China called on the United States to invite the World Health Organization to investigate origins of the COVID-19 outbreak there, as sparring over the pandemic continued after the WHO wrapped up its field work in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS * Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals https://apac1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1592404098 for a case tracker and summary of news.
EUROPE
* Germany will run up against limits in its capacity to inoculate people against COVID-19 by the end of March, health ministry documents showed.
* Spain said people under the age of 55 without major health complications who have previously contracted the coronavirus will have to wait six months from their diagnosis before receiving a vaccine.
* The share of people infected with the more contagious coronavirus variant first identified in Britain is on the rise in Denmark, authorities reported.
* More contagious variants are taking hold in France but their spread is not currently as fast as initially feared, a French virus specialist said.
* Russia has inoculated 2.2 million people with its Sputnik V vaccine, with more than 1.7 million receiving both doses, as the total number of cases in the country topped 4 million.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Hong Kong will ease strict restrictions from Feb. 18, re-opening sports and entertainment facilities and extending dining hours.
* China has administered 40.52 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for key groups of people as of Feb. 9.
* South Korea said it would grant its first approval for a coronavirus vaccine to AstraZeneca, and will allow its use in people 65 years or older.
* Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the country would begin COVID-19 vaccinations from the middle of next week.
AMERICAS
* Chicago teachers voted in favour of approving a tentative COVID-19 safety plan to allow the third-largest U.S. public school system to gradually resume in-person classes for students who have been out of school buildings for almost a year.
* California surpassed New York on Tuesday as the U.S. state with the most coronavirus deaths.
* China's CanSino Biologics Inc said its COVID-19 vaccine was approved in Mexico for emergency use for people of 18 years of age or older.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Pfizer said it could deliver its COVID-19 vaccine, which requires ultra-cold temperatures for storage and distribution, directly to points of vaccination in South Africa.
* Bahrain has authorised Russia's Sputnik V vaccine for emergency use, Bahrain TV's twitter account said.
* Ghana's parliament has suspended most of its activities for three weeks after at least 17 MPs and 151 staff were infected with the coronavirus.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Eli Lilly's combination antibody therapy to fight COVID-19 has been granted emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
* AstraZeneca is set to enlist Germany's IDT Biologika as a contract manufacturer of its vaccine, as Germany and the European Union seek to boost a delayed immunisation campaign.
* Johnson & Johnson Chief Executive Officer Alex Gorsky told CNBC that people may need to get vaccinated against COVID-19 annually over the next several years, like seasonal flu shots.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* World shares rose for the eighth day in a row, reaching record highs, while market sentiment was improved by the prospect of U.S. fiscal stimulus and vaccine rollouts, before a speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. [MKTS/GLOB]
* Brazilian retail sales slumped 6.1% in December, the biggest fall for that particular month and the second largest of all since comparable records began more than 20 years ago.
* Struggling small businesses across England have so far missed out on 1.4 billion pounds ($1.94 billion) of aid promised by the government due to delays in processing claims.
(Compiled by Anita Kobylinska; Editing by Giles Elgood)
