European governments prepared on Tuesday to introduce new restrictions to curb a surge in infections, and are looking to buy millions of COVID-19 rapid tests.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
EUROPE
* Italy posted a daily record of 21,994 new cases on Tuesday, the health ministry said.
* Belgium's government will convene on Friday to decide on a potential new national lockdown with the country now suffering the highest rate of infections per 100,000 citizens in the European Union.
* Poland reported 16,300 new infections on Tuesday, a daily record, as its prime minister warned that people attending mass protests over abortion rights were disregarding "massive" infection risks.
* France should prepare for "difficult decisions" on new curbs, its interior minister said, a day after the country reported its highest number of COVID-19 patients going into hospital since April.
* German ministers called for targeted, temporary curbs to slow exponentially growing infections, and predicted 20,000 new daily cases at the end of the week.
* Russia ordered bars and restaurants to close overnight, RIA news agency reported.
AMERICAS
* The United Nations cancelled all in-person meetings at its New York headquarters after five people in Niger's U.N. mission were infected.
* Fear of the novel coronavirus has cast some Americans as litigants in an unprecedented wave of court battles over voting procedures.
* Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said she had tested positive for COVID-19 but was feeling well and had not developed symptoms of the disease.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Hong Kong will reopen public beaches and relax restrictions on bars and restaurants starting Friday.
* Australia's Victoria state, the epicentre of COVID-19 infections, said it had gone 48 hours without detecting any new cases for the first time in over seven months.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Drugmaker Pfizer Inc said it does not yet have data from the late-stage trial of the COVID-19 vaccine it is developing with Germany's BioNTech SE.
* Moderna Inc said the United Kingdom's health regulator has started a real-time review of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine.
* South Korea's drug ministry is reviewing whether to fast-track approval of AstraZeneca's vaccine candidate, Yonhap news agency reported.
* Antibodies against the coronavirus declined rapidly in the British population over summer, a study found, suggesting protection after infection may not be long lasting.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* U.S. President Donald Trump acknowledged on Tuesday that a coronavirus economic relief deal would likely come after the Nov. 3 election, with the White House unable to bridge differences with fellow Republicans in the U.S. Senate as well as congressional Democrats.
* A gauge of world stock markets edged lower and the U.S. dollar fell on Tuesday as investors grappled with a surge in coronavirus cases and uncertainty over the impending U.S. election.
* Euro zone banks are tightening access to corporate credit amid a resurgence of the pandemic, adding to already numerous arguments for the European Central Bank to add to stimulus.
