- The Biden administration indicated support for waving intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines.
- India had a record 3 980 daily death toll.
- Canada authorised the use of Pfizer Inc's Covid-19 vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds.
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday threw his support behind waiving intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines, bowing to mounting pressure from Democratic lawmakers and more than 100 other countries, but angering pharmaceutical companies.
Europe
* The Group of Seven meeting in London was hit by a Covid-19 scare when India's foreign minister and his entire team said they were self-isolating after two delegation members tested positive.
* British officials are currently looking at which vaccines would offer the best booster shot for vulnerable people later this year and no decisions have been taken yet.
Americas
* New York's Major League Baseball teams, the Yankees and the Mets, will give free tickets to fans who get vaccinated against the coronavirus at their ballparks before the games, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday.
* Federal judge on Wednesday threw out the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention's nationwide moratorium on evictions but agreed to put a temporary hold on her ruling as the government seeks to reverse the decision on appeal.
* With Covid-19 vaccine demand declining in the United States, some Canadians facing third-wave lockdowns are flying south to get inoculated, perhaps months earlier than they would be able to at home.
* Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro said that US President Joe Biden will soon send doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to the South American country, which has recorded the world's second-deadliest coronavirus outbreak.
* The US State Department said it had approved the departure of non-emergency US government employees from India because of a surge in Covid-19 cases.
* Americans had the lowest number of babies in more than four decades last year as the Covid-19 pandemic forced more people to take care of sick family members or deal with job losses.
Asia-Pacific
* India reported a record 412 262 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday and a record 3 980 daily death toll, as a second wave of infections swamps the health system and spreads from cities into the vast countryside.
* Australian officials reinstated social distancing measures across greater Sydney, as they scrambled to find missing transmission links in a Covid-19 case connected to an Indian variant of the virus.
* The New Zealand contingent involved in the Indian Premier League (IPL) will fly home on Friday, the country's cricket board said, but skipper Kane Williamson and three others will stay in India until next week before departing for England.
* Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said on Thursday an extended state of emergency was needed to contain Covid-19 infections that are straining the capital's medical system.
Middle East and Africa
* A variant of Covid-19 first diagnosed in India has been detected in Kenya, days after the same variant was detected in neighbouring Uganda.
* Tanzania has suspended flights to and from India, the country's health ministry said.
Medical developments
* Moderna Inc said on Wednesday early human trial data shows that a third dose of either its current Covid-19 shot or an experimental new vaccine candidate increases immunity against variants of Covid-19 first found in Brazil and South Africa.
* Canada became the first nation in the world to authorise the use of Pfizer Inc's Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 12 to 15.
Economic impact
* World shares and commodity prices held firm on Thursday as investors switched to cyclicals amid hopes of a strong economic recovery, but drug-makers' shares came under pressure after Washington backed waiving patents for Covid-19 vaccines.
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