* Russian President Vladimir Putin held a lengthy phone call with his Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in which the leaders exchanged their views on the measures being taken to quell unrest in Kazakhstan, the Kremlin said on Saturday.
* More than 301.48 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 5,827,671 have died, according to a Reuters tally. Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.
* The Italian government is preparing new support measures to be approved next week to help companies whose business is being hit by a surge in coronavirus infections, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
* Authorities on the Indonesian tropical island Bali released 33 endangered green sea turtles into the ocean on Saturday in an effort to boost a population threatened by poachers and illegal traders.
* India's daily COVID-19 cases jumped to 117,100, a five-fold increase in a week and on course to overtake its previous infection peak.
* Thailand will extend the suspension of its quarantine waiver programme and bring in new restrictions after a jump in new coronavirus cases linked to the Omicron variant.
* The Philippine health ministry reported a record 26,458 confirmed new coronavirus cases on Saturday. In a bulletin it said confirmed cases have exceeded 2.93 million, while deaths have reached over 52,000 as 265 fatalities were recorded on Saturday.
* COVID-19 hospitalizations in the United States are poised to hit a new high as early as Friday, according to a Reuters tally, surpassing the record set in January of last year as the highly contagious Omicron variant fuels a surge in infections.
* German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and regional leaders tightened the rules for restaurant and bar visits, but shortened COVID-19 quarantine periods on Friday in response to the Omicron variant.
* Britain reported 178,250 new COVID-19 cases on Friday and 229 more deaths within 28 days of a positive test, official data showed.
* France on Friday registered 328,214 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, around 70,000 more than on the previous day but still slightly below the historic record of 332,252 new cases reached on Wednesday, official data showed.
* Romania will shorten the isolation and quarantine periods for COVID-19 positive people, their direct contacts and untested travellers from high-risk countries to varying lengths depending on whether they are vaccinated, health officials said on Friday.
* Canadian Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos on Friday warned some of the country's 10 provinces that they needed to do more to fight the Omicron coronavirus variant and prevent healthcare systems from being swamped.
* Mexico's health regulator has granted authorization for emergency use of drugmaker Merck's COVID-19 pill Molnupiravir, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday.
* COVID-19 hospitalizations in young children have reached their highest level yet in the United States, as Omicron fuels a major surge in cases, but it is not clear yet whether the variant causes more severe disease in young children, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
* Italy reported 108,304 COVID-19 related cases on Friday, less than half from a day earlier, the health ministry said, reflecting fewer tests being carried out on a national holiday. The number of deaths rose to 223 from 198.
* Mexico's official COVID-19 death toll breached the 300,000 mark on Friday, as the number of new cases jumped, figures published by the health ministry showed.
* Brazil has had 63,292 new cases of the coronavirus reported in the past 24 hours, and 181 deaths from COVID-19, the health ministry said on Friday.
* Spain's 14-day COVID-19 infection rate rose by 148 points to 2,722.72 cases per 100,000 people, the health ministry said on Friday, compared to 2,574.46 on Wednesday when the last figures were released before a public holiday on Thursday.
