China said Sunday that relations with the United States were "on the brink of a new Cold War", fuelled in part by tensions over the coronavirus pandemic that has killed nearly 350,000 people worldwide and pitched the global economy into a massive downturn.
Fresh tensions between Beijing and Washington emerged as virus restrictions muted celebrations by Muslims around the world of the end of Ramadan, Islam's holy fasting month.
In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was on Sunday forced to defend his top aide Dominic Cummings, accused of having breached the government's own lockdown rules.
He blasted what he called efforts by US politicians to "fabricate rumours" about the virus's origin and "stigmatise China".
For Christians in Jerusalem, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre briefly reopened its doors, but with tight restrictions in place.
The US economy has shed almost 40 million jobs this year and many companies have gone to the wall.
But most states have begun easing their lockdowns and many reopened public beaches despite infection worries. »
