The Grammy Awards ceremony got rescheduled due to the coronavirus surge in Los Angeles, while the European Medicines Authority will try to reach a decision on the approval of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine after failing to make a ruling two days earlier.
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
* Italy is considering extending its state of emergency over the COVID-19 crisis until July 31 this year, Il Messaggeroa national newspaper said.
* Germany can hold out through a shutdown for a long time, German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said, adding he expected lower levels of government debt than after the financial crisis of 2008.
* A Dutch nurse became the first person in the Netherlands to receive a shot as the European Union's last vaccination programme for the new coronavirus began after a late start.
* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's aim to vaccinate around 14 million of the most vulnerable people by the middle of next month is achievable, his vaccine minister said.
* French ministers told hospitality industry representatives that restaurants and cafes will not re-open on the anticipated Jan. 20 date.
* Spain increased the pace of its campaign to inoculate people, with close to 140,000 people vaccinated.
AMERICAS
* Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the whole nation was frustrated by how slowly provinces are vaccinating people.
* Brazil's syringe manufacturers said they will supply 30 million syringes and needles for the country's vaccination program after the government said it would requisition surplus supplies.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* South Korea rolled out mass testing for 52 prisons in the country after a massive prison outbreak and may extend flight suspensions from Britain, the health minister said.
* Chinese authorities imposed travel restrictions and banned gatherings in the capital city of Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing, to stave off another coronavirus wave.
* Japan will declare a month-long emergency in Tokyo and surrounding areas from Jan. 9 until Feb. 7.
* Australian health authorities are bringing forward the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines by two weeks to early March.
* North Korean leader Kim Jong Un lauded party workers for ensuring "stable situations" against the pandemic, even as he said his five-year economic plan had failed "tremendously".
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Nigeria hopes to get 42 million COVID-19 vaccines to cover one-fifth of its population through the global COVAX scheme.
* Senegal President Macky Sall announced a new state of emergency.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca has applied to health regulators for emergency use authorisation of its COVID-19 vaccine in the Philippines, the food and drugs agency chief said.
* Scientists at the National Institutes of Health and Moderna may take about two months to determine whether doses of the company's COVID-19 vaccine can be halved to double the supply of the shots in the United States, according to the agency.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Global stock prices slipped and bond yields rose as investors braced for the prospect that Democrats could win both seats at stake in a U.S. Senate run-off election in Georgia, handing them control of the chamber.
* China's services sector activity expanded at a slower pace in December, as sporadic coronavirus outbreaks tempered the recovery in consumer confidence and weighed on new business growth.
* British new car sales fell nearly 30% last year in their biggest annual drop since 1943 as lockdown measures hit the sector.
(Compiled by Veronica Snoj, Ramakrishnan M. and Amy Caren Daniel; Edited by Shounak Dasgupta and Sriraj Kalluvila)
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