* The United States and China have agreed in principle for their presidents to hold a virtual meeting before the end of the year, a senior US administration official said on Wednesday, after high-level talks aimed at improving communication between the two countries.
* Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo said on Thursday she will run for the presidency in a 2022 election.
* Military-appointed authorities in Myanmar are making progress in addressing its currency crisis, with the kyat stabilising and efforts underway to keep prices under control, a senior central bank official said.
* Peru's President Pedro Castillo swore in Mirtha Vasquez, a left-wing former head of Congress, as prime minister on Wednesday, replacing her predecessor who resigned after two months in the job, as the administration grapples with political instability.
* Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne said on Thursday the return of France's ambassador to Canberra will help repair relations between the two countries which were damaged when Australia cancelled a US$40 billion submarine contract.
* Britain has enough gas supply capacity to meet demand, adequate gas in storage and a range of tools to manage supply and demand this winter, grid operator National Grid said in a report on Thursday.
* Governments should start planning a return to more sustainable budgets with policies that win the trust of investors, after unprecedented fiscal stimulus to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday.
* Asian shares rallied on Thursday, supported by a possible easing in US-China tensions, and weaker energy prices, as oil edged down from multi-year highs.
* German industrial output dropped by far more than expected in August due to supply chain disruptions that are holding back growth in Europe's biggest economy and hitting the auto sector particularly hard.
* Jordan hopes to start supplying Lebanon with electricity by the end of the year, Sky News Arabia reported on Thursday, citing an interview with the kingdom's energy minister, Hala Zawati.
* China reported 25 new COVID-19 cases on the mainland for Oct. 6, versus 26 a day earlier, the national health authority said on Thursday. All of the new infections were imported, the National Health Commission said.
* More than 840,000 children under the age of four have contracted COVID-19 in the United States since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
* Sweden and Denmark are pausing the use of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for younger age groups after reports of possible rare cardiovascular side effects.
* Finland will pause the use of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for men born in 1991 and later due to reports of a rare cardiovascular side effect, the institute for health and welfare said on Thursday.
* The European Union's public health agency is proposing a revision of COVID-19 rules which could ease travel for vaccinated people.
* Britain dropped its advice against all but essential travel for 32 countries and territories on Wednesday.
* Air New Zealand is operating less than one-third of its usual domestic capacity due to tough restrictions in Auckland and doubts whether a travel bubble with Australia will reopen.
* Moderna plans to invest about US$500 million to build a factory in Africa to make up to 500 million doses of mRNA vaccines each year.
* French healthcare company Sanofi said it had found positive results from the first study into a high-dose influenza vaccine with an mRNA booster.
* A booster shot improves the immune response of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, while post-COVID depression can be treated with widely used drugs, new studies show.
* Nigeria's president unveiled a record NGN16.39 trillion (US$39.8 billion) budget for 2022 on Thursday, with a projected 25% year-on-year rise in government spending as the economy struggles with the impact of the pandemic.
* Sudan has received more than 500,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Pfizer, the first batch of a US donation of 1.27 million doses through the COVAX facility.
* The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said on Wednesday it intercepted an explosives-laden drone targeting Saudi Arabia's Abha international airport, Saudi state TV reported.
