* The European Union plans to boost its early warning system and have a permanent capacity to produce about 300 million vaccines in the first six months of any new health emergency as it prepares for "the age of pandemics".

* Ministers will be advised against the mass rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations to children below the age of 18 in the UK until scientists obtain more data on the risks, The Telegraph reported.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* Japan will decide this month on whether to allow domestic spectators at the Tokyo Olympics, the government's chief spokesman said, following reports a proposal to allow up to 10,000 people at events was under consideration.

* China has tripled its daily COVID-19 vaccine rollout in June, inoculating 44 per cent of its population with at least one dose, but its health experts warn against a quick border reopening, citing an uneven rollout and the low rate of full vaccinations.

* Melbourne will allow its five millions residents to travel more than 25km from home and end mandatory masks wearing outdoors from Friday.

AMERICAS

* New York is lifting all state-mandated coronavirus restrictions after reporting that 70 per cent of the state's adults have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

* The US Food and Drug Administration authorised around 14 million more doses of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine manufactured at a problem-plagued Baltimore factory, two sources familiar with the plans said.

* Brazil plans to buy 60 million doses of the single-shot COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's CanSino Biologics for delivery in the third and fourth quarters of this year, a negotiation document reviewed by Reuters showed.

* Ecuador said it had approved the use of the COVID-19 vaccine made by China's CanSino Biologics Inc.

* The number of COVID-19 cases recorded among people involved in the Copa America rose to 52.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Johnson & Johnson would send two million COVID-19 vaccine doses to the country by the end of the month, making up for the amount lost due to contamination at an US ingredient supplier.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc's COVID-19 antibody cocktail reduces deaths in hospitalised patients who have not mounted their own antibody response, a large British study published found.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Asian shares were subdued with investors wary of any hint of hawkishness from the US Federal Reserve given lofty asset valuations rely so heavily on an endless supply of super-cheap money.

* Federal Reserve officials on Wednesday are expected to at least flag the pending start of talks about when and how to exit from the crisis-era policies the US central bank put in place at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic last year.

* Japan's exports rose at the fastest pace since 1980 in May and a key gauge of capital spending grew, helping the world's third-largest economy offset sluggish domestic demand as COVID-19 vaccinations boost business activity in key markets.

GLOBAL

DEATHS: 3,838,600

CASES: 177,418,261

RECOVERED: 161,866,130

Australian Associated Press