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TOP HEADLINES

The number of people who have died from COVID-19 across the world nears one million , according to the John Hopkins Institute.
The UK government wants university students to be able to return home for Christmas , despite thousands currently confined to their rooms following a surge in cases, culture minister Oliver Dowden said.
Thousands of workers protested across Portugal on Saturday as they demanded higher wages and more government action to protect jobs currently being threatened by the pandemic.
Spain's health minister, Salvador Illa has called for authorities in the country's capital, Madrid to tighten restrictions in hotspot areas , warning that residents were at "serious risk" without tougher curbs.
**The UK could be moving too slowly to slow the spread of the virus because of a lag between cases number and deaths **according to Graham Medley, a professor of infectious disease modelling.
Thousands gathered in the German city of Cologne on Saturday to protest against the restrictions put in place in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus.
The rescheduled **Roland Garros tennis grand slam tournament begins in Paris on Sunday, **with the government allowing up to 1,000 fans in attendance each day of the two week event.
Poland's national football team coach, Jerzy Brzeczek, has tested positive for the virus, the Polish Football Association confirmed.
Russia's daily new infections rose by 7,867 in the past 24 hours, its highest level since June 20 , bringing the overall tally to 1,151,438. Fatalities also rose by 99 to 20,324.
Czechia reported 1,985 new cases in the past 24 hours, compared to 2,044 cases the Saturday before . The figures brought the overall tally to 63,294.

Thousands of workers protested in Portugal as they demanded higher wages and more government action to protect their jobs. /Reuters

Madrid is in a situation of serious risk and it's time to act with determination

Salvador Illa, Spain's health minister

ACROSS EUROPE

Nawied Jabarkhyl in London

The UK government is being told to stop the return of students to universities after a rise in COVID-19 cases in campuses across the country. Thousands of students are in lockdown at universities in major cities like Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh. The opposition Labour party said the start of the academic year - which began earlier in September - should be delayed.

Elsewhere, the Welsh cities of Cardiff and Swansea are preparing to go back into lockdown following a rise in cases in both places. The move means 1.5 million in the country will be under tougher restrictions from Sunday evening - that's around half of Wales' population.

Across the UK, more than a quarter of the population are now under stricter coronavirus rules. The government says the measures are necessary to stop the spread of the disease.

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Rahul Pathak in Madrid

Madrid's regional President Isabel Ayuso has hit back following two days of criticism by Spain's Health minister over her handling of the COVID-19 crisis in the capital.

On Saturday Health chief Salvador Illa called for all of Madrid to go back into lockdown. He said any city should be shut down if the contagion rate was above 500 cases per 100,000 people. Madrid's rate is currently 746.

Ayuso said she would agree to locking down Madrid if the same criteria of 500 cases per 100,000 was applied to the rest of Spain.

Currently the regional government has imposed lockdown measures to 37 mainly poor neighbourhoods in and around the city.

These will now be extended to eight new areas at midnight local time.

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