FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of coronavirus

* Eikon users, see MacroVitals cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?navid=1592404098 for a case tracker and summary of news. AMERICAS * Cases in Latin America, the region with the most infections worldwide, passed 8 million on Thursday although there were indications the virus was spreading more slowly in some countries. * Brazil, with the third worst outbreak, is still studying whether to join the COVAX vaccine allocation plan, the acting health minister said.

U.S. President Donald Trump predicted at a rally in Michigan that he would win the election battleground state as thousands of cheering, largely maskless supporters defied state guidelines aimed at containing the coronavirus.

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.

AMERICAS * Cases in Latin America, the region with the most infections worldwide, passed 8 million on Thursday although there were indications the virus was spreading more slowly in some countries.

* Brazil, with the third worst outbreak, is still studying whether to join the COVAX vaccine allocation plan, the acting health minister said. * Argentina's rugby coaching staff and five more players have tested positive for the new coronavirus, adding to the six positive tests announced last week.

* Colombia will gradually reopen international flights from Sept. 21. EUROPE

* Britain's Office for National Statistics estimated that around one in 1,400 people had COVID-19 between Aug. 30 and Sept. 5, while an Imperial College study found that cases in England are doubling about every week. * Ukraine registered a record 3,144 new cases in the previous 24 hours, up from the earlier record of 2,836 on Sept. 5.

* Finland will ease travel restrictions as it tries to attract back business travellers and tourists ahead of winter. * Customers, mostly from Europe and Canada, have bought 1.5 million hemp masks since March from a French firm looking to reduce plastic waste from single-use protective gear.

ASIA-PACIFIC * India's biggest and richest state, Maharashtra, is set to record its millionth infection on Friday, stifling economic recovery.

* South Korea posted a slight rise in daily cases, as new cases emerged in religious and sporting groups and a university hospital. MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* A first official visit to Israel by United Arab Emirates delegates may be postponed or conducted under restrictions as a lockdown looms. * Nearly 100 Senegalese soldiers tested positive this week after returning home from a deployment in neighbouring Gambia, a source said.

* Nigerian resident doctors on Thursday suspended a strike to allow the government time to meet its demands over pay and working conditions. MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* The United States and Britain are leading a rush to conclude deals with drugmakers to reserve supplies of experimental vaccines. Over 30 candidates are being studied in humans. * The Brazilian state of Bahia has signed an agreement to conduct Phase III clinical trials of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine and plans to buy 50 million doses, officials said.

* Russia's sovereign wealth fund said more than 1 billion people would receive Sputnik-V in 2020-21, Interfax news agency reported. ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Global equities and U.S. government bonds edged higher Friday as investors weighed better-than-expected corporate earnings and increased M&A activity in Europe against political concerns ranging from November's U.S. elections to Brexit. * Britain's economy recovered half of its COVID-19 crash by the end of July, helped by pubs and restaurants reopening from lockdown, but the bounce-back is expected to slow as job losses mount and Brexit tensions rise.

* Japanese companies plan to make the deepest cut in capital expenditure in more than a decade this year, a government survey showed. * Kenya's economy is expected to grow by less than 2.5% this year, the finance minister said, as more evidence of the economic damage emerges.

(Compiled by Sarah Morland and Devika Syamnath; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Timothy Heritage)