(Reuters) – Britain re-imposed some lockdown measures as a second wave of coronavirus infections swept across Europe, while the death toll in the United States crossed 200,000, with a report saying the U.S. drug regulator would tighten COVID-19 vaccine authorization standards.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

* For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.

* For a U.S.-focused tracker with a state-by-state and county map, open https://tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T in an external browser.

* Eikon users, see MacroVitals cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?navid=1592404098 for a case tracker and summary of news.

EUROPE

* The British government defended its new, stricter measures against criticism that they did not got far enough, saying it was trying to balance supporting the economy while protecting health.

* The French government is expected to unveil tighter coronavirus restrictions for Paris on Wednesday following a cabinet meeting, BFM TV and Le Parisien newspaper said.

* A consumer rights group said it had filed civil lawsuits against the Austrian government over an outbreak at the ski resort of Ischgl last winter, but it held off on a class-action suit for the time being.

* Travel restrictions around Europe aimed at curbing contagion ravaged Spain’s tourism industry during the crucial month of August, depriving it of millions of tourists.

AMERICAS

* Mexico’s confirmed cases rose to 705,263 on Tuesday, according to updated data from the health ministry, along with a reported death toll of 74,348.

* Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers declared a new public health emergency and extended a face mask mandate into November to fight a coronavirus flareup in his state.

* Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will unveil on Wednesday what he says is a far-reaching plan to help the economy recover from the pandemic while ensuring efforts to fight the outbreak do not falter.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* Australia’s coronavirus hot spot of Victoria is considering easing curbs sooner than previously flagged, the state’s premier said, as the two-week average of new infections in Melbourne dropped below 30.

* India’s infections surged again on Wednesday, a day after hitting their lowest in almost a month.

* Japan is considering allowing more foreigners into the country for longer stays starting as early as next month, while keeping the COVID-19 entry curbs in place for tourists, the Asahi newspaper reported.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Saudi Arabia will allow pilgrims residing inside the country to undertake the umrah pilgrimage beginning on Oct. 4, after a seven-month pause due, state news agency SPA reported.

* Ethiopia has agreed to buy 1.5 million testing kits that will be made at a factory there that has been newly built by China’s BGI Group, China’s state media agency Xinhua said late on Tuesday.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to soon announce new, more stringent standards for an emergency authorization of a COVID-19 vaccine, the Washington Post reported.

* Fujifilm Holdings Corp said its Avigan drug reduced viral loads and symptoms of COVID-19 patients, paving the way for regulatory approval in Japan after months of delays.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Euro zone business growth ground to a halt this month as the service industry slammed into reverse, knocked by a resurgence in cases that pushed governments to reintroduce restrictions and citizens to stay at home, a survey showed.

* World shares stabilised and the dollar rose on Wednesday with overnight gains of stay-at-home Wall Street tech champions helped balance concerns that new restrictions to counter resurging infections will hurt economic recovery.[MKTS/GLOB]

* Business sentiment among Asian firms rebounded in the third quarter as easing restrictions lifted sales, but lingering uncertainty over the pandemic thwarted a return to business-as-usual, a Thomson Reuters/INSEAD survey showed.

(Compiled by Linda Pasquini, Devika Syamnath and Amy Caren Daniel; Edited by Sriraj Kalluvila, Shounak Dasgupta and Tomasz Janowski)