(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump, still confined to the White House where he is being treated for COVID-19, planned more steps on Thursday to try to reinvigorate a re-election campaign hit hard by his handling of the pandemic.
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 cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?navid=1592404098 for a case tracker and summary of news.
AMERICAS
* U.S. President Donald Trump’s response to his COVID-19 diagnosis, including his shock move to upend talks with Congress on shoring up a pandemic-hit economy, has fellow Republicans fearing they might lose their U.S. Senate majority in next month’s election.
* Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic challenger Kamala Harris clashed over the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic during their debate on Wednesday.
* Top White House officials downplayed the possibility of more coronavirus relief, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi disparaged Trump for backing away from talks on a comprehensive deal.
EUROPE
* The Kremlin said on Thursday that a rise in new cases in Russia was a cause for serious concern and warned that numbers could rise even quicker unless people took heed of the situation and protected themselves.
* Switzerland reported nearly 1,200 new cases in a day, data from the public health agency showed on Thursday.
* Austria has recorded 1,209 new cases in the past 24 hours, clearly surpassing the previous record set in March during the first wave of infections, data sent by the Interior Ministry showed on Thursday.
* Germans face a “test of character” to contain a surge in the number of cases, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Thursday after the biggest rise in new daily cases since April.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Malaysia reported on Thursday 375 new cases, the second straight day of falling infections as the Southeast Asian country moved to impose targeted lockdowns to rein in a fresh surge in infections.
* Indonesia reported a record high 4,850 new cases on Thursday, bringing its total to 320,564.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* The coronavirus crisis is expected to drive a 3.3% contraction in sub-Saharan African economies and could push 40 million Africans into extreme poverty, the World Bank said on Thursday.
* Tunisia was expected to announce a curfew in the capital after the governors of four provinces that make up greater Tunis called for action to halt a surge in infections.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* A United Arab Emirates company is nearing the end of Phase III clinical trials of a Chinese COVID-19 vaccine and hopes to manufacture it next year, a representative said
* The European Commission said on Thursday it had sealed a supply deal with Johnson & Johnson for the supply of its potential COVID-19 vaccine for up to 400 million people.
* AstraZeneca could start profiting from its COVID-19 vaccine as soon as July next year, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* World shares headed for a one-month high and oil and metal markets rallied on Thursday, as hopes for more U.S. and global stimulus offset Europe’s rising numbers of coronavirus cases and lockdowns. [MKTS/GLOB]
* The European Central Bank is watching out for signs of a credit crunch as banks see their profits wiped out by the pandemic and brace for a wave of unpaid loans once government support schemes expire.
* German exports rose for the fourth month running and by more than expected in August, boosting hopes for a robust third quarter in Europe’s largest economy after the coronavirus shock earlier in the year.
(Compiled by Anna Rzhevkina, Anita Kobylinska and Uttaresh.V; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
