* Macau's government said it would resume ferry services with the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen on August 8, as authorities try to unwind stringent COVID-19 restrictions in the world's biggest gambling hub.
* Mainland China reported 539 coronavirus cases for August 4, of which 222 were symptomatic and 317 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said.
* North Korea said on Friday all of its fever patients have recovered, its first such claim since the outbreak of the pandemic in the isolated economy, according to state media KCNA.
EUROPE
* The European Medicines Agency is recommending Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine carry a warning of the possibility of two types of heart inflammation, an added burden for a shot that has so far failed to win wide uptake.
AMERICAS
* US President Joe Biden will remain in isolation until he tests negative for COVID-19, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said on Thursday.
* Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from next week's US Open tune-up event in Canada as he cannot enter the country without being fully vaccinated against COVID-19, tournament organisers said.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* South Africa's health regulator reported on Thursday a causal link between the death of an individual and Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, the first time such a direct link has been made in the country.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* The Omicron variant may be more efficient at infecting children through the nose than previous versions of the coronavirus, a small study suggests.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* The Reserve Bank of India's key policy repo rate was raised by 50 basis points on Friday, the third increase in as many months to cool stubbornly high inflation.
* Indonesia's economic growth accelerated in the April-June quarter amid an export boom driven by rising commodity prices, official data showed on Friday, but monetary tightening, rising inflation and a global recession risk threaten the outlook.
* Japan's households increased spending for the first time in four months in June, as demand for post-COVID travel services rose in a positive sign for broader recovery prospects.
GLOBAL
DEATHS: 6,431,115
CASES: 586,984,280
RECOVERED: 557,060,204
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