:FILE PHOTO: Test tube with Corona virus name label is seen in this illustration taken on January 29, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo
A resolution pushed by the European Union and Australia at the World Health Assembly, calling for an independent review into the origins and spread of the coronavirus, will be put forward on Tuesday if it gains backing from two-thirds of the 194 members of the assembly, the governing body of the World Health Organization.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* Almost 4.74 million people have been reported to have been infected globally and 313,188 have died, according to a Reuters tally, as of 0936 GMT on Monday.
EUROPE
* The head of the European Union's medicines agency, Guido Rasi, said an initial authorisation for U.S. pharmaceutical company Gilead's remdesivir as a COVID-19 treatment could be granted in coming days.
* Russia reported 8,926 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours, with the daily rise in cases being for the third day in a row below 10,000, a threshold that it has been above for much of May.
* Spain's daily death toll fell below 100 for the first time in two months, the health ministry said on Sunday, as some parts of the country prepared for a further loosening of lockdown measures.
* Greeks flocked to the seaside when more than 500 beaches reopened and thousands returned to church on Sunday after weeks of staying away as a ban on mass gatherings was eased.
AMERICAS
* The United States are likely to join the consensus for an independent evaluation during a virtual meeting of the World Health Assembly, the WHO's decision-making body, diplomats said.
* U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there will be negotiations on the new $3 trillion coronavirus relief legislation passed by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives.
* Wearing a face mask, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro posed for photographs with children plucked out of a crowd of supporters, disregarding public health advice aimed at containing one of the world's worst virus outbreaks.
* Mexico on Sunday reported 49,219 cases of the coronavirus, 2,075 more than the previous day, as the country prepares to resume economic activities deemed essential.
* Honduras on Sunday extended its blanket curfew for a week. The curfew, first imposed in mid-March, has been extended eight times as the government attempts to avoid overwhelming the health system.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* China's foreign ministry said it was premature to immediately launch an investigation into the origins and spread of the coronavirus.
* India extended a nationwide lockdown to May 31, as cases exceeded 90,000 and further clashes erupted between police and stranded migrants.
* Singapore's health ministry confirmed 305 new coronavirus cases, the smallest increase in over a month. * Malaysian health authorities on Monday reported 47 new coronavirus cases, bringing the cumulative total to 6,941 cases. The health ministry also reported no new deaths, keeping total fatalities at 113.
* The climbing season for Mount Fuji, Japan's highest peak, is cancelled for this year, after local officials announced that the mountain trails leading up to the summit will stay closed throughout the summer. *The Philippines' health ministry on Monday reported seven new coronavirus deaths and 205 additional infections. In a bulletin, the ministry said total deaths from the outbreak had increased to 831, while confirmed cases have risen to 12,718. But 94 more patients recovered, bringing total recoveries to 2,729.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Zimbabwe will keep its lockdown for the time being, though businesses will be allowed to open for longer and the restrictions will be reviewed every two weeks, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said.
ECONOMIC FALLOUT
* European stock markets rose on Monday and oil prices climbed to their highest in more than a month as a loosening of shutdowns boosted market sentiment, even as the deadly outbreak has yet to be fully contained.
* Temporary unemployment schemes operating across Europe could struggle to save the jobs of leisure and travel sector workers facing drawn-out or partial recoveries from the pandemic, even if they help industries that rebound quickly.
* China is likely to shrug off the pall hanging over its economy from the novel coronavirus and increase its defence budget again this year.
* Austria's temporary ban on short-selling on the Vienna Stock Exchange, which was introduced in March to protect it from coronavirus-related volatility, will expire at midnight and will not be extended, the Financial Market Authority said.
* Japan's economy slipped into recession for the first time in four-and-a-half years, putting the nation on course for its deepest post-war slump.
