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South Korea has reported 2,427 more cases of COVID-19 and eight additional virus-related fatalities.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said the latest cases confirmed in the last 24 hours pushed the total caseload to 325,804 since the start of the pandemic.

The death toll rose to 2,544.

All but 27 of the latest infections were local transmissions with the majority from Seoul and its surrounding areas.

Health authorities remain on alert over further COVID spikes as the country will celebrate Hangeul Day this weekend.

▶ WHO SENDING ANTIVIRUS SUPPLIES TO N. KOREA

The World Health Organization is working to ship COVID-19 medical supplies into North Korea, a possible sign that the North is easing one of the world's strictest pandemic border closures to receive outside help.

In a weekly monitoring report, the WHO said it has started the shipment of essential COVID-19 medical supplies through the Chinese port city of Dalian for "strategic stockpiling and further dispatch" to North Korea.

It remains unclear what types of supplies were being sent and whether they were received.

North Korea has yet to report a single case of the novel coronavirus, but outside experts widely doubt it escaped the pandemic.

The North has told WHO it has tested 40,700 people for the coronavirus through September 23 and that all the tests were negative.

▶ WORLD'S FIRST MALARIA VACCINE GETS GREEN LIGHT

The World Health Organization has endorsed the world's first malaria vaccine.

Mosquirix, developed by GlaxoSmithKline over three decades ago, received backing from two WHO expert advisory groups on Wednesday.

Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called it "a historic moment."

The WHO said the vaccine should be given to children across Africa and other regions where malaria is prevalent with the hope that it will spur stalled efforts to curb the spread of the deadly disease.

Malaria remains a primary cause of childhood illness and death in sub-Saharan Africa and takes the lives of more than 260,000 children under the age of five annually.

▶ US, CHINA AGREE TO HOLD VIRTUAL SUMMIT

The White House has announced President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping plan to hold a virtual meeting before the end of the year.

An agreement in principle for the summit was reached during in-person talks between senior U.S. and Chinese officials in Switzerland on Wednesday aimed at improving communication between the two countries.

Jen Psaki is the White House press secretary.

[Clip: Psaki]
"Leader-level engagement is an important part of our effort to responsibly manage the competition with China, especially given coalescing of power in Chinese leadership. We're still working through what that would look like when, and of course the final details. So, we don't quite have them yet."


▶ NETFLIX TO EDIT REAL PHONE NUMBER IN 'SQUID GAME'

Netflix has announced that it will edit out a phone number in its hit South Korean program "Squid Game" after a woman said she had been deluged by prank calls and messages.

The BBC's Will Leonardo has more.

[Reporter]
"Squid Game" has taken the world by storm since its release last month and is on course to become Netflix's most watched series ever.

The drama features cash-strapped contestants being invited to take part in a series of life-or-death children's games for big prize money.

For one woman in South Korea, its success has had an unusual effect.

She told a local broadcaster that calls to the supposedly fictional number came through to her phone and she'd been inundated with prank messages.

Netflix has urged viewers not to call the number as well as editing it out.




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