December," Mr Morrison said.

Mutual obligation requirements for people on JobSeeker will return from August 4, with the assets test to be reintroduced from the end of September.

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The prime minister said Australians understood both programs were temporary.

"They know a current scheme that is burning cash, their cash, taxpayers' cash to the tune of some $11 billion a month cannot go on forever," Mr Morrison said.

Treasury estimates the number of JobKeeper recipients will fall to 1.4 million in the December quarter and one million in the March 2021 quarter.

Around 3.5 million workers have received wage subsidies designed to keep employees linked to employers during the pandemic.

Three women have died in Victoria bringing the state's death toll to 42. 

Three women have died in Victoria - one in her 100s, one in her 90s, and one in her 80s. 

This brings the state's death toll to 42. 

Victoria has recorded 374 new cases of COVID-19 overnight. There are currently 3078 active cases across the state. 174 Victorians are in hospital, 36 are in intensive care.

NSW toughens border restrictions with Victoria.

NSW has recorded its highest daily number of COVID-19 cases in three months, as the state enforces tougher border restrictions for people wanting to enter from Victoria.

A border zone will be set up along the Murray River from midnight on Tuesday with all current travel permits to be cancelled.

Residents in the border zone who wish to move between the states will have to reapply and if NSW residents travel into Victoria, they will have to self-isolate for two weeks when they return.

Among the changed permit requirements, staff or students of boarding schools or universities must self-isolate for two weeks and obtain a negative swab before attending school, with cross-border travel only permitted for work, education, medical care, supplies or health services.

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Seasonal workers from Victoria are also banned from entering NSW.

Gladys Berejiklian. Image: Getty. 

Meanwhile, the placement of checkpoints along the Queensland-NSW border remains a hot potato with neither premier prepared to concede ground for the sake of making life easier for border town folk.

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Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk wants the "border" moved south to the Tweed River, to resolve traffic congestion in Tweed Heads and Coolangatta, where locals have been blocked in their driveways.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian wants it moved further into Queensland, effectively making Coolangatta an unsolicited holiday spot for her state.

The state recorded 20 new COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Sunday, with three linked to the Crossroads Hotel in Casula, bringing the total number of cases in the cluster to 48.

Eight new cases are linked to the Thai Rock restaurant in Wetherill Park, four are linked to the Batemans Bay Soldiers Club, four are returned travellers in hotel quarantine, and one is a person who has returned from Victoria.

There are 96 people being treated for the coronavirus in NSW, with two patients in intensive care.

Queensland has just two active cases in the state, with one new coronavirus case recorded onboard a cargo vessel off the coast of Brisbane.

Former AFL player Shane Tuck dead at 38.

The AFL community is mourning the death of former Richmond player Shane Tuck, aged 38.

Tuck, a strong and tough midfielder, played 173 games for the Tigers before retiring in 2013 and was a life member of the club.

He died on Monday morning.

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Richmond described Tuck as a courageous and brave player who was loved by his teammates, staff and fans off the field.

"We're incredibly saddened by the news of Shane's passing. He will be missed enormously by everyone," Tigers CEO Brendon Gale said.

"We send our deepest condolences to Shane's family and loved ones - his wife Kat, children Will and Ava, parents Michael and Fay, and the extended Tuck family.

"Shane was a warrior on the field, giving everything to the team each week, and a humble, fun-loving person off the field."

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Richmond will pay tribute to Tuck by wearing black armbands during Friday night's match against Greater Western Sydney.

Shane Tuck and father Michael sit third on the list of most AFL/VFL games played by a father and son combination, with 599 between them.

Michael Tuck was the former individual games record holder with 426 appearances for Hawthorn.

The Hawks confirmed news of Shane's death, on behalf of the Tuck family, in a statement on Monday afternoon.

As tributes flowed in on Monday evening, Richmond spearhead and former teammate Jack Riewoldt described Tuck as an inspiring character.

"You always walked taller when you had Shane Tuck playing next to you," Riewoldt said on SEN radio.

"There are plenty of stories about Tucky and a lot of funny ones.

"He was one of those players that you loved to spend time with because there would always be a story come out of that."

If you need support please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyondblue (1300 22 4636).

Study suggests Oxford virus vaccine 'safe'.

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A coronavirus vaccine being developed by Britain's University of Oxford, with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, appears to be safe and to produce immunity, researchers say.

An ongoing trial involving 1077 healthy adults found that the vaccine "induced strong antibody and T cell immune responses" up to day 56, the researchers wrote in The Lancet medical journal.

They said the immune responses "may be even greater after a second dose," according to a trial with a sub-group of 10 participants.

The British government has already ordered 100 million doses of the potential vaccine, which is among dozens of vaccine candidates worldwide.

"The early stage trial finds that the vaccine is safe, causes few side effects, and induces strong immune responses in both parts of the immune system," the Oxford researchers said.

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They said the vaccine produces a cellular immune response, or T cell response, within 14 days of vaccination and an antibody response within 28 days.

The vaccine uses a genetically modified common cold virus that infects chimpanzees, weakened so that it can't cause disease in humans, said Oxford's Andrew Pollard, the lead author of the study.

Dreamworld charges expected today.

Dreamworld's parent company, Ardent Leisure, will reportedly be charged as soon as Tuesday over the 2016 fatal Thunder River Rapids ride tragedy that killed four people.

Coroner James McDougall in February referred Ardent Leisure to Queensland's Office of Industrial Relations for possible prosecution under workplace laws.

Nine is reporting the independent prosecutor appointed by the Office has now concluded his assessment.

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The company could face fines of up to $3 million, with individual executives facing up to $600,000 and five years' jail under the laws as they stood in 2016.

Kate Goodchild, her brother Luke Dorsett, and his partner Roozi Araghi, from Canberra, and Sydney mother-of-two Cindy Low, were killed when the Thunder River Rapids ride malfunctioned in October 2016.

The four died after being flung into a mechanised conveyor when their raft collided with another and partially flipped after the water pump failed, causing water levels to drop.

The families of the four victims will be informed on Tuesday, Nine said.

Epstein judge's home attacked, son killed.

A gunman has shot and killed the 20-year-old son of a US federal judge, in a shooting at her home that also injured her husband, New Jersey state's chief district judge said.

Judge Salas was home at the time of the shooting but was in the basement and was not injured, according to media reports and Marion Costanza, a friend of the family who lives three homes away.

Her son, Daniel Anderl, 20, was killed and her husband is in a critical but stable condition in hospital.

US District Judge Esther Salas has presided over an ongoing lawsuit brought by Deutsche Bank investors who claim the company made false and misleading statements about its anti-money laundering policies and failed to monitor "high-risk" customers including convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

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The suspect in the shooting has been found dead, local media reports say.

The suspect, identified as Roy Den Hollander, a Manhattan lawyer and self-described 'antifeminist', had a case before Judge Salas in 2015, ABC reported.

Hollander had previously sued Manhattan nightclubs for favouring women by offering ladies' night discounts. He has also sued Columbia University for offering women's studies courses, claiming the school used government aid to teach a "religionist belief system called feminism," the publication said,

Investigators have preliminary information that someone dressed as a FedEx driver arrived at the family home at about 5pm, ABC News reported on Sunday, citing multiple law enforcement sources.

The motive behind the killing remained unclear.

Around the world.

- WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called on world leaders to commit to making vaccines a global benefit not reserved for wealthy nations.

- A New York Times investigation has identified Chinese companies using a labour program for the country's persecuted Uighurs ethnic minority to satisfy global demand for face masks and other PPE.

-With AAP.

Feature image: Getty.