At a glance: Latest global Covid-19 developments

- Lockdowns ease in Europe -

Lockdown measures have been eased in Spain's two biggest cities Madrid and Barcelona, where people can now meet in groups of up to 10 people in their homes or on the terraces of bars and restaurants. Beaches also reopen in parts of the country after months-long closures. 

Italy reopens swimming pools and sports centres, Greece does the same with restaurants and cafes, while Ukrainians can again take the metro in capital Kiev for the first time in 10 weeks.

The total number of deaths from the coronavirus in France has neared 28,500 as the daily death toll showed signs of slowing despite the relaxation of the lockdown.

According to a health ministry statement, 28,457 people have now died from the coronavirus in France since the start of the epidemic.

The ministry, which had not given a toll since Thursday, said 74 people had been registered as dying of Covid-19 on Friday, 43 on Saturday and 35 on Sunday.

- Brazil's President rallies - 

Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro rallied with his supporters on Sunday, ditching his face mask and breaking social distancing measures even as Brazil emerges as the country with the second-highest number of cases in the world, after the United States, with more than 360,000 reported cases.

In response to the surge, Washington has suspended entry into the US of non-Americans who have been in the South American nation in the previous 14 days.

- Italy recruits crowd control volunteers -

Italy's government will ask some 60,000 citizens to work as volunteers to enforce social distancing rules as it gradually removes coronavirus restrictions, after scenes of street gatherings over the weekend sparked an outcry.

TV images over the first post-lockdown weekend showed traffic jams in Naples and crowds in Milan, while the Veneto region published a video with images of patients in intensive care to convince people to comply with security measures.

- Outrage over British aide -

British newspaper headlines are hostile after Prime Minister Boris Johnson backed Dominic Cummings, a top advisor in the British government, who was seen visiting his parents 250 miles (400 kilometres) away from his London home during the country's lockdown, despite suffering from virus symptoms. "What planet are they on?" the right-wing tabloid Daily Mail asks.

- Nearly 345,000 deaths -

The pandemic has killed at least 344,964 people worldwide since it surfaced in China late last year, according to an AFP tally at 1100 GMT on Monday, based on official sources.

The United States has recorded the most deaths with 97,722 fatalities. It is followed by Britain with 36,793, Italy with 32,785, Spain with 28,752, France with 28,367 and Brazil 22,666.

Belgium has the highest per capita death rate with 803 fatalities per million inhabitants.

- Japan lifts state of emergency -

Japan, which has been spared the worst of the pandemic, lifts a nationwide state of emergency, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe saying "very stringent criteria" have been met. But government officials have warned that caution is still necessary to prevent another wave.

- Iran reopens shrines -

Iran has reopened major Shiite shrines, more than two months after they were closed because of the Middle East's deadliest coronavirus outbreak.

- German government, regions tussle over reopening -

Germany's central and regional governments have sparred over when and how far to ease social-distancing rules, with allies of Chancellor Angela Merkel warning that scrapping them risks a new wave of coronavirus infections.

The row erupted after Bodo Ramelow, premier of Thuringia state, said on Saturday he would scrap rules on mask-wearing and distancing, relying instead on local measures that would be applied against any localised outbreaks. Germany's 16 federal states set most rules affecting day-to-day life in the country.

Though his proposal echoes federal government policy, which envisages gradually reopening the economy while responding fast to outbreaks with local lockdowns and contact-tracing, officials fear muddying the message could undermine public discipline.

- Berlin to Lufthansa's rescue -  

Coronavirus-stricken German airline group Lufthansa has in principle struck a €9 billion rescue deal with the German government, that would see Berlin become a shareholder, sources familiar with the talks have told AFP.

- Portuguese jobless benefits requests among youth increase -

The number of Portuguese young people requesting jobless benefits spiked 52% last month from a year earlier, way above the increase for other age groups, amid the coronavirus lockdown, data shows.

Overall, nearly 200,000 people received unemployment benefits last month, a 17% jump from the same period last year and a near 14% increase from the previous month, social security service numbers showed.

- Japan premium melon prices plunge -

A pair of melons from Yubari, on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, sold for just 120,000 yen (€1,022) at the season's first auction - 40 times less than last year's record price tag of five million yen (€42,586) as the coronavirus keeps away rich corporate clients.

- Back to school in Ivory Coast -

Thousands of children in face masks have flocked back to school in Ivory Coast after the country became one of the first in West Africa to restart lessons after a two-month coronavirus shutdown.

With a total of 2,376 cases and dozens of new infections each day, Ivory Coast has yet to contain the virus.

But authorities are confident pupils can study together in safety after the introduction of extra hygiene measures.