Madrid (AFP)

Faced with the coronavirus pandemic, Spain unveiled a plan on Wednesday to create 800,000 jobs and revive its devastated economy, while Belgium is preparing to close bars and cafes in the Brussels region from Thursday.

Spain intends to "create more than 800,000 new jobs in three years" with funds from the European recovery plan, announced the head of government Pedro Sanchez.

Madrid will spread over six years, from 2021 to 2026, the use of the 140 billion euros allocated by Brussels to Spain to restore its economy, hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, he said.

Spain will be the second largest recipient of European funds after Italy.

In the United States, on the other hand, Donald Trump abruptly put an end to negotiations with the Democrats on new aid to households and businesses affected by the pandemic on Tuesday, before leaving the door open to a few targeted measures.

"I asked my representatives to stop negotiating until after the elections," tweeted the US president, accusing Democratic leader in Congress Nancy Pelosi of not negotiating "in good faith".

- The American staff in quarantine -

The move immediately brought down Wall Street, when many economists and experts have already warned that the absence of a new government boost could slow down the economic recovery.

The day after Donald Trump's theatrical return to the White House - who no longer has symptoms according to his doctor after three days of hospitalization - the entire US staff quarantined on Tuesday after meetings with the number two of the Garde-Côtes, who tested positive for the new coronavirus.

Besides the Chief of Staff, General Mark Milley, all the top American officers are in solitary confinement: the number two of the staff, the heads of the US Navy, the Army, the US Air Force, the Space Force, the National Guard, the NSA military intelligence agency and that of the Special Forces, according to a Pentagon official.

In Europe, restrictions are increasing.

The closure of bars and cafes in Brussels and its region is scheduled until November 8 to stem the spread of the coronavirus which is accelerating in the Belgian capital.

- "Tense situation in Brussels" -

"We are really in an extremely complex and tense situation in Brussels", justified the president of the region Rudi Vervoort.

These new restrictions are similar to those that have applied since Tuesday in Paris and in the three neighboring departments.

The cities of Berlin and Frankfurt had announced the day before the establishment of a curfew from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. and a restriction of social contacts.

In Romania, plainclothes police officers will patrol to enforce the compulsory wearing of masks in certain public spaces.

Worldwide, the new coronavirus pandemic has killed at least 1,051,149 people since the WHO office in China reported the onset of the disease at the end of December, according to a report established Wednesday by AFP.

The head of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, announced for his part that he was positive but that his symptoms were mild.

"I hope to be recovered quickly," wrote on Twitter the head of one of the most important UN agencies, which is helping millions of refugees around the world.

- Increasingly wealthy billionaires -

The pandemic is not just losers: billionaires are seeing their fortunes reach new heights thanks to the sharp rebound in financial markets from which the tech and health giants have benefited, according to a study published Wednesday.

At the end of July, the cumulative fortune of billionaires was around 10,200 billion dollars (8,676 billion euros), according to this study carried out by the Swiss wealth management bank UBS and the audit and consulting firm PWC, exceeding the previous peak of 2017 when it peaked at $ 8.9 trillion.

On the other hand in India, where more than ten million children between the ages of five and 14 work despite a law prohibiting it, the situation worsened with the coronavirus which devastated the economy and closed schools for months.

"If we do not take corrective action immediately, it will only get worse," said Dhananjay Tingal, executive director of the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) organization against child labor.

© 2020 AFP