Hospitals in Lebanon warned Thursday they may be forced to suspend kidney dialysis next week due to severe shortages in supplies, the latest in Lebanon's accelerating crises and collapsing health sector.

Lebanon is grappling with an unprecedented economic and financial crisis that has seen the local currency collapse and banks clamp down on withdrawals and money transfers. As the Central Bank's foreign currency reserves dry up, the country has been witnessing shortages in medicines, fuel and other basic goods, with long lines forming outside petrol stations.

President Joe Biden will on Thursday announce a "historic" US donation of half a billion Covid-19 vaccine doses for 92 poorer countries, the White House said.

France and Belgium further relaxed their Covid-19 restrictions Wednesday, allowing restaurants and cafes to serve indoors, while the United States eased travel warnings for dozens of countries as vaccinations boost hopes of a return to normal life.

China has approved the emergency use of a Covid-19 vaccine for those as young as three, the drugmaker confirmed Tuesday, making it the first country to offer jabs to young children.

Already reeling from one of the highest death tolls in the pandemic, Brazil is bracing for the threat of a third wave of Covid-19, fueled by vaccination delays and a lack of containment measures.

A record 600,000 doses of Covid vaccine were administered in Italy on Friday, authorities said, putting the country in second place in Europe for the number of people fully vaccinated.

The pandemic slowed for the fifth week in a row around the world, especially in Europe and Asia, including in India, which nevertheless continued to bear the brunt.

A stroll in Pablo Picasso's footsteps in Montmartre; breathing in the scents of Provence; a walk along D-Day beaches: These and all of France's other attractions will again become easily accessible from next week to most foreign tourists -- if they are vaccinated.

France is putting itself back on the menu as a destination for international visitors who have had COVID-19 jabs. The government announced Friday that it is removing the need for coronavirus tests for vaccinated Europeans. It also is allowing vaccinated tourists from most of the rest of the world, including the United States, much of Asia, Africa, the Middle East and North and central America to come back, if they have a negative test.

Hundreds gathered Thursday for the first concert in the Saudi capital since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic to watch performances by Syrian diva Assala Nasri and Kuwaiti crooner Nabeel Shuail.

Before stiff rules were brought in a year ago to stem the spread of coronavirus, the ultra-conservative kingdom had started to ease decades-long restrictions on entertainment, as part of efforts to improve its image and attract tourists.

More than two billion Covid-19 vaccines have been given across the world, according to an AFP tally Thursday drawn from official sources.