Further lab tests show the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech is likely to protect against a more infectious variant of the virus discovered in Britain, while U.S. President Joe Biden plans to immediately reset the nation's response to the COVID-19 crisis.
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
* The Netherlands proposed the first nationwide curfew since World War Two and a ban on flights from South Africa and Britain in its toughest moves yet to limit the spread of coronavirus.
* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resisted calls for an inquiry into his government's handling of the pandemic as the country's death toll neared 100,000 and his chief scientist said hospitals were looking like war zones.
* Italy is considering legal action against Pfizer after the U.S. drugmaker announced a further cut in coronavirus vaccine deliveries, the country's COVID-19 special commissioner said.
* Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said that herd immunity against COVID-19 in the country could be reached as early as the first half of this year, according to the RIA news agency.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Thailand's government filed a criminal complaint of defaming the monarchy against a banned opposition politician after he criticised the country's vaccine strategy.
* South Korea is in talks to buy 40 million doses of a vaccine developed by Novavax, its local manufacturer SK bioscience said.
* Beijing said it will investigate all individuals who entered the capital from abroad from Dec. 10 and shut down a subway station after reporting the biggest daily jump in new COVID-19 cases in more than three weeks.
AMERICAS
* A convoy of five trucks carrying oxygen sent by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro arrived late on Tuesday night in the Brazilian city of Manaus, where hospitals ran out of supplies.
* Chile's health regulator approved the emergency roll-out of the CoronaVac vaccine manufactured by China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd, clearing the way for the Andean country to move up a gear in its inoculation effort.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Britain said it was helping Kenya prepare to roll out the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, as African nations race to ensure their populations are inoculated.
* Israel has included pregnant women among those getting priority access to vaccines, seeing no risk to them or their foetuses, a senior public health official said.
* Turkey has vaccinated more than 1 million people in the first week of its nationwide rollout of shots developed by China's Sinovac Biotech, health ministry data showed.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* The World Health Organization plans to approve several vaccines from Western and Chinese manufacturers in the coming weeks and months, an internal document seen by Reuters shows.
* Russia's sovereign wealth fund RDIF has filed for registration of the Sputnik V vaccine in the European Union and expects it to be reviewed in February, as Moscow seeks to speed up its availability worldwide.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Global equity benchmarks and oil prices rose while U.S. Treasury bonds dipped as investors weighed the likelihood of further U.S. stimulus under the incoming Biden administration against worsening coronavirus outbreaks in China and the United States. [MKTS/GLOB]
* British inflation gathered speed in December, starting what is expected to be a climb this year as pandemic-fighting measures, Brexit and a recovery in the economy combine to push up costs for consumers and businesses.
(Compiled by Bartosz Dabrowski and Anna Rzhevkina; Editing by Nick Macfie)
