Several countries have announced how much of the EU’s €750bn recovery package will be made available to them.

Those that had the most severe coronavirus outbreaks, Italy and Spain for example, will receive the most financial support from the EU. Here is what we know so far about how the funds will be distributed:

• As reported earlier, Italy has been given €209bn, including €81bn in grants and €127bn in loans
• The deal will see €140bn sent to Spain, €72.7bn of which will be grants and the rest in loans
• Greece said the EU would allocate it around €72bn to help deal with the fallout from Covid-19, but did not specify if that was in the form of grants or loans
• France's government said it would get €40bn in subsidies as part of the deal, with further details of its recovery plan to be announced on 24 August

Image source, afp

India has the world's third-largest case load of Covid-19.

And there's anxiety and confusion among people living in a bustling coastal village in the southern state of Kerala these days, writes the BBC's Soutik Biswas.

The 4,000-odd families of Poonthura, a hamlet of fishermen next door to the capital city of Trivandrum, have been served with strict stay-at-home orders.

Nobody can enter or leave the place. Businesses are shut and transport suspended. Commandos and policemen have patrolled the streets to enforce a stringent lockdown.

There has been a sharp spike in infections in Kerala, which earlier seemed to have tamed the outbreak.

Read Soutik's article in full here

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Our colleagues at BBC Monitoring have been sampling reaction to the EU deal from around the continent.

"The EU is still alive. For a change, that's good news," says Germany’s Spiegel correspondent Ronald Nelles, capturing a general relief expressed by many in response to the agreed EU recovery plan, which is hailed in many dailies as "unprecedented" and "historic".

"Everyone can feel a little bit like a winner, external so that they look as good as possible at home," Nelles says.

Spain's El Pais calls it "a milestone in the budgetary evolution, external of the club that has never been so far on the path towards a possible fiscal union”.

But several commentators also note the deal's many compromises, including "the giving up of many of the targets, external [the EU] had set for itself," according to Italy's Il Foglio.

EU Council President Charles Michel "will have to justify to the EU Parliament the fact that the finished paper does not include expenditure on many research and climate projects, external", agrees Austria's Der Standard.

Some see it as a particular victory for Poland and Hungary, who originally opposed the linking of loans to compliance with EU democratic principles and the rule of law.

"Given the majority required for penalties, it is extremely unlikely that the protection mechanism will ever be used effectively, external," says Germany's SuddeutscheZeitung.

The Polish prime minister also “boasted that Poland had successfully resisted linking the portion of the money with a commitment to the fight against global warming”, notes a correspondent in GazetaWyborcza, quoting Mateusz Morawiecki as saying: “We won better rules, external than the European Commission proposed.”

"The undeniable victory that this is for Paris and Berlin... will also have a bitter aftertaste," says France's Les Echos. "Even hand in hand and without having to confront British roadblocks, this couple is no longer almighty in Europe, external."

Image source, PA Media

A lockdown in Leicester could have been avoided if local powers had been available sooner, the UK city's mayor has said.

A spike in coronavirus cases saw restrictions tightened again across the city on 29 June.

On Friday, Boris Johnson unveiled powers for councils to use targeted lockdowns in response to local spikes, allowing them to close shops, cancel events and shut outdoor public spaces in certain postcodes.

But Sir Peter Soulsby said these were needed "three or four weeks ago", and could have saved the city from the government's "sledgehammer" approach.

Gavin Lee
BBC Europe reporter

Image source, Getty Images

After four nights and creeping into five days, the deal for the coronavirus recovery fund and EU budget was reached at 05:40 this morning. It was a marathon of negotiations, which almost became the longest in EU history.

The EU enlargement summit in Nice 20 years ago lasted only 25 minutes longer.

As EU leaders spoke to the press this morning, there was a notable difference in the way each spoke of the deal.

EU Presidents Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen used the terms “historic agreement”.

Not so, according to the Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte, who said “that’s a word I wouldn’t use”.

The Dutch were in favour of loans, not grants. They haggled with EU leaders to change the original proposal from €500bn (£451; $572) in grants, down to €390bn.

But by keeping the “stiff leg”, as the Dutch say, they managed to negotiate a much bigger rebate in return, alongside Sweden, Denmark and Austria - te self-proclaimed "frugal four".

For leaders who were on the other side of the argument, the deep frustration, including table thumping anger from the French President during the summit, appears to have dissipated.

Earlier this morning, I asked President Macron whether he still felt that the ‘frugal four’ had damaged the European project by their hard bargaining, as he’s reported to have told them. He said “We learn a lot from each other in these conflicts… It’s legitimate that we have different sensibilities” adding “If we don’t take into account the realities, we’d put these leaders in a difficult spot and it would favour the populists."

