Reuters World News Summary

WHO chief says he is identified as contact of COVID-19 positive person World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Sunday that he had been identified as a contact of someone who tested positive for COVID-19, but added that he was feeling well and did not have any symptoms.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. UK's Johnson says there is no alternative to lockdown

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will on Monday say there is no alternative but to lock down England as lawmakers prepare to vote on measures to contain a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. After resisting calls for a new national lockdown for most of last month, Johnson announced on Saturday that restrictions across England will begin after midnight on Thursday and last until Dec. 2. UK's Nigel Farage set to relaunch Brexit Party as anti-lockdown party

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage will relaunch the group as an anti-lockdown party called Reform UK in an attempt to fight anti-coronavirus measures imposed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government. The new party will back a policy of focused protection from the coronavirus for only the most vulnerable, and allow the rest of the population to develop herd immunity, Farage and party Chairman Richard Tice wrote in an opinion piece in The Telegraph on Sunday. Guidelines for COVID-19 tests for airline passengers could set global bar for reliability, sources say

A global aviation manual now under review by a UN body suggests global guidelines calling for the use of highly reliable tests when screening passengers to detect the novel coronavirus ahead of flights, three sources familiar with the matter said. Carriers and airports are pushing for uniform global testing guidelines to waive strict quarantine requirements that are decimating travel, with airline trade group IATA forecasting a 66% decline in 2020 air traffic because of the pandemic. Tens of thousands protest in Belarus, defying warning shots

Riot police fired warning shots into the air, used stun grenades and arrested more than 200 people to deter tens of thousands of Belarusians who marched through Minsk on Sunday to demand veteran leader Alexander Lukashenko leave power. Mass demonstrations have flooded the capital for 12 straight weeks since a disputed election, ratcheting up pressure on the embattled leader of 26 years who rejects accusations the vote was rigged and says he has no intention of quitting. Attacker with sword kills two, injures five in Quebec stabbings

Two people were killed and five wounded after being stabbed by a man dressed in medieval clothes and wielding a sword, Quebec police said on Sunday, noting the attack appeared to be driven by personal motives and not linked to any terror group. Police arrested a 24-year-old man from Montreal early on Sunday morning, Quebec Police Chief Robert Pigeon said at a news conference. WHO chief says he is identified as contact of COVID-19 positive person

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Sunday that he had been identified as a contact of someone who tested positive for COVID-19, but added that he was feeling well and did not have any symptoms. "I have been identified as a contact of someone who has tested positive for #COVID19. I am well and without symptoms but will self-quarantine over the coming days, in line with @WHO protocols, and work from home," Tedros said in a tweet. Six in custody over Nice church attack in France

Two more men were arrested in connection with a knife attack that left three dead at a church in Nice, bringing the number of people in custody to six as investigators look at the suspected assailant's last known contacts, a French police source said. The latest arrests took place on Saturday, the source said. Stockholm pauses home COVID-19 testing as system overwhelmed

Stockholm has paused home COVID-19 testing for four days after surging demand left 16,000 people waiting for tests for active infections in Sweden's biggest city, overwhelming the system, regional authorities said on Sunday. The system whereby residents have been able to apply online for delivery and pickup of tests which they themselves administer, has been popular and in place since the Nordic country ramped up testing during the summer. Europe's COVID-19 cases double in five weeks, total infections surpass 10 million

Europe's new COVID-19 cases have doubled in five weeks, propelling the region on Sunday across the bleak milestone of 10 million total infections, according to a Reuters tally. Just last month, both Latin America and Asia reported over 10 million total cases in their regions. The United States alone has over 9 million cases with a rapidly accelerating outbreak. Brazilians protest mandatory COVID-19 immunization, Chinese vaccine

More than 300 Brazilians gathered on São Paulo's main commercial thoroughfare on Sunday to protest state Governor João Doria's support for mandatory COVID-19 immunization and testing the potential vaccine developed by China's Sinovac. Doria has previously spoken in favor of making immunizations mandatory, once vaccines are available, sparking a spat with President Jair Bolsonaro who vows it will be voluntary. The Supreme Court's chief justice has said the court will ultimately decide on the issue.