EUROPE

* Britain's testing system for COVID-19 is creaking as a bottleneck prevents people including medics getting a test, with the government saying it may take weeks to resolve the problem.

* Ireland has delayed plans to reopen all pubs in Dublin following a surge in cases in the capital but bars across the rest of the country will be allowed to open next Monday.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* At least 17 Indian MPs have tested positive as cases in the country near five million.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Zimbabwe has lifted a ban on inter-city travel and extended working hours as the government gradually re-opens the economy.

AMERICAS

* US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Democrats are open to delaying an October recess to get a deal with Republicans on a new coronavirus aid bill.

* A disproportionate percentage of US COVID-19 deaths have been recorded among Black and Hispanic people younger than 21, according to a study, a reflection of the racial and ethnic make-up of essential workers who have more exposure.

* Canada's health minister says she can't rule out another full lockdown amid a surge in new COVID-19 cases but adds that Ottawa is significantly more prepared to manage the virus than during the first wave.

* Brazil's health regulator Anvisa has authorised AstraZeneca to test its COVID-19 vaccine on an additional 5000 volunteers for clinical Phase III trials.

* Argentina's "positive rate", the number of daily infections to the number of tests carried out, has topped 50 per cent, one of the highest in the world.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Pfizer says participants are showing mild-to-moderate side effects when given either the company's experimental coronavirus vaccine or a placebo in an ongoing late-stage study.

* Some volunteers have quit Johnson & Johnson's vaccine trial in Spain after news of side effects in a participant in AstraZeneca's trial.

* Germany has awarded $US745 million ($A1 billion) in funding to biotech firms BioNTech and CureVac to speed up work on COVID-19 vaccines and expand German production capacity.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* London judges have ruled some of the world's biggest insurers were wrong to reject tens of thousands of claims from small firms battered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

* Britain's unemployment rate has risen for the first time since lockdown began in March, a warning signal ahead of an expected surge in job losses when a huge government job subsidy program expires next month.

Australian Associated Press