FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

Global airlines cut their coronavirus recovery forecast, saying it would take until 2024 - a year longer than previously expected - for passenger traffic to return to pre-crisis levels.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

* For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, open in an external browser.

* For a U.S.-focused tracker with state-by-state and county map, open in an external browser. * Eikon users, see MacroVitals for a case tracker and a summary of developments.

EUROPE

* French health authorities reported 725 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Tuesday, below the daily average of 924 over the past week but unlikely to alleviate fears of a second wave.

AMERICAS

* A half-dozen U.S. states in the South and West reported one-day records for coronavirus deaths on Tuesday and cases in Texas passed the 400,000 mark as California health officials said Latinos made up more than half its cases.

* Republicans in the White House and the U.S. Congress were in disarray over their own plan for providing $1 trillion in new coronavirus aid on Tuesday, as negotiations aimed at reaching a compromise bill with Democrats also sputtered. * CES, the biggest global tech and gadget show, held every January in Las Vegas, will be held only online in 2021 due to concerns over the pandemic.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has warned the city is on the brink of a large-scale outbreak of the coronavirus and urged people to stay indoors as much as possible as strict new measures to curb the disease's spread take effect.

* Australia has sent defence and emergency medical teams, usually deployed to disaster zones, to aged care homes in the city of Melbourne to help contain the country's worst outbreak of the coronavirus. * Vietnam's government warned health authorities in the capital Hanoi to prepare for a potential outbreak of COVID-19 after media reported the first suspected coronavirus case in months in the city of about eight million people.

* North Korea introduced tougher prevention measures, state media reported, after it locked down the town Kaesong, on the border with the South, to tackle what could be its first publicly confirmed infection.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Iran registered a record 235 deaths from the new coronavirus in the past 24 hours, according to official health ministry figures released on Tuesday.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Moderna Inc is planning to price its coronavirus vaccine at $50 to $60 per course, at least $11 more than another vaccine from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources.

ECONOMIC FALLOUT

* Oil prices rose on Wednesday after an industry report showed that crude inventories in the United States fell against expectations, giving the market a boost amid record increases of coronavirus infections in the U.S. and elsewhere. * Rating agency Fitch revised its outlook on Japan's long-term foreign currency debt rating to negative from stable, citing the sharp coronavirus-induced domestic economic contraction.