Indonesia recorded 32,211 coronavirus cases on Friday, the highest daily number in nearly six months, as the Omicron variant continued to drive up infections, data from the country’s COVID-19 taskforce showed.    

China and Russia proclaimed a deep strategic partnership on Friday to balance what they portrayed as the malign global influence of the United States as China's President Xi Jinping hosted Russia's Vladimir Putin on the opening day of the Beijing Winter Olympics. In a joint statement, the two countries affirmed that their new relationship was superior to any political or military alliance of the Cold War era.

* French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Russia on Feb. 7 and to Ukraine on Feb. 8 to discuss the Ukraine situation, said Macron's Elysee department.

* Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron will discuss Russia's demands for security guarantees from the West during Macron's visit to Moscow on Monday, the Kremlin said on Friday.

* The European Union and Azerbaijan have intensified talks on increasing Azeri gas supplies to Europe, TASS news agency quoted EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson as saying on Friday.

* France will reinforce the United Arab Emirates' air defence system after a series of ballistic missile and drone attacks launched from Yemen by Iran-aligned Houthi rebels on the country, the French armed forces minister said on Friday.

* Turkey and Israel can work together to carry natural gas from Israel to Europe and the two countries will discuss energy cooperation during talks next month, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was cited as saying on Friday.

* Asian equity markets fought for a footing, supported by an Amazon-led bounce in US futures, but oil's rise to a seven-year high kept traders on edge over prospects that interest rates will rise to curb global inflationary pressures.

* US job growth likely slowed sharply in January as COVID-19 infections lashed the nation, disrupting activity at high-contact business, a temporary setback to the labor market recovery that was already reversing at the end of the month.

* A total of 21 new COVID-19 infections were found among Olympic Games-related personnel on Feb. 3, down from 55 a day earlier, Games organisers said ahead of Friday's opening ceremony.

* Japan serious COVID-19 cases crossed 1,000 for the first time in four months, data showed on Friday, as the Omicron variant fuelled record infections and burdened the medical system.

* The Republic of Korea extended COVID-19 social distancing rules on Friday for an additional two weeks as Omicron variant infections soar, including a 9 p.m. curfew for restaurants and a six-person limit on private gatherings.

* People enrolled in the US government's Medicare program can get over-the-counter COVID-19 tests for free starting early spring, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said on Thursday.

* The cumulative total for confirmed COVID-19 cases in France since the start of the pandemic has passed 20 million, health ministry data showed.

* Austria's upper house of parliament passed a bill to make coronavirus vaccines compulsory for adults, bringing the European Union's first such sweeping vaccine mandate a step closer.

* The Canadian government will not use troops against truckers whose nearly week-long protest of vaccine mandates has brought traffic in central Ottawa to a halt, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday.

* Australia could use its defence forces to help manage a COVID-19 outbreak in the aged-care sector that has stretched staffing and forced many homes into lockdowns, the prime minister said on Friday, as national infection numbers remained on a downtrend.

* The United Arab Emirates announced that it will lift a travel ban on its vaccinated citizens to travel to twelve African countries, state news agency WAM said on Friday.

* South Africa's Afrigen Biologics has used the publicly available sequence of Moderna Inc's mRNA COVID-19 vaccine to make its own version of the shot, which could be tested in humans before the end of this year, Afrigen's top executive said.

* Saudi Arabia said citizens will be required to take the booster shot to be able to travel abroad starting Feb. 9, state media reported.

* Novavax Inc said on Thursday its two-dose COVID-19 vaccine had received provisional approval from New Zealand's medicines regulator for use in adults.

* Britain approved Novavax's two-dose COVID-19 vaccine for use in adults, bringing a fifth coronavirus shot to the country amid the rapid spread of the Omicron variant that has led to a spike in cases.

Reuters