world United Nations warns of widening gender poverty gap due to pandemic o Pandemic will widen poverty gap between women and men, with informal workers worst hit in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, UN says. o A new study reveals that COVID-19 is disproportionately impacting the health and finances of Black Canadians. o India's total coronavirus cases pass 3.7 million as government eases pandemic restrictions. o Italy's former prime minister tests positive for coronavirus. o German prosecutors say anti-lockdown protesters can be called "Covidiots" after complaints against politician. o Uzbekistan stages outdoor exams for 1.4 million university applicants. o Thailand hits 100 days with no local virus transmissions. o Ukraine reports record daily rise in coronavirus cases. o Peru to resume international passenger air travel next month. o Steroids cut death rates among critically ill COVID-19 patients, studies suggest.

vaccines Ottawa has signed deals for millions of doses from 4 companies, and a 5th is close The federal government announced agreements with Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech on Aug. 5 and with Novavax and Janssen, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, earlier this week. It also said it's close to a deal with AstraZeneca, based in the United Kingdom. All of the companies have received funding from the U.S. government's Operation Warp Speed, which is investing billions of dollars to fast-track the development of promising vaccine candidates. Canada will receive 20 million to 76 million doses of each vaccine, should any of them successfully make it through clinical trials and be approved by Health Canada.