Global coronavirus deaths cross 400,000; cases approach 7m

The global death toll from the coronavirus has crossed 400,000 as the cases of infections are approaching seven million worldwide, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

The gradual easing of coronavirus measures in many countries included the re-opening of Madrid's most famous museums and people in Turkey enjoying their first weekend in nearly two months without a lockdown in place.

EUROPE

* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is planning to relax rules on outdoor dining and weddings, as well as speeding up government investment plans in a bid to limit the economic damage from the coronavirus, newspapers reported on Saturday.

* Italy hopes other EU countries will reopen their borders to Italian citizens on June 15, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Saturday, as travel restrictions across Europe are gradually eased.

* Madrid residents wearing face masks queued two metres apart to be among the first visitors back in the city's famed galleries on Saturday, as the Prado, Reina Sofia and Thyssen-Bornemisza museums reopened after nearly three months of lockdown.

* Dutch youth hit the club on Saturday, sort of, in one of the country's first attempts to resume nightlife, with social distancing rules still in place.

AMERICAS

* Brazil removed from public view months of data on its COVID-19 epidemic on Saturday, as President Jair Bolsonaro defended delays and changes to official record-keeping of the world's second-largest coronavirus outbreak.

* California broadly relaxed its shutdowns on Friday, moving to allow professional sports to be played without audiences and to reopen day camps, tribal casinos, museums and zoos as soon as June 12.

* More than a third of Americans misused cleaners and disinfectants to try to prevent infection, according to a survey taken shortly after President Donald Trump publicly asked whether injecting such products could treat COVID-19.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* China will strengthen international cooperation in future COVID-19 clinical vaccine trials, building on earlier collaboration in vaccine development, the science and technology minister said on Sunday.

* India reported a record 9,887 new coronavirus cases in one day on Saturday and overtook Italy as having the world's sixth-biggest outbreak, two days before the relaxing of a lockdown with the reopening of malls, restaurants and places of worship.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Turks streamed outside on Saturday for their first weekend without a coronavirus lockdown in nearly two months, the day after President Tayyip Erdogan suddenly scrapped a stay-at-home order.

* A wedding party contributed to a new surge in coronavirus infections in Iran, President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday but insisted the country had no option but to keep its economy open despite warnings of a second wave of the epidemic.

ECONOMIC FALLOUT

* Volkswagen is considering more cost cuts to help cope with the economic impact of the pandemic, a spokesman for the German automaker said on Saturday.

* Malaysia aims to borrow its way out of an economic slump brought on by the pandemic, and the finance minister told Reuters it will nearly double its fiscal deficit this year while keeping open the option of raising the public debt ceiling.

* The US economy unexpectedly added jobs in May, surprising economists and analysts who had forecast millions more losing their livelihoods, and raising hopes of a faster economic recovery than expected.

With details from Reuters