FACTBOX - Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

SOUTH Korea is considering plans to vaccinate workers at key businesses amid the global chip shortage, while two Australian states are on alert after an infected woman travelled from Victoria through the regions.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

EUROPE

* U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson are expected to agree to work to open up travel between the two countries "as soon as possible."

* Airlines based in Britain have told the government they will need industry-specific support to help them survive if COVID-19 rules continue to keep travel markets shut.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* India reported the highest single-day death toll from COVID-19 in the world, at 6,148, after a big eastern state revised its figures to account for people who succumbed to the disease at home or in private hospitals.

* Indonesia's palm oil association is urging plantations in Riau, where most of the country's palm estates are located, to tighten protocols as cases in the area surge.

* Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's administration will compile a large-scale economic stimulus package before calling a snap election in September, the Nikkei newspaper reported.

* Drug traffickers in East and Southeast Asia found ways to evade COVID-19 curbs to boost trade and diversify production, with Cambodia emerging as a large scale source for methamphetamine, the United Nations said.

AMERICAS

* The U.S. workplace regulator will publish a rule on Thursday requiring healthcare employers to take steps to protect workers from COVID-19, U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh told a congressional panel.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* The United Arab Emirates will suspend entry for travellers coming from Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda starting June 11, the state news agency WAM said.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* World Trade Organization members have agreed to start formal negotiations on a plan to boost COVID-19 vaccine supply to developing countries, but face rival proposals - one with and one without a waiver of intellectual property rights.

* Brazil's health regulator Anvisa authorized Phase 1 and 2 clinical tests to be carried out on volunteers for the domestically developed Butanvac vaccine.

* Emergency medicine experts warn first responders at the Tokyo Olympics could easily confuse heatstroke and coronavirus patients because the illnesses bear similar symptoms.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Asian shares edged higher but held their recent trading range on Thursday as investors focussed on U.S. inflation data and the risk of an upside surprise that could prompt the Federal Reserve to start tapering its massive stimulus.

* Japan's wholesale prices rose at their fastest annual pace in 13 years reflecting higher commodity costs, data showed on Thursday.

* China's central bank governor said he expects the country's annual average inflation to be below 2% this year, while cautioning against both inflationary and deflationary pressure.