The raging COVID-19 pandemic has claimed its highest US death toll yet, killing more than 4000 people in a single day, while China has reported the biggest rise in daily cases in more than five months.
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EUROPE
* Almost 1.5 million people have been vaccinated, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, vowing to quickly expand a program to inoculate the most vulnerable in Britain by mid-February.
* Spain became the fourth Western European country to pass two million cumulative cases, health ministry data showed.
* France will keep its restaurants, cinemas and ski resorts closed while it cranks up its vaccination rollout.
* Britain's move to delay the second doses of vaccines will help save lives as more people will be able to get some initial protection, health minister Matt Hancock said.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Japan moved ahead with plans to impose a month-long state of emergency for Tokyo and three neighbouring prefectures.
* Indonesia's highest Muslim clerical council aims to issue a ruling on whether a vaccine is permissible under Islam before the country is due to start inoculations.
AMERICAS
* Mexico saw one of the biggest daily rises in cases and deaths.
* Canada's Quebec province will impose a curfew starting on Saturday and extend an existing lockdown through February 8.
* Colombia's capital will enter a strict quarantine until Tuesday due to rising infections and suspicions a new variant of the virus is circulating, Mayor of Bogota Claudia Lopez said.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* As Israel leads the world in the rate of coronavirus vaccinations, some of its Arab citizens and Palestinians in annexed East Jerusalem are regarding the shot with suspicion.
* South Africa set out plans to vaccinate two-thirds of its population, in a bid to achieve herd immunity, as a mutant variant drove daily new cases above 21,000 for the first time.
* Kenya has ordered 24 million doses of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and expects them to start arriving in the second week of February.
* South Africa's two biggest pharmacy chains, Clicks Group and Dis-Chem Pharmacies, said they plan to offer COVID-19 shots at their stores.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* A vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech was 78 per cent effective in a late-stage Brazilian trial and entirely prevented severe cases, researchers said, although a lack of data details stirred calls for more transparency.
* France's Sanofi is considering how it can help produce vaccines devised by other drugmakers, a spokesman said.
* Moderna's vaccine is likely to offer protection of up to a couple of years, its chief executive officer said, even though more data is still needed to make a definitive assessment.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* The number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly dipped last week while staying extremely high, with the labour market recovery appearing to stall.
Australian Associated Press