The so called Club Med countries of Spain, Italy and Portugal appear content with the smaller size of grants available. The Portuguese PM Antonio Costa told us that “while it’s true that it could have had a slightly bigger dimension, the recovery plan is robust enough to respond to the current estimates of the coronavirus crisis.”

As for Europe’s most powerful leader, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, I asked her about the new power balance in the EU and the emergence of the frugal four as a major player. She said: “During the last negotiations (on the EU budget) David Cameron’s view loomed large. Now he is no longer with us, others have come to the fore. There is a new dynamism” she said.

Image source, Getty Images

The UK has seen a "huge amount of misinformation" spread during the pandemic - partly because of a lack of regulation of social media, a Tory MP has said.

Julian Knight chairs the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, which is urging the government to publish a draft copy of the promised Online Harms Bill by the autumn.

There have been suggestions the legislation might not be in force until 2024.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that online misinformation about Covid-19 had real-world consequences, including attacks on 5G masts and people injecting themselves with bleach, believing it could protect them from the virus.

He also warned that if the government didn't bring forward legislation to regulate social media companies there was a risk anti-vaccine messages online could cause "great harm" in the future, if a coronavirus vaccine is found.

Image source, EPA

Police in England will not be patrolling shops to ensure people wear face coverings, the policing minister has said.

In response to concerns from some forces that they do not have the capacity to police the wearing of face coverings, Kit Malthouse said in the first instance the public would be encouraged to comply with the rules but if they resisted or refused to leave the premises, police could be called.

"What we hope and believe is that the vast majority of people will recognise that we all have a collective responsibility towards our individual health and will comply," he told BBC Breakfast.

From Friday, it will be compulsory to wear a face covering in shops in England, while they are already mandatory in Scotland - with the possibility of fines for those who don't follow the rules.

Read more about the rules of face coverings here.

Image source, Getty Images

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has said the EU’s recovery plan will allow his government "to change the face of the country” as it seeks to reboot its coronavirus-battered economy.

About €750bn (£677bn; $859bn) in grants and loans will be distributed to the EU’s 27 member states as part of the deal.

Of those funds, €209bn - some 28% - will be made available for Italy, including €81bn in grants and €127bn in loans, Mr Conte said.

The deal centred on a €390bn programme of grants to member states hardest hit by the pandemic, including Italy and Spain.

Italy has suffered one of worst coronavirus outbreaks in Europe, recording more than 240,000 cases and 35,000 deaths to date.

Mr Conte said the EU deal would give Italy "the opportunity to restart with strength".

"Now we have to run and use these funds for investments and structural reforms. We have a real chance to make Italy greener, more digital, more innovative, more sustainable, inclusive. We have the chance to invest in schools, universities, research and infrastructures,” Mr Conte said.

Read more: EU leaders reach recovery deal after marathon summit

South Africa is currently experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases – the latest figures show more than 370,000 confirmed cases and over 5,000 deaths.

From the beginning of the pandemic, the country has been utilising contract tracers to try and slow the spread. The work of these frontline workers is rapidly becoming busier and more dangerous.

The BBC gained exclusive access to follow one small team in the city of Bloemfontein.

Image source, Getty Images

The UK government has defended not including social care workers in the 900,000 people who are set to get an above-inflation pay rise next year.

Doctors, teachers and police officers are among the public sector workers who will receive salary increases of up to 3.1% in 2020-21, which the government says recognises their "vital contribution" during the pandemic.

Policing Minister Kit Malthouse said the vast majority of care workers were in the private sector and the government had increased the minimum wage to help such employees.

"We recognise the enormous value of the work of people in the care sector in very, very difficult circumstances… but we’re dealing with the mechanism that we’ve got at the moment," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg has said she will donate 100,000 euros (£90,000; $114,000) to help tackle the spread of the coronavirus in the Amazon.

Thunberg announced on Twitter on Monday that the funds will be given to SOS Amazonia, a campaign led by climate protest group Fridays For Future Brazil.

It will be the first donation to come from a $1.14m windfall Thunberg received for being awarded the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity.

The Swedish teenager said she was “extremely honoured” to receive the award.

All of the prize money would be “donated, through my foundation, to different organisations and projects who are working to help people on the front line, affected by the climate crisis and ecological crisis”, Thunberg said.

Image source, Foreign & Commonwealth Office

With flights grounded and borders closed, some people have embarked on epic voyages to get home during the coronavirus pandemic.

Here, we take a look at four such journeys - and the distances travelled just get longer and longer...

• 1,600km (1,000 miles) on horseback

• 3,200km on a bicycle
• 6,500km sailing from the Caribbean to Europe
• 11,000km sailing from Portugal to Argentina

Intrigued? Click here to read more about these four amazing journeys.

