Paris (AFP)

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

- EU: agreement on a recovery plan -

The 27 European leaders managed on Tuesday, after four days and four nights of tense negotiations, to reach an agreement on a historic plan intended to support their economies hit by the coronavirus crisis, based for the first time on a common debt.

- France: "worrying" figures -

The figures are "worrying" and France can "switch" in a situation like that which is raging in Catalonia, warned the president of the Scientific Council responsible for advising the government.

- Madagascar: hospitals overwhelmed -

The main hospitals in the Malagasy capital, Antananarivo, are overwhelmed by the influx of patients with Covid-19. The number of patients continues to increase in this country where the government praises the merits of a herbal tea to fight against the pandemic.

- Chinese indicted for piracy -

Two Chinese accused of carrying out a series of computer attacks, in particular against companies engaged in the search for a vaccine against Covid-19, have been indicted in the United States.

According to the US Department of Justice, these "two Chinese hackers were working with the Chinese Department of State Security."

- Compulsory tests to go to China -

Anyone wishing to travel to China by plane will now have to present a negative test before departure, carried out in the five days preceding take-off.

- Outbreak in the southern United States -

In the United States, more than 60,000 new cases of contamination with the coronavirus in the space of 24 hours were identified for the seventh consecutive day. The outbreak of infections is particularly important in the south and west of the country or in Florida where there are less than 20% of beds available in intensive care units.

- More than 610,000 dead -

The new coronavirus pandemic has killed at least 610,604 people around the world since the end of December, according to a report established by AFP from official sources on Tuesday at 11:00 GMT. More than 1,4736,138 cases of infection have been officially diagnosed in 196 countries and territories.

The United States is the most affected country in terms of both deaths and cases, with 140,909 deaths, ahead of Brazil (80,120), the United Kingdom (45,312), Mexico (39,485) and Italy (35,058) .

- 12,000 fewer jobs at Valeo -

The automotive supplier Valeo announced that it had cut 12,000 jobs worldwide in the first half of the year, including nearly 2,000 in France, to reduce costs and adapt to the drop in sales caused by the health crisis.

- Eight Australian magazines disappear -

Eight of Australia's most popular magazines will no longer appear due to the financial impact of the coronavirus crisis, their owner, Bauer Media Australia Group, which was recently sold to a private equity fund, said.

The titles concerned include the Australian editions of Harper's Bazaar and Elle.

- Tournament and banquet canceled -

The Washington tournament, which was scheduled to mark the resumption of the men's tennis circuit on August 13, has been called off due to the scale of the pandemic, an announcement that amplifies doubts about the holding of the US Open, which is supposed to start on August 31 in New York.

In Sweden, the Nobel Prize banquet, organized each year in December with the laureates in Stockholm, is canceled for the first time since 1956.

burs-jba-jah / ber / fjb

© 2020 AFP