U.S. President Donald Trump plans to make a campaign stop in Wisconsin despite a surge in coronavirus cases in the Midwest state, while Pfizer said the earliest U.S. filing for its COVID-19 vaccine would be in late November.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread of COVID-19, open https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/ in an external browser.
* Eikon users, see MacroVitals for a case tracker and summary of news.
EUROPE
* The EU should renegotiate a $1.17 billion contract it sealed last week with Gilead <GILD.O> for a six-month supply of remdesivir after it showed poor results in a large trial, experts said.
* With one of the world's highest fatality rates, Belgium is expected to tighten restrictions on Friday as infections soar and hospitals risk running out of beds.
* Malta is making the wearing of face masks mandatory in public and ordering clubs, bars and places of entertainment to close at 11 p.m.
* Britain put more of northwest England into the highest COVID alert level in the face of rising case numbers.
* Some 1,000 hospitality workers rallied in Barcelona to protest a 15-day shutdown of bars and restaurants.
AMERICAS
* President Donald Trump called for a big economic stimulus as U.S. infections surpassed eight million, with record spikes in several states.
* Mexico's president said he would take a COVID-19 vaccine in public if doctors approve the treatment for him. The country's death toll surpassed 85,000 on Thursday.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Delhi residents with pre-existing health conditions such as asthma are stocking up on oxygen cylinders and pulse oximeters, fearing that worsening air quality will make them more vulnerable to COVID-19.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* South African cases reported since the first infection in early March surpassed 700,000, amid fears of an impending second wave as the nation battles an economic recession.
* Israel said it would begin easing a second nationwide lockdown after a steady decline in daily infection rates, and examine how best to reopen holy sites in Jerusalem.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Pfizer Inc <PFE.N> said it could file in late November for U.S. authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine it is developing, suggesting that a vaccine could potentially be available in the country by the end of the year.
* The World Health Organization said it would assess monoclonal antibodies and other antiviral drugs in its trial of potential COVID-19 treatments, after the trial found Gilead Science's <GILD.O> remdesivir had no impact on survival rates.
* "Human challenge" trials of potential vaccines, where volunteers are deliberately infected with the disease, could become a reality after a British biotech firm said it was in advanced talks with the government.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* The U.S. budget deficit hit a record $3.132 trillion during fiscal 2020, more than triple the 2019 shortfall due to massive coronavirus rescue spending, the U.S. Treasury said.
* OPEC and its allies fear a prolonged second wave and a jump in Libyan output could push the oil market into surplus next year, according to a confidential document seen by Reuters.
(Compiled by Devika Syamnath and Sarah Morland; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Anil D'Silva)
