The novel coronavirus continued to spread in various countries, with the total caseloads in the United States surpassing 25 million and governments looking to close borders or ban flights to contain infections from the UK variant.
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 COVID-19 situation in France is worrying, the head of the country's Haute Autorite de Sante (HAS) health regulator told France Inter radio. President Emmanuel Macron's government is considering a new lockdown after the biggest jump in hospital admissions for COVID-19 since mid-November.
* Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte condemned riots this weekend in which demonstrators attacked police and set fires to protest against a night-time curfew to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.
* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is looking at the potential to relax some COVID-19 measures before mid-February, a Sky News reporter said. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the country was still a long way from relaxing a national lockdown.
* The European Union will meet AstraZeneca executives on Monday to seek further clarification on why they unexpectedly announced a large cut in supplies of COVID-19 vaccine to the bloc for the first quarter of the year, EU officials said.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga faced renewed pressure over his handling of the pandemic, with a new opinion poll showing many believed the government was too slow to respond to the latest wave of infections.
* Japan is likely to achieve herd immunity to COVID-19 through mass inoculations only months after the planned Tokyo Olympics, even though it has locked in the biggest quantity of vaccines in Asia, according to a London-based forecaster.
* Hong Kong has formally approved use of the Fosun Pharma-BioNTech, vaccine, the city government said, the first COVID-19 vaccine to be accepted in the Asian financial hub.
* Thailand said it would start its coronavirus inoculation programme next month by administering 50,000 doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine to high-risk groups, following accusations of being slow to secure vaccines. [nL1N2K00A7]
* New Zealand confirmed its first case of COVID-19 in the community in months.
AMERICAS
* Total COVID-19 cases in the United States crossed 25 million on Sunday, a Reuters tally showed, and one of President Joe Biden's top economic aides saying he would press Democratic and Republican senators for a fresh $1.9 trillion in relief.
* Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he has tested positive for COVID-19.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Turkey received 6.5 million further doses of the vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech, several local media reports said, allowing a nationwide roll-out to continue.
* Bahrain has approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for emergency use, state news agency BNA reported, citing the Gulf country's National Health Regulatory Authority.
* Zimbabwe's COVID-19 deaths have passed 1,000 as the country tries to contain a rise in infections of the virus that has killed three government ministers in the last 10 days.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Australia approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use but cautioned that AstraZeneca's international production problems mean the country will need to distribute a locally manufactured shot earlier than planned.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Asian shares climbed to near all-time highs as concerns over rising COVID-19 cases and delays in vaccine supplies were eclipsed by optimism over a $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus plan to help revive the U.S. economy. [MKTS/GLOB]
* Japan's economy is likely to recover to levels seen before the pandemic as early as March next year, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said, offering an upbeat view on recovery prospects despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Compiled by Bartosz Dabrowski, Uttaresh.V and Devika Syamnath, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
