A medical worker receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at the Yangon General Hospital in Yangon, Myanmar, Jan. 27, 2021. Myanmar launched a COVID-19 vaccination program across the country on Wednesday. The vaccination program started with medical staff who are working in the frontline in the country's regions and states. (Photoo: Xinhua)   

Laos' National Taskforce Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control continues to implement preventive measures and monitor people entering the country to avoid a second wave of COVID-19 outbreak.

* The World Health Organization issued recommendations on the use of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and said it was working with the company to accelerate its approval of the shot for WHO emergency use listing.

* Russian President Vladimir Putin held his first telephone conversation with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday, where the leaders addressed developments in key military agreements and cooperation on international issues, the Kremlin said.

* President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said on Tuesday that Portugal will not seek international aid to transfer COVID-19 patients, although several hospitals in the country are already at the limit of their capacity.

* Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in Moscow on Tuesday, and they stressed the need to restore the Iran nuclear deal and addressed key foreign policy issues among other things.

* Israel said on Tuesday that an Israeli ministerial delegation arrived quietly in Sudan's capital Khartoum, marking the first official Israeli visit to the Arab country in North Africa.

* Indonesia reported a record daily increase in coronavirus deaths on Wednesday, with 387 new fatalities, data from the country's COVID-19 task force showed. This brought the total number of deaths to 28,855. The Southeast Asian nation also recorded 11,948 new coronavirus infections, bringing the total number of cases to 1,024,298.

* China recorded its lowest daily increase in COVID-19 cases in more than two weeks, with the country administering about 22.8 million doses of coronavirus vaccines.

* Russia on Wednesday reported 17,741 new COVID-19 cases, taking its official tally to 3,774,672. Authorities also reported 594 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the death toll to 71,076.

* Brazil registered 1,214 deaths from the novel coronavirus and 61,963 new cases in the last 24 hours, the government said Tuesday. According to the Ministry of Health, the death toll has climbed to 218,878 and the caseload to 8,933,356 since the start of the pandemic here in late February.

* The Biden administration is "actively looking" at expanding mandatory COVID-19 testing to travelers on US domestic flights, a senior Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official said.

* Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro approved a group of private sector firms to buy 33 million vaccine doses from AstraZeneca Plc, as the country approached a total caseload of nine million.

* The daily number of new coronavirus infections in France stayed above 20,000 on average for the fourth straight day on Tuesday, while hospitalisations reached an eight-week high of 27,041.

* Portugal's government was urged to transfer COVID-19 patients abroad as deaths hit a record high and the oxygen supply system of a large hospital near Lisbon partly failed from overuse.

* Serbia plans to spend about EUR2.5 billion (US$3.04 billion) in loans and subsidies to businesses and payments to pensioners and other citizens to help them cope with the economic impact of the coronavirus.

* Republic of Korean authorities were scrambling to contain coronavirus outbreaks centred around Christian schools as the country reported a jump in infections.

* Australia recorded a 10th straight day of no new local COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, allowing its most populous state of New South Wales to relax restrictions.

* Mexico's Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said emergency use of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine should be authorized within days.

* The Chilean government announced on Tuesday it will begin the first stage of mass vaccination of its citizens against COVID-19 in February. Vaccination will be free, voluntary and provided by the state, it added.

* Canada's updated restrictions against COVID-19 are on the way as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday urged the public to cancel non-essential travel plans both abroad and between provinces in the country.

* The Serum Institute of India will supply Saudi Arabia with 3 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses priced at US$5.25 each in about a week on behalf of the British drugmaker.

* The Himalayan nation of Nepal launched its largest immunisation campaign on Wednesday with its first coronavirus vaccinations for medical workers, following a gift of one million doses from giant neighbour India.

Xinhua, Reuters