* China's race to stop the spread of COVID-19 is clogging highways and ports, stranding workers, and shutting factories - disruptions rippling through global supply chains for goods ranging from electric vehicles to iPhones.

* President Xi Jinping said China must stick to its strict "dynamic COVID-19 clearance" policy while the pandemic remains very serious, promising those enduring lockdowns that persistence will win out in the end.

* Hong Kong confirmed it will ease some of the world's most stringent restrictions, allowing beauty parlours, cinemas, and gyms to reopen from April 21, as infections in the global financial hub hover below 2000 per day.

EUROPE

* A senior British minister said Prime Minister Boris Johnson did not set out to break COVID-19 laws with malice and is mortified after he was fined by police for attending a gathering during lockdown, as calls mounted for Johnson to quit.

* Vaccines against COVID-19 have roughly halved the death toll from the disease in Italy, preventing some 150,000 fatalities and 8 million cases last year, the National Health Institute estimated.

AMERICAS

* US health officials extended by 15 days a US mandate requiring travellers to wear masks on airplanes, trains and in transit hubs, saying they needed time to assess the impact of a recent rise in COVID-19 cases.

* The United States on Wednesday renewed the COVID-19 public health emergency, allowing millions of Americans to keep getting free tests, vaccines and treatments for at least three more months.

* The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it will revise its COVID-19 travel recommendations for international destinations and shrink the number of countries the government recommends avoiding.

AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST

* Sub-Saharan Africa's economy is set to grow 3.6 per cent this year, down from 4 per cent in 2021, the World Bank said, adding that the war in Ukraine would worsen the factors holding back Africa's recovery from the pandemic.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla said the company could possibly develop a new vaccine that protects against the Omicron variant as well as older forms of COVID-19 by autumn.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Asian shares tracked Wall Street higher, while US Treasury yields steadied and the dollar retreated, as latest US data raised hopes that inflation may be close to peaking, though several major central banks raised rates aggressively.

Australian Associated Press