Britain, already grappling with the worst death toll in Europe, is tracking its neighbours in ramping up restrictions as a second wave of the pandemic takes grip.
Still reeling from a deadly shooting spree in the streets of Vienna on Monday evening, Austria went into partial lockdown while Greece shut down major cities.
The masks and boarded-up stores in many city centers were reminders of two of the issues shaping 2020’s polarizing elections, with COVID-19 still ravaging parts of the country after a summer of sometimes violence-marred protests against police brutality and racism.
Nearly 100 million people have already cast their ballots through early voting (both in-person and absentee ballots), putting this election on course for having the highest turnout in a century.
EU leaders agreed in July to launch a 1.8 trillion euro recovery plan to boost the economy over the next seven years from the unprecedented slump this year caused by the pandemic.
"That will be a lot of money which will be moved around over the next years," German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz.
The government has abandoned expensive commercial debt to cut back on ballooning repayments at a time when its revenue collection has been squeezed by the pandemic.
"We are looking at a disbursement arrangement where we, to some extent, benefit from budget support," he said.
Trump has engaged in a policy of "maximum pressure" against Tehran, reimposing harsh sanctions that have plunged the Iranian economy into a severe recession.
Social media companies Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc. on Monday outlined plans for placing warning labels on posts from U.S. election candidates and campaigns that claim victory in advance of official results.
Presidential nominee Joe Biden's Twitter account got a sizeable boost in followers in August, after he selected Senator Kamala Harris as his running-mate for Vice President.
Jim Kenney reassured voters the election would be free and fair despite claims by President Donald Trump there could be potential voter fraud in Pennsylvania.
The ramped-up response came as Britain surpassed one million cases, while its number of coronavirus-related deaths is nearing 47,000, the worst toll in Europe.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced late Sunday on Twitter that he would be self-quarantining for the next two weeks, after someone he had been in contact with tested positive for the deadly virus.