Israeli high school students wearing face masks take a final exam outdoors in central Israeli city of Modiin, on Jan. 27, 2021. (Photo: Xinhua)   

Global debt likely reached 98% of economic output at end-2020 as governments poured in nearly US$14 trillion in fiscal support, the IMF said, while urging that fiscal support stay in place until recovery is firmly underway.

* Novavax Inc said its coronavirus vaccine was 89.3% effective in preventing COVID-19 in a trial conducted in the United Kingdom and was nearly as effective in protecting against the more highly contagious variant first discovered in the UK, according to a preliminary analysis.

* China reported its lowest daily increase in new COVID-19 cases in three weeks, official data showed, as authorities imposed robust curbs to contain the outbreak.

* The availability of jobs in 2020 marked the sharpest fall in 45 years in Japan, while the country's jobless rate rose for the first time in 11 years, owing to the downside effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Japanese government said in a report on Friday.

* Brazil's total confirmed cases surpassed nine million, while researchers in southern Brazil said they discovered patients infected with two different strains of the new coronavirus simultaneously.

* Mexico's death toll from COVID-19 surpassed India to be the third highest in the world, while the United States detected its first two cases in South Carolina of the coronavirus variant originating in South Africa.

* The Pentagon is evaluating a request from the US Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide help in administering COVID-19 vaccines.

* Russia reported 19,238 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, including 2,799 in Moscow, taking the national tally to 3,813,048 since the pandemic began. Authorities said 534 people had died of COVID in the last 24 hours, pushing the official death toll to 72,185.

* The Philippines extended on Friday partial COVID-19 restrictions in the capital Manila until the end of February in a bid to slow a spike in infections after year-end holidays, officials said, warning the curbs could further delay economic recovery.

* Britain is banning direct passenger flights from the United Arab Emirates from Friday, shutting down the world's busiest international airline route from Dubai to London.

* Passenger numbers at German airports in 2020 dropped by 75 percent year-on-year to around 63 million, the German Aviation Association (BDL) said on Thursday. The reasons for the slump were travel restrictions, including entry bans and quarantine rules, as well as lower passenger demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the BDL.

* Denmark will extend its current coronavirus restrictions by three weeks in order to curb the spread of a more contagious coronavirus variant first registered in Britain.

* Portugal extended a nationwide lockdown until mid-February and announced curbs on international travel.

* A shortage of COVID-19 vaccines has forced Paris and two other regions that together account for a third of the French population to postpone giving out some first doses.

* The Serum Institute of India has sought the drug regulator's permission to conduct a small domestic trial of the Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine that was found to be 89.3% effective in a UK trial, its CEO told Reuters on Friday.

* AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine should only be given to people aged between 18 and 64, Germany's vaccine committee recommended.

* New Zealand said its finances were in better shape than expected, as deficit and debt figures came in lower than it forecast last year.

* Morocco started a national coronavirus vaccination campaign after receiving vaccine shipments from AstraZeneca and Sinopharm.

* The African Union secured another 400 million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine in a push to immunize 60% of the continent's population over a three-year period.

* US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday confirmed in a phone call with Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs Fuad Hussein that Washington and Baghdad will continue the strategic dialogue soon.

* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the US decision to suspend the sale of F-35 warplanes to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will not affect Israeli ties with the UAE.

* Tehran will not accept US demands that it reverse an acceleration of its nuclear programme before Washington lifts sanctions, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Friday at a news conference in

* The Pentagon said on Thursday that the Afghan Taliban had not met its commitment under the US-Taliban deal.

Xinhua, Reuters