US Senate passes $2 trillion disaster aid bill

(BBC) – The US Senate has passed a $2 trillion (£1.7tn) coronavirus aid bill that is the largest economic stimulus in US history.

The vote was delayed by a last-minute row between Republican and Democratic senators over unemployment benefits.

The plan includes direct payments of $1,200 to most American adults and aid to help small businesses pay workers.

US coronavirus deaths are around the 1,000 mark and there have been nearly 70,000 confirmed infections.

More than 21,000 people with coronavirus have died across the world since it emerged in China’s Hubei province in December, while the number of infections is racing towards half a million.

Southern Europe is now the centre of the pandemic, with Italy and Spain recording hundreds of new deaths every day.