Paris (AFP)

New assessments, new measures, highlights: an update on the latest developments in the Covid-19 pandemic.

- Covid from August: Beijing disputes the study -

China called an American study on Thursday that "Covid-19 disease appeared in the country as early as August, several months earlier than estimated so far" as "misinformation".

- Over 416.00 dead -

The pandemic has killed more than 416,343 people worldwide since its onset in December in China, according to a report established by AFP on Thursday at 11:00 GMT from official sources.

The United States is the most affected country, with 112,924 deaths. This is followed by the United Kingdom with 41,128 dead, Brazil (39,680), Italy (34,114) and France (29,319).

- Latin America and the Caribbean: 70,000 dead -

The number of deaths due to the coronavirus epidemic in Latin America and the Caribbean surpassed the threshold of 70,000 on Wednesday evening, more than half of which in Brazil, according to an AFP count based on official figures.

In total, 71,915 died in this region.

In Mexico, the balance sheet of the pandemic has exceeded 15,000, according to the government.

- Rep. Dominican: the favorite of the positive presidential -

Opponent Luis Abinader, a favorite in the July 5 presidential election in the Dominican Republic according to polls, said on Twitter on Wednesday that he was positive for the coronavirus.

- Cuba: partial reopening -

The Cuban government announced on Wednesday a gradual reopening of tourism, commerce and public transportation after declaring the epidemic under control.

No date for the resumption of international commercial flights has been communicated but, according to information published by the Cuban aeronautics industry, the reopening of the borders is not scheduled before August 1.

The schools, closed since the end of March, will reopen in September to end the 2019-2020 school year.

- Job cuts -

Lufthansa, the leading European airline, intends to cut 22,000 jobs worldwide, or 16% of its workforce, said the German company.

The group also owns the European companies SWISS, Austrian, Brussel Airlines and Eurowings.

In France, the first quarter of 2020 saw the destruction of 497,400 jobs in the private sector, as a result of confinement, according to INSEE.

- Opening of European borders -

The European Commission recommended on Thursday the reopening of the EU's external borders on July 1 to travelers from the Western Balkans and called on member states to agree on a list of third countries for which the restrictions would also be lifted.

The Commission is also in favor of lifting all restrictions on intra-European borders by June 15.

- Europe: fall in asylum requests -

The number of asylum requests in Europe fell 87% in April compared to the beginning of the year, under the effect of movement restrictions linked to the health crisis, according to the European Support Office for asylum (EASO).

- Foot: recovery of the Spanish Liga -

Spain and its stars relaunch their football season Thursday at 8:00 p.m. GMT with a Seville derby behind closed doors, in a context of high health vigilance.

The 2020 MotoGP World Championship season will kick off on July 19 in Jerez, Spain, the first event in a series of 13 Grands Prix in Europe, the organizers announced on Thursday.

- Theme parks -

Le Puy du Fou, a French amusement park renowned for its historical reenactments and popular with foreign tourists, reopened on Thursday.

Disneyland has announced that it wants to reopen its famous Californian amusement park in mid-July, but with a "significantly reduced" capacity and with no possibility of kissing Mickey.

This reopening still requires the green light from the authorities.

- Coachella canceled -

The 2020 edition of the famous Coachella music festival, held in the California desert and previously postponed to October due to the pandemic, was finally canceled.

© 2020 AFP