FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the new coronavirus

More than 3.52 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 246,910 have died, according to a Reuters tally as of 0200 GMT on Monday. 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 state-by-state and county map, open https://tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T in an external browser. EUROPE * Britain's COVID-19 death toll has risen by 288 to 28,734, according to the Health Secretary Matt Hancock. * The COVID-19 death toll in Italy climbed by 195 on Monday, against 174 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, but the daily tally of new infections fell to 1,221 from 1,389 on Sunday. * Coronavirus deaths in France rose above 25,000 on Monday, making it the fifth country to pass that threshold after the United States, Italy, Britain and Spain. * World leaders promised $8 billion for the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said. * Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said France might allow religious services to resume before the end of May if a gradual easing of lockdown rules from May 11 did not result in the rate of coronavirus infections increasing. * Italy and Spain were among a slew of countries easing lockdown restrictions on Monday, but officials cautioned against moving too swiftly. * The head of the EU agency for disease control said Britain was one of five European countries yet to reach the peak, contradicting the British government's line. * Germany's coronavirus reproduction rate is currently estimated at 0.74 on average, its health minister said. * The coronavirus reproduction rate in Poland is falling and authorities expect it to reach 1 in the coming days, the health ministry said on Monday. * The number of cases in Russia has risen by 10,581 over the past 24 hours compared with a record of 10,633 the previous day. AMERICAS * An internal U.S. government document projects a surge in coronavirus cases and a sharp rise in daily deaths by June 1, the New York Times reported on Monday. * U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said bipartisan talks have begun on whether more federal government relief funding is needed, but that President Donald Trump is focused on tax changes and the travel industry. * The United States on Monday began requiring antibody tests for the coronavirus to undergo a regulatory agency review, acknowledging its earlier policy had opened the door to fraud.

* The health crisis will continue to idle U.S. meat plants and slow production, Tyson Foods Inc said, signalling more disruptions to the U.S. food supply after President Donald Trump ordered facilities to stay open. * There have been 4,075 new cases of the coronavirus in Brazil and 263 deaths over the last 24 hours in Brazil, the health ministry said on Monday. ASIA-PACIFIC * Bangladesh reported more than 10,000 cases on Monday. * Thousands of Malaysians joined the morning rush hour on Monday as the government eased curbs on movement and businesses for the first time in six weeks. MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA * The death toll in Iran, one of the hardest-hit nations in the Middle East, rose by 74 in the past 24 hours to 6,277, the Health Ministry said. * A plane carrying aid supplies for use in the fight against the coronavirus crashed in Somalia on Monday, killing all six people on board, the Somali transport minister said. * Israel on Monday eased many curbs on the public, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu citing the country's success in containing the virus so far. * Turkey will start easing containment measures from Monday, President Tayyip Erdogan said, lifting inter-city travel restrictions in seven provinces and easing a curfew imposed on senior and youth citizens. * Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned the country could face a "real catastrophe" if coronavirus cases spike and overwhelm health services. * Egypt's parliament approved new taxes on Monday, including groundbreaking levies on petrol and diesel, as it works to plug a revenue gap caused by a coronavirus-induced economic slowdown.

* In Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, rising food prices point to what the United Nations and government officials have condemned as unscrupulous profiteering in times of crisis. * Zimbabwe is headed for a health and economic catastrophe from the pandemic because its debt arrears mean it cannot access foreign lenders, the finance minister warned in a letter to the IMF. ECONOMIC FALLOUT * Global stock markets fell on Monday on concerns U.S.-Chinese bickering over the origin of the coronavirus outbreak will ignite a new trade war, speculation that strengthened the dollar and drove gold prices higher. * The outlook for the Federal Reserve's balance sheet is "highly uncertain" given the economic deterioration caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the New York Fed said in a report. * The coronavirus outbreak has slowed progress in talks to rewrite international tax rules, although a year-end deadline is still in reach, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said. * Hong Kong's economy recorded in the first quarter its deepest annual contraction since at least 1974, as the pandemic dealt a heavy blow to business activity, already in decline following months of anti-government protests last year. * South Africa's economy could contract by as much 12% and unemployment balloon to more than a third of the workforce, the director-general of the National Treasury said. * Malaysia cancelled its biggest palm oil conference for the first time in 31 years.

(Compiled by Sarah Morland and Vinay Dwivedi; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Arun Koyyur)