As it happened: Barcelona surge in infections as residents told to stay home

Summary

The Catalonia region of north-eastern Spain has seen another 1,226 infections
Four million people have been told to stay indoors in the capital, Barcelona
Russia has denied that its spy agencies tried to steal British vaccine research
UN Secretary General António Guterres has criticised the world’s biggest powers for failing to work together to tackle the pandemic
PM Boris Johnson gives English councils new powers to manage local outbreaks
EU leaders are meeting for a second day in search of a deal on a Covid-19 recovery fund
Indian actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is taken to hospital after testing positive for Covid-19
Iran's president says 25 million Iranians have already been infected by Covid-19
Globally there have been 14 million cases since the outbreak began, with almost 600,000 deaths

Live Reporting

Edited by Lauren Turner and Paul Kirby

Trump says no to US mask mandatepublished at 08:51 British Summer Time 18 July 2020
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
President Trump said people should have a "certain freedom" and did not agree with a national mask mandate
President Donald Trump has vowed not to order Americans to wear masks to contain the spread of coronavirus.
He told Fox News on Friday that he didn’t agree with a national mask mandate, saying people should have a “certain freedom”.
His comments came after Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious diseases expert, urged state and local leaders to be “as forceful as possible” in getting people to wear masks.
A number of states, including those with Republican governors, have ordered the wearing of masks outdoors be mandatory.
Trump was pictured last weekend wearing a mask after previously resisting.
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Councils in England have new powers to manage local outbreakspublished at 08:47 British Summer Time 18 July 2020
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Leicester was the first city to experience a localised lockdown
Councils in England have new powers to close shops, cancel events and shut outdoor public spaces in order to manage local outbreaks of the virus.
The Local Government Association (LGA) hopes the move will avoid the need for stricter local lockdown measures.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the additional powers would allow local authorities to “act more quickly in response to outbreaks where speed is paramount” in what he called “lightning lockdowns”.
Leicester, the first city to see a localised lockdown, will see some easing in measures from 24 July.
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Welcome to our live coveragepublished at 08:46 British Summer Time 18 July 2020
Good morning and welcome to our live updates of the coronavirus pandemic.
We’ll be bringing you news from the UK and around the world.
Here are the latest headlines:
- US President Donald Trump has vowed not to make Americans wear masks. His remarks came as top disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci said everyone should be using them.
- Indian actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and her daughter have been taken to hospital after testing positive for Covid-19 earlier this week. Aishwarya's husband Abhishek and father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan, both also famous actors, have been in hospital since Saturday with the virus
- Councils in England now have new powers to close shops, cancel events and shut outdoor spaces to manage local outbreaks of the virus
- Health Secretary Matt Hancock has called for an urgent review into covid death data in England after Public Health England confirmed reported deaths may have included people months before they died
- Spain's second city, Barcelona, has urged four million residents to stay at home as the north-eastern region of Catalonia sees a surge in infections.