People line up to conduct tests for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a temporary testing site in Mexico City, Mexico October 15, 2020. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido
Reuters
US President Donald Trump urged for a big stimulus to cushion the economic impact of COVID-19, as the country's tally of infections surpassed eight million while reporting record spikes in several states.
EUROPE
* The Polish government urged its citizens to stay at home and ordered new national restrictions after cases rose by 24% to a record.
* Police raided the homes and offices of France's health minister, its public health director and former prime minister as a judicial investigation into the government's response to the coronavirus crisis deepened.
AMERICAS
* New COVID-19 cases in the United States rose by one million in less than a month to push total caseloads beyond eight million, with Wisconsin and other midwestern states seeing a record jump in new infections.
* President Donald Trump said he is willing to raise his offer of $1.8 trillion for a COVID-19 relief deal with Democrats in the U.S. Congress, but the idea was shot down by his fellow Republican, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
* Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden tested negative for COVID-19 after he flew earlier this week with a person who subsequently tested positive.
* Catholics and Jews asked U.S. courts to overturn New York Governor's order limiting worship to no more than 10 congregants in communities hard hit by the virus, calling the measure a threat to religious freedom.
* Mexico's death toll surpassed 85,000 after it reported 387 additional fatalities along with 5,514 new cases.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* India is bracing for a surge in coming weeks as it heads into its main holiday season with an economy freed of restrictions.
* The organiser of Vietnam's first Formula One grand prix said it has cancelled the race, having already postponed the event initially scheduled for April.
* Hundreds of New Zealand plane passengers started arriving in Sydney on Friday as part of a new trans-Tasman travel bubble amid a rapidly falling growth rate in cases at the epicentre of Australia's coronavirus outbreak.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* South Africa will embark on a massive public works and job-creation drive in response to the coronavirus crisis, President Cyril Ramaphosa said, unveiling a plan to return Africa's most industrialised economy to growth.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* One of China's front-running coronavirus vaccine candidates was shown to be safe and triggered immune responses in a combined early and mid-stage test in humans, researchers said.
* Gilead Sciences Inc's remdesivir had little or no effect on COVID-19 patients' length of hospital stay or chances of survival, a clinical trial by the World Health Organization has found.
* Fujifilm Holdings Corp said it had applied for approval in Japan for its anti-influenza drug Avigan as a treatment for COVID-19.
* The risk of exposure to the novel coronavirus on flights is very low, a U.S. Department of Defense study found, a positive sign for the airline industry.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Asian stocks edged higher, buoyed by gains in China, but the mood was cautious due to a resurgence of coronavirus infections in Europe and the United States.
* The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits rose to a two-month high last week, stoking fears the pandemic was inflicting lasting damage to the labor market.
* Rio Tinto warned a resurgence in infections was putting global economic growth at risk and that steel production outside China has sharply dropped even as stimulus measures prop up demand in the top consumer.
