Seventy-six wealthy nations are now committed to joining a global COVID-19 vaccine allocation plan co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO) that aims to help buy and fairly distribute the shots.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
EUROPE
* The weekly number of positive cases in England in late August was the highest since the end of May, the latest data from the test and trace scheme showed.
* The Czech Republic reported 650 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, its highest number for a single day since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Thailand reported its first domestic coronavirus transmission in more than 100 days on Thursday, after a man recently jailed and with no overseas travel history tested positive in a Bangkok prison during a routine check for new inmates.
* Indonesia posted another day of record-high cases on Thursday, with 3,622 new infections.
* China has offered experimental vaccines to aviation industry workers, in a push to inoculate high-risk groups to prevent a possible resurgence as economies reopen.
* India reported another record daily jump of 83,883 infections, taking its tally to 3.85 million, just 100,000 behind Brazil, the world's second most affected nation.
AMERICAS
* White House Spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said on Thursday there is no political pressure on the U.S. drug regulator to quickly approve a vaccine for the deadly coronavirus disease after drugmakers and the Centers for Disease Control suggested one could be ready just ahead of the November presidential election.
* Brazil's COVID-19 death toll appears to be easing for the first time since May, data shows, a sign the country could be descending from a long infection plateau.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Israel will impose a partial national lockdown next week to battle a coronavirus infection surge, the head of its pandemic task force said on Thursday.
* South Africa's auditor general said that some of the money in its 500 billion rands ($30 billion) COVID-19 relief package may have been fraudulently paid to improper beneficiaries.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Johnson & Johnson said on Thursday its experimental coronavirus vaccine prevented hamsters from getting severely ill, as the drugmaker seeks to begin large, late-stage studies in humans later this month.
* Britain is putting 500 million pounds ($666 million) into trials of rapid COVID-19 tests and into population-testing for the disease, the health ministry said on Thursday.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* France will spend 100 billion euros to help pull its economy out of one of Europe's worst coronavirus-induced slumps.
* The euro zone's rebound from its deepest economic downturn on record faltered in August, with some countries in the bloc suffering from restrictions more than others.
* Europe kept record-high world share markets marching forward on Thursday, while the dollar was in fightback mode and government bonds steadied after European Central Bank efforts to tame the euro.
* U.S. employers announced another 115,762 job cuts in August, led by struggling airlines as the pandemic weighs on travel and financial assistance from the government lapses.
* Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga signaled readiness to compile a third extra budget to respond to the pandemic if he succeeds outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
