Australia’s second-biggest city Melbourne entered its first day of tougher restrictions and the Philippines decided to reimpose a stricter lockdown in and around the capital, reflecting worries about getting the coronavirus pandemic under control.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.
AMERICAS
* White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said on Sunday he was not optimistic on reaching agreement soon on a deal for the next round of legislation to provide relief to Americans hit hard by the pandemic.
* Honduras will extend its coronavirus curfew for another week through to Aug. 9, the security ministry said.
* Major League Baseball (MLB) postponed Saturday’s game and Sunday’s double-header between the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers after initial rapid tests showed another player and “multiple” staff on the Cardinals may have COVID-19.
* Argentina broke past 200,000 COVID-19 cases on Sunday and Colombia set a daily record as grim milestones topple in Latin America, pushing the world’s worst affected region towards a combined 5 million cases.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* The Hong Kong government’s decision to postpone an election for the city’s legislature by a year, by invoking emergency legislation after a spike in coronavirus cases, may be unlawful, the city’s bar association said.
* China said 36 of its new confirmed cases were locally transmitted, including 28 in Xinjiang, while another seven were imported infections involving travellers from overseas.
* Indian Interior Minister Amit Shah has been admitted to hospital after catching the coronavirus, he said on Sunday, becoming the most senior politician in the country to test positive for the disease.
EUROPE
* Millions of COVID-19 tests able to detect the virus within 90 minutes will be rolled out to British hospitals, care homes and laboratories, the country’s health minister said.
* Cyprus will introduce compulsory testing for all arrivals from Greece from Aug. 6, health authorities said.
* Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti said on Sunday he has contracted COVID-19 and will self-isolate at home for two weeks.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Flights between Turkey and Iraq have been suspended because of rising coronavirus infections in Turkey, Iraq’s Aviation Authority said.
* Kuwait has banned until further notice commercial flights to 31 countries it regards as high risk due to the spread of the coronavirus, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said on Saturday.
ECONOMIC FALLOUT
* Asian share markets turned mixed on Monday as U.S. lawmakers struggled to hammer out a new stimulus plan amid a global surge of new coronavirus cases, though a squeeze on crowded short positions gave the dollar a rare bounce.
* Asia’s factory pain continued to ease in July with contraction slowing in big export-reliant nations, adding to hopes the region is steadily emerging from the devastating hit of the coronavirus pandemic.
* France will push for financial sanctions under the EU’s 750 billion euro ($880 billion) coronavirus recovery fund against states that undermine fundamental human rights, its junior European affairs minister told the Financial Times newspaper.
(Reuters)
