Calls grew for India to impose a nationwide lockdown as new coronavirus cases and deaths held close to record highs on Monday, while a report called for G7 countries to invest $1 trillion per year until 2030 to ensure a strong and sustainable economic recovery.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
EUROPE
* Norway should exclude the vaccines made by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson in its inoculation programme due to a risk of rare but harmful side-effects, according to a government-appointed commission.
* Germany is to make Johnson & Johnson's vaccine available to all adults.
* About 20 people in France have been detected with the COVID variant that was first found in India, the health minister said.
* Britain's prime minister will set out on Monday the next phase of England's lockdown easing, giving a green light for "cautious hugging"
AMERICAS
* Argentina's government said on Friday it had agreed to push back primary and mid-term elections due to take place from August for five weeks.
* Brazil expects to sign a new deal next week with Pfizer for 100 million more vaccine doses, a Health Ministry official said on Friday, as the government welcomed a U.S. call for multilateral talks on vaccine patents.
* Residents of Mexico City will soon be able to attend open-air concerts and sporting events at limited capacities, its mayor said on Friday.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Calls grew for India to impose a nationwide lockdown as new cases and deaths held close to record highs on Monday, increasing pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
* Taiwan will quarantine all pilots for its largest carrier for 14 days as it deals with an outbreak linked to China Airlines pilots and an airport hotel where many stayed.
* Nepal asked Mount Everest climbers to bring back their empty oxygen tanks instead of abandoning them on mountain slopes, as it faces shortages amid a second wave.
* Australia's New South Wales state reported zero cases for a fourth straight day on Monday, but concerns about new infections remained over a missing link in a transmission case.
* Japan's prime minister said he never "put the Olympics first", as an opinion poll showed nearly 60% of people in Japan want the Games cancelled, and a visit by the head of the IOC was postponed due to an extended state of emergency.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said if wealthy nations hogged COVID-19 shots while millions in poor countries died waiting for them it would amount to "vaccine apartheid".
* The United Arab Emirates will bar entry to non-UAE resident travellers from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka from Wednesday.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* The Gavi Vaccine Alliance is in talks with COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers including China's state-owned Sinopharm to expand the COVAX pipeline and secure doses.
* BioNTech plans to set up a regional headquarters and new mRNA manufacturing in Singapore.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* World stocks ticked up to new peaks on Monday on bets interest rates will remain low and the economy continue its recovery, while oil prices jumped after a cyber attack on a U.S. pipeline operator unnerved markets.
* G7 countries should invest $1 trillion per year for a strong and sustainable economic recovery from the pandemic, according to a report.
* Investor morale in the euro zone rose in May to its highest level since March 2018, though ECB Chief Economist Philip Lane said its unemployment rate would not return to 2019 levels before 2023.
