Coronavirus live news: UK to pause daily death toll update; EU leaders debate recovery plan | World news

Hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators in Bangkok, Thailand, defied coronavirus regulations to protest against the government yesterday.

The demonstration, thought to be one of the largest since the country’s 2014 military coup, had three demands: the dissolution of parliament, an end to harassment of government critics, and changes to the military-written constitution that critics say virtually guaranteed victory for Prayuth’s party in last year’s election.

G20 finance ministers and central bankers have today been holding talks on stimulating global economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

The virtual talks, hosted by Saudi Arabia, seek to “discuss (the) global economic outlook and coordinate collective action for a robust and sustained global economic recovery,” G20 organisers in Riyadh said before the meeting started this afternoon.

The talks come after the European Union started its first face-to-face summit in five months yesterday, in order to discuss a post-virus economic rescue plan. The summit continues today.

Urumqi, the capital of China’s Xinjiang region, has launched an emergency response plan after the city reported 16 new coronavirus cases on Friday.

The city has suspended gatherings and imposed restrictions on people visiting those outside of their household, state broadcaster CCTV said.

It urged people not to make unnecessary trips outside the city and ordered infection tests for anyone who needed to leave the city. It has also carried out city-wide free infection tests, in what officials termed as a “wartime” response, the broadcaster said.

Xinjiang, home to most of China’s Uighur population, has been less affected than other parts of the country by the coronavirus pandemic.

Yesterday, the region reported a total of 18 coronavirus cases, with another 269 people under medical observation, according to the regional health commission. It reported another 12 asymptomatic cases as of noon today.

More than 140 offenders were housed in hotels and bed and breakfasts after being released from prison during lockdown.

The Ministry of Justice said the policy had been “a last resort” to prevent the individuals from becoming homeless, and limit the spread of coronavirus.

Of the 304 offenders who were due for release and provided with accommodation, 136 were housed in hotels or B&Bs, and of the 172 offenders released under the End of Custody Temporary Release scheme – in which prisoners who are within two months of their release date are temporarily released from custody – six were housed in hotels.

An MoJ spokesman said: “All offenders due for release are thoroughly risk-assessed and hotels have only been used as a last resort to reduce any potential spread of coronavirus. These temporary measures are part of the unprecedented response to the pandemic which has helped protect the NHS and save lives.”

The MoJ has been using hotels as part of its Conditional Release Date accommodation (CRD) scheme which launched in May and will run until the end of this month.

In Arizona, teachers have launched protests at the planned reopening of schools.

The protesters are putting on red T-shirts last worn in a 2018 strike and driving around cities in cars carrying slogans including “Remote learning won’t kill us but Covid can!”

“We don’t want any children to get this from us, because as a teacher I don’t want to go to any of their funerals,” said Stacy Brosius, 47, a third grade teacher who will not send her three children back to school.

The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has become the first senior politician to announce he is going on holiday abroad this summer.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4 this morning, Shapps said he was planning to take advantage of the relaxation of Foreign Office guidance on travel and take an overseas vacation with his wife.

Senior politicians had previously been keen to reveal they would be staying in the UK this holiday season, after the pandemic jeopardised plans for international travel.

This week Boris Johnson confirmed he had opted for a “staycation”, saying: “This country is uniquely blessed with fantastic places to holiday, whether coastal or otherwise.”

The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, has also chosen to remain in the UK, as have the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, and the health secretary, Matt Hancock.

The UK government said on Saturday it was pausing its daily updates of the coronavirus death toll after ordering a review of how the data is calculated, following concern that numbers may have been exaggerated.

Academics have said the way that Public Health England (PHE), the government agency responsible for managing infectious disease outbreaks, calculates the figures for England means they may look worse than in other countries of the United Kingdom.

EU leaders are debating new proposals for a huge post-coronavirus economic recovery plan on Saturday, seeking to overcome resistance from the Netherlands and Austria on the second day of an extraordinary summit.

The European council president and summit host, Charles Michel, proposed a fresh plan after his initial blueprint for a €750bn recovery package ran into stiff resistance from a so-called “frugal four” member states, Agence France-Presse reports.

The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, has insisted that member states retain the final say over approval of any EU funding for national recovery plans for partners such as Spain and Italy, whose economies were ravaged by the virus and its attendant lockdowns.

In a concession to Rutte’s demands, Michel’s new plan includes a “super emergency brake” that gives any country a three-day window to trigger a review by all member states of another’s spending plans.

Analysts said it amounted to a right of veto, and it remains to be seen whether countries such as Spain and Italy will accept it, while a European source said the frugal countries were still not happy with the broader package and were seeking more cuts.

“In the end this is a package and there are many more issues to solve, but the proposal on governance as put forward by Michel is a serious step in the right direction. Many issues remain and whether we get there will depend on the next 24 hours,” a Dutch diplomat said.

Rutte says EU oversight is necessary to oblige countries to reform their labour markets, and said the atmosphere at Friday night’s dinner had turned “grumpy”.

Talking to reporters late on Friday, he urged southern partners not to drag their feet on reform “to make sure that next time, when for whatever reason there is a crisis again, economic or otherwise, countries are better able to take care of themselves.”