Australia’s government to back Victoria’s strict coronavirus lockdown

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lamhas warned the city is on the brink of a large-scale outbreak of the coronavirus and urged people to stay indoors as much as possible as strict new measures to curb the disease's spread take effect on Wednesday.

China reported 101 new coronavirus cases in the mainland for July 28, up from 68 cases a day earlier, the Health Commission said on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump groused on Tuesday about medical expert Anthony Fauci’s high approval ratings and joked that “nobody likes me” as he struggles to improve his standing with voters for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Florida reported a record one-day rise in coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, and cases in Texas passed the 400 000 mark, stoking fears the United States was losing control of the outbreak and adding pressure on Congress to pass another massive aid package.

Spain reacted angrily on Tuesday to recommendations from Britain and Germany that their citizens avoid its islands and beaches because of an increase in coronavirus cases during what should be the height of the tourism season.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison cut short a planned interstate tour to focus on the country’s coronavirus crisis on Tuesday, citing a “very complex” outbreak in aged care homes in the city of Melbourne.

China reported 68 new coronavirus cases for July 27, up for the fourth consecutive day, including two in Beijing, the country's health authority said on Tuesday.

Senate Republicans on Monday proposed a $1 trillion coronavirus aid package hammered out with the White House, paving the way for talks with Democrats on how to help Americans as expanded unemployment benefits for millions of workers expire this week.

Bolivian interim President Jeanine Anez said on Tuesday she had recovered from the coronavirus and returned to work.

Poland’s Health Ministry expects a resurgence in the number of new coronavirus infections to end after it tests and isolates suspected cases in the southern mining region of Silesia, officials said.

France’s new confirmed COVID-19 cases were up by a daily average of 850 over the last three days, a slight decrease versus the 1 000-plus figure published on Thursday and Friday, but a higher total than May’s daily average, when the country started unwinding its lockdown.

Bans on international travel cannot stay in place indefinitely, and countries are going to have to do more to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus within their borders, the World Health Organization said on Monday.

Joyce Elliott, an Arkansas state senator who is seeking a US congressional seat in November, was the second Black student to attend her local public high school; the first was her older sister. If elected in November, she will be the first Black lawmaker in Congress from Arkansas, ever.

Britain is closely watching rises in coronavirus cases in other European destinations such as France and Germany after slapping a 14-day quarantine on travellers from Spain at the height of the summer vacation season.

China took over the premises of the U.S. consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu on Monday, after ordering the facility to be vacated in retaliation for China’s ouster last week from its consulate in Houston, Texas.

Florida on Sunday became the second state after California to overtake New York, the worst-hit state at the start of the U.S. novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, according to a Reuters tally.

A presidential contender who says he fled Belarus because he feared for his freedom and custody of his children has told Reuters the country's opposition is pinning its hopes on a candidate he characterised as a latter-day Joan of Arc.

The body of civil rights icon John Lewis crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Sunday, decades after his "Bloody Sunday" beating there drew a national spotlight to the struggle for racial equality.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday the Russian Navy would be armed with hypersonic nuclear strike weapons and underwater nuclear drones, which the defence ministry said were in their final phase of testing.

Hurricane Hanna pummeled the south Texas coast on Saturday night with howling winds and a surging sea that threatened a broad area already contending with an intense spike in coronavirus deaths.

Hurricane Douglas was expected to hit Hawaii within hours, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Saturday, and while it's forecast to gradually weaken, it could still bring deadly winds and rains to the islands.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Saturday that he has tested negative for the novel coronavirus after weeks quarantined in his residence due to an infection.

Vietnam was back on high alert for the novel coronavirus on Saturday after medical officials in the central city of Danang detected, its first locally transmitted case for three months.

China reported 34 cases of the new coronavirus in the mainland for July 24, up from 21 cases a day earlier, the Health Commission said on Saturday.

The United States recorded more than 1 000 deaths from COVID-19 for the fourth day in a row on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, as the Trump administration stressed the need for children to go back into the classroom despite fears about safety.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has been criticised for acting too slowly in the COVID-19 pandemic, said on Friday there may have been things he could have done differently.

With just weeks to go before US schools begin to open, federal health and education officials on Friday stressed the need for children to get back into the classroom despite parents’ fears about safety as coronavirus infections surge.

The mayor of Mexico City warned on Friday of a possible resurgence of coronavirus cases in the sprawling capital in the coming months, noting that hospitalisations have been on the rise in recent days.

The body of the late congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis will lie in state at the United States Capitol Rotunda on Monday, as Congressional leaders announced that the public would be allowed to pay their respects over two days.

Germany will offer returning holidaymakers free coronavirus tests as part of efforts to prevent a new wave of infections, authorities said on Friday, as the country recorded its highest number of daily cases for two months.