FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of coronavirus

* Germany added the Croatian counties of Sibenik-Knin and Split-Dalmatia, popular with tourists, to a list of risk regions. AMERICAS * U.S. students are returning to school in person and online in the middle of a pandemic, raising stakes for educators and families in the face of emerging research that shows children could be a risk for spreading the coronavirus. * Mexico reported 5,792 new cases and 707 additional fatalities on Wednesday.

Germany and France want to give more money and power to the World Health Organisation after the COVID-19 pandemic underscored long-standing financial and legal weaknesses at the U.N. agency, an internal document seen by Reuters shows.

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 * Youth unemployment in Sweden hit its highest level this century in July due to disruption caused by the pandemic. Sweden on Thursday recorded the highest death tally in 150 years in first six months of 2020.

* Ukraine registered a record 2,134 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, while Russia's death toll passed 16,000 with 110 new deaths. * Germany added the Croatian counties of Sibenik-Knin and Split-Dalmatia, popular with tourists, to a list of risk regions.

AMERICAS * U.S. students are returning to school in person and online in the middle of a pandemic, raising stakes for educators and families in the face of emerging research that shows children could be a risk for spreading the coronavirus.

* Mexico reported 5,792 new cases and 707 additional fatalities on Wednesday. * Haiti's schools are reopening after months of violent unrest followed by the pandemic, but many parents can no longer afford it.

* Cases in Colombia surpassed 500,000 on Wednesday as deaths approach 16,000 and the country nears the end of five months of lockdown. * The spread of coronavirus in Brazil could be about to slow, its health ministry said, amid reports the transmission rate has fallen below the key level.

ASIA-PACIFIC * South Korea's infections are "in full swing" and spreading nationwide after members of a church attended a political demonstration, authorities said.

* The Philippines confirmed 4,339 new cases and 88 additional deaths, while Indonesia reported 2,266 new infections and 72 more deaths. * Several major Australian businesses urged a swift reopening of state borders, even as authorities warned against complacency.

* Tokyo Olympic organisers plan to follow roughly the same schedule next year for the nationwide torch relay preceeding the postponed summer Games, Kyodo News reported. MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Wet markets continue to thrive in Nigeria, a hub for illegal wildlife trade to Asia, despite COVID-19 which possibly jumped from animals to humans at a wet market in China. * Egypt will require all people entering the country to present Polymerase Chain Reaction test results for COVID-19 on arrival from Sept. 1.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS * Peruvian health authorities approved a Phase 3 clinical trial for a potential vaccine developed by China National Biotec Group (CNBG), the company said.

* Mexico told Moscow it would like to carry out Phase 3 testing of Russia's vaccine, as part of its intensifying efforts to secure early supplies of an effective medicine. * The European Commission said it was in talks with CureVac regarding the purchase of 225 million doses of the German biotech firm's potential vaccine.

ECONOMIC IMPACT * Asian and European share markets fell after the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest meeting minutes highlighted doubts about the recovery of the world's largest economy and knocked Wall Street from recent record highs.

* A Philippine congressional committee approved up to $3.39 billion stimulus to aid the economy's recovery. * Germany's finance minister clashed with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives with his proposal to suspend the constitutionally enshrined debt brake in 2021 after abandoning it this year due to the pandemic.

(Compiled by Sarah Morland, Uttaresh.V and Devika Syamnath; Editing by Angus MacSwan)