* Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline said it signed a deal to supply 10,000 doses of its COVID-19 monoclonal antibody therapy to the Canadian government.

* The European Union's drugs regulator said people with weakened immune systems should get a third dose of a vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna, but left it to member states to decide if the wider population should get a booster.

* Sweden's Public Health Agency said it recommended the use of Pfizer/BioNTech's Comirnaty vaccine for children between 12-15, opting against rival Moderna's Spikevax.

AMERICAS

* US President Joe Biden will travel to the Chicago area on Thursday as part of the administration's effort to encourage people to get the vaccine, the White House said on Monday.

* An experimental antiviral pill developed by Merck could halve the chances of dying or being hospitalised for those most at risk of contracting severe COVID-19, according to data that experts hailed as a potential breakthrough in how the virus is treated.

* Argentina plans to investigate attendance numbers at Sunday's derby between River Plate and Boca Juniors, a judicial official said, after local media questioned whether numbers exceeded those permitted under COVID-19 rules.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* The Australian government on Tuesday said tough coronavirus border clamps will be eased next month with people allowed to leave the country and arrivals welcomed to Sydney.

* Thailand's government, which rolled out vaccines to high school students for the first time, is in talks with Merck to buy 200,000 courses of its antiviral pill.

* Philippine organisations have urged government cooperation in a probe into alleged misuse of pandemic funds, in a challenge to President Rodrigo Duterte's order for ministers not to answer summons for a Senate investigation.

* Indonesia will reopen its tourist island Bali for some international travellers from October 14, senior cabinet minister Luhut Pandjaitan said.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Senegal logged only two new daily infections, the lowest number since the pandemic reached the country and two months after the rate of new cases hovered at record highs, the health ministry said.

* Israel on Sunday piled pressure on its vaccinated citizens to get a booster shot by making only those who received their third dose eligible for a "green pass".

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* COVID-19 vaccines are less effective on people with weakened immune systems, three small Italian studies show, whose researchers say highlight the need to deploy booster shots for this group of vulnerable people.

* Brazilian healthcare company Hapvida Participacoes said in a securities filing late on Sunday it has prescribed hydroxychloroquine to COVID-19 patients.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* New orders for US-made goods accelerated in August, pointing to sustained strength in manufacturing even as economic growth appeared to have slowed in the third quarter because of shortages of raw materials and labour.

* The dollar eased and a gauge of global equity markets fell on Monday despite strong manufacturing data as investors worried about the potential for renewed US-China trade tensions and rising inflation as oil prices surged to multi-year highs.

GLOBAL

DEATHS 4,821,962

CASES 236,114,110

RECOVERED 213,166,707

Australian Associated Press