FACTBOX-Latest on worldwide spread of the coronavirus

* U.S. President-elect Joe Biden hailed Pfizer's vaccine progress but warned Americans to keep their guard up and masks on as Republican President Donald Trump's administration celebrated and tried to claim credit. ASIA-PACIFIC * Australia is considering opening its borders to Asian countries, including parts of China, as Canberra seeks to revive an economy. * Nepal will provide free COVID-19 tests and treatment, an aide to the prime minister said, as the total number of infections was set to cross the 200,000 mark.

The COVID-19 death toll in Europe was set to pass 300,000, according to a Reuters tally, and authorities feared that despite hopes for a new vaccine, fatalities and infections would continue to rise as the region heads into winter.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS * For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread of COVID-19, open https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/ in an external browser.

* 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 European Commission will discuss on Wednesday the adoption of a contract for the supply of the vaccine being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. * The British government asked the National Health Service to be ready to deploy any COVID vaccine from the start of December.

* Spain will get the first vaccines developed by Pfizer and BioNTech in early 2021, its health minister said, while Italy expects to receive an initial 3.4 mln shots in January. * Denmark's plans to cull all 17 million mink in the country, following the finding of a mutated coronavirus strain among them, are facing legal obstacles after the government admitted it did not have legal basis for the order.

AMERICAS * The United States said that the terms under which a WHO-led team of experts is to investigate the origins of the new coronavirus were not transparently negotiated or in line with the mandate agreed by member states.

* Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Pfizer's experimental COVID-19 vaccine progress "very encouraging" and said his country was seeking more doses. * U.S. President-elect Joe Biden hailed Pfizer's vaccine progress but warned Americans to keep their guard up and masks on as Republican President Donald Trump's administration celebrated and tried to claim credit.

ASIA-PACIFIC * Australia is considering opening its borders to Asian countries, including parts of China, as Canberra seeks to revive an economy.

* Nepal will provide free COVID-19 tests and treatment, an aide to the prime minister said, as the total number of infections was set to cross the 200,000 mark. MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Lebanon ordered a full lockdown for around two weeks to stem a rise in infections and allow a badly strained health sector to bolster capacity. * Botswana signed an agreement with the global vaccine distribution scheme co-led by the WHO, giving it the option to buy coronavirus vaccines for 20% of its population.

* Iran plans to more than double the number of tests it carries out daily to 100,000, as its total number of detected cases surpassed 700,000. MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* BioNTech is planning to price the two-shot vaccination regimen below "typical market rates" and would differentiate pricing between countries or regions. * Brazil's health regulator suspended a clinical trial for China's Sinovac vaccine citing a severe adverse event, surprising the trial organisers who countered there had been a death but it was unrelated to the vaccine.

* U.S. biotech firm Arcturus Therapeutics expects to start distributing its vaccine candidate in the first quarter of next year after early stage trials showed promising results. * Russian President Vladimir Putin said all Russian vaccines against COVID-19 were effective, adding that the country would soon register a third shot against the virus.

ECONOMIC IMPACT * Stock markets and commodities continued to push higher after the euphoria of a coronavirus vaccine had sent global equity indexes soaring to an all-time high and shaken bond yields higher.

* British employers laid off a record number of staff in the third quarter and the jobless rate jumped as the labour market weakened before finance minister Rishi Sunak made a U-turn on support measures. (Compiled by Milla Nissi and Ramakrishnan M.; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Nick Zieminski)