Like the rest of Europe, Switzerland was hit by a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. But there has been no second lockdown. Economic arguments prevail as people continue to go about their daily lives, dpa reported.

Britain has announced the biggest investment in its military since the end of the Cold War, despite the coronavirus crisis pummelling the economy, as the government seeks to define its post-Brexit role on the world stage.

Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga called European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday to outline Bern’s proposal to unblock a stalled bilateral treaty, von der Leyen said in a tweet. “I took note and await further details. We need to make progress towards signing the IFA” (Institutional Framework Agreement) treaty, she added without elaborating.

Pope Francis is offering free coronavirus tests for Rome’s poor and homeless as part of the Roman Catholic Church’s World Day of the Poor activities, the Vatican said on Thursday cited by Reuters. The swabs are being offered at a clinic off St. Peter’s Square that the pope set up several years ago to provide basic medical care to destitute people.

Britain said on Monday it was open to a “sensible” compromise on fishing and that there was goodwill on both sides to progress towards a Brexit trade deal as a new round of talks began in London, Reuters reported.

Northern Ireland will not be ready on 1 January to implement the systems needed to keep trade moving with the rest of the United Kingdom as required by the Brexit divorce deal, the National Audit Office (NAO) said on Friday.

The Bank of England increased its already huge bond-buying stimulus by a bigger-than-expected 150 billion pounds ($195 billion) as it prepared for economic damage from new coronavirus lockdown and the looming Brexit risks.

The Swiss government on Wednesday decided to deploy the army for a second time this year to help country’s health system respond to a surge in coronavirus cases, news wires reported. The country of 8.56 million has a record 10,043 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered England back into a national lockdown after the country passed the milestone of one million COVID-19 cases and a second wave of infections threatened to overwhelm the health service. The United Kingdom, which has the biggest official death toll in Europe from COVID-19, is grappling with more than 20,000 new coronavirus cases a day and scientists have warned the “worst case” scenario of 80,000 dead could be exceeded, Reuters reported.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is considering imposing a new national lockdown measures next week, amid concerns that hospitals across the country are overwhelmed by a resurgence in Covid-19 cases, The Times newspaper reported.