FACTBOX-Latest on worldwide coronavirus spread

* Vietnam has registered to buy a Russian COVID-19 vaccine, as it fights a new outbreak after several months with no local cases. MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA * The Kuwaiti cabinet said on Thursday it would start implementing the fourth stage of a gradual go-to-normality plan on Aug. 18. * Seven African countries will start administering coronavirus antibody tests from next week, a regional body said on Thursday.

U.S. government scientists have begun efforts to manufacture a strain of the coronavirus that could be used in human challenge trials of vaccines, a controversial type of study in which healthy volunteers would be vaccinated and then intentionally infected with the virus. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

* For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser. * For a U.S.-focused tracker with state-by-state and county map, open https://tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T in an external browser.

* Eikon users, see MacroVitals (cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?navid=1592404098) for a case tracker and summary of news. EUROPE

* The European Union has agreed to buy at least 300 million doses of AstraZeneca's potential COVID-19 vaccine in its first such advance purchase deal, which could weaken plans led by the World Health Organization (WHO) for a global approach. * Britain will buy potential COVID-19 vaccines from U.S. drugmakers Johnson & Johnson and Novavax Inc, the companies said on Friday, boosting the number of deals it has with drugmakers as the global vaccine race rages on.

* Britain extended lockdown restrictions on regions of northwest England on Friday, saying there was no evidence that the COVID-19 infection rate in the area had fallen. * Britons were meanwhile rushing back from summer holidays in France ahead of the planned 14-day quarantine for all travellers from across the Channel.

* The number of daily cases peaked in Croatia on Friday as some neighbouring countries tighten measures for travel to Croatia, potentially affecting summer tourism. AMERICAS

* The prospects for a deal in the U.S. Congress to help Americans suffering due to the coronavirus pandemic dimmed on Friday, with the Senate and House of Representatives in recess and no fresh talks scheduled with President Donald Trump's negotiators. * Mexico, having hit more than half a million official cases and 55,000 deaths, will help produce a vaccine that could be distributed in the region next year.

* Dario Vivas, 70-year-old governor of Venezuela's Caracas capital district and strong ally of President Nicolas Maduro, died on Thursday of COVID-19. ASIA-PACIFIC

* New Zealand extended a lockdown in the country's biggest city in response to the first national coronavirus outbreak in months. * An inquiry showed that health officials in Australia's most populous state made "unjustifiable" and "inexcusable" mistakes that allowed cruise ship passengers with COVID-19 to disembark in March in central Sydney.

* Two cities in China have found traces of the new coronavirus in cargoes of imported frozen food, although the World Health Organization downplayed the risk of the virus entering the food chain. * Vietnam has registered to buy a Russian COVID-19 vaccine, as it fights a new outbreak after several months with no local cases.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA * The Kuwaiti cabinet said on Thursday it would start implementing the fourth stage of a gradual go-to-normality plan on Aug. 18.

* Seven African countries will start administering coronavirus antibody tests from next week, a regional body said on Thursday. MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* A coronavirus vaccine candidate developed by a unit of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) appeared to be safe and triggered antibody-based immune responses in early and mid-stage trials. * Coronavirus vaccine developer CureVac BV raised $213 million in its initial public offering in New York.

ECONOMIC FALLOUT * The euro zone's trade surplus with the rest of the world ballooned in June as the bloc's drop in imports of goods outpaced the fall of exports. The bloc also suffered the biggest drop ever recorded in employment in the second quarter.

* Global shares dipped on Friday as euro zone data offered little cheer for investors already worried about lacklustre Chinese economic numbers and a delay in U.S. fiscal stimulus. (Compiled by Anna Rzhevkina, Anita Kobylinska, Ramakrishnan M and Devika Syamnath; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Arun Koyyur and Tomasz Janowski)