Image source, Getty Images

An above-inflation pay rise for almost 900,000 public sector workers is affordable, the policing minister has insisted.

However, some bodies representing groups including doctors, teachers and police officers said the increase - up to 3.1% - was less than workers deserved, particularly following the increased pressures of the coronavirus period.

Concerns have also been raised that the pay rise could lead to cuts in other areas and a reduced workforce.

But Minister Kit Malthouse told BBC Breakfast the rise was recommended by independent pay review bodies, which take into account affordability, and the government had accepted all their suggestions for 2020-21.

Read more on this story here.

Image source, Getty Images

Chinese aviation authorities have said passengers who book flights to the country must prove they have recently tested negative for Covid-19 before they board.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said on Monday passengers are required take the nucleic acid tests in the five days before boarding the flight.

The tests must be carried out by institutions approved by Chinese embassies in each country, the CAAC said on its website, external.

It said passengers who do not provide evidence of a negative coronavirus test will not be able to board flights to China.

Commercial flights are operating to and from China, but restrictions on movement and quarantine arrangements remain for travel between different parts of the country.

China, where the coronavirus originated late last year, has largely managed to bring its epidemic under control, with localised outbreaks remaining in some regions.

Image source, Getty

In yet another example of just how hard the aviation industry has been hit by the coronavirus, India’s largest airline has said it will shed 10% of its staff.

Last month, the carrier said it would cut up to $533m (£420m) in costs as it grapples with a slump in revenues.

IndiGo, which has been grounded for several months as India imposed a strict lockdown, employs around 24,000 people which means some 2,400 jobs are on the line.

"It is impossible for our company to fly through this economic storm without making some sacrifices, in order to sustain our business operations", the company’s chief executive Ronojoy Dutta said in a letter to investors.

• Click here to read our full story

The UK government spent £35.5bn more than it received in taxes last month - a smaller deficit than May's £45.5bn.

This was due to less being spent on furlough schemes and more tax being taken in, as non-essential shops and other venues reopened.

But it is still the third largest deficit on record and five times as high as last June.

So far the deficit has reached £128bn this financial year. Economists reckon that over the year as a whole it will exceed £300bn - the largest as a percentage of GDP in peacetime.

Read the full story here.

Image source, Getty Images

The coronavirus pandemic has ravaged parts of Latin America, with particularly severe outbreaks in Brazil, Peru and Mexico. Here are the latest developments from the region:

• Brazil’s coronavirus death toll passed 80,000 on Tuesday, as the country’s struggle to contain the world’s second-worst outbreak continued
• Meanwhile, two Brazilian government ministers said on Monday they had tested positive, adding to the list of officials with the disease. One of them was Citizenship Minister Onyx Lorenzoni, a close ally of President Jair Bolsonaro, who also has tested positive for the virus
• Dozens of infections were recorded at a mining company in the central Mexican state of Puebla on Monday. Minera Autlan said 85 people were infected, one of the worst outbreaks at a single company in the country
• The Bahamas said it would ban travellers from the US and other countries where virus cases were surging from Wednesday
• In Colombia, President Ivan Duque said the country’s "most challenging moments of the pandemic” were yet to come in a speech on Independence Day. Colombia's confirmed cases topped 200,000 on Monday

Image source, Getty Images

If you're just joining us from the UK, here's the latest stories this morning:

• Almost 900,000 public sector workers, many of whom have been on the front line in the fight against the coronavirus, are to get an above-inflation pay rise
• Misleading and harmful online content about Covid-19 has spread "virulently" because the UK still lacks a law to regulate social media, an influential group of MPs has warned
• There could be more than 3,500 avoidable cancer deaths in England in the next five years as a result of disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, researchers say

Image source, EPA

Indian researchers partnering with those at Oxford University on the vaccine say local trials will begin soon after a license has been obtained, reported local media.

The vaccine developed by the University of Oxford appears safe and triggers an immune response. It is still at development stage though and will go through further rounds of testing.

The chief of Serum Institute of India, the firm partnering with the UK researchers, said the trials "have shown promising results", external.

"We will be applying for the licensure trials to the Indian regulator in a week's time. As soon as they grant us permission, we will begin with the trials for the vaccine in India. In addition, we will soon start manufacturing the vaccine in large volumes," Adar Poonawalla told Indian media outlets.

With more than a million confirmed infections, India has the third-highest caseload in the world after the US and Brazil.

The coronavirus pandemic has seen the wearing of masks becoming increasingly common, but finding one that is comfortable and fits well can be difficult.

Imperial College London is researching how to create customised 3D printed face masks which could ultimately be used by healthcare workers.