FACTBOX-Latest on worldwide spread of the coronavirus

EUROPE * Berlin wants to close shops and extend the school Christmas holidays to try to get the pandemic under control, the mayor of the German capital said as the country reported a new record number of cases. MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA * Health authorities in Saudi Arabia have registered the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for import and use in the country, state news agency SPA said.

The United States prepared to roll out a coronavirus vaccine within days as its daily death toll surpassed 3,000 for the first time. Meanwhile, the head of Africa's disease control body called on rich nations that have ordered more vaccines than they need to share excess doses.

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

* Berlin wants to close shops and extend the school Christmas holidays to try to get the pandemic under control, the mayor of the German capital said as the country reported a new record number of cases. * Pope Francis' Christmas Eve Mass will start two hours earlier, allowing even the limited number of people who can attend to get home by a 10 p.m. Italian curfew.

* Denmark will expand lockdown measures announced earlier this week to more cities, placing almost 80% of the population under the tight restrictions. * Belarus will close its borders to its own citizens later this month, a move the country's opposition leader likened to imprisoning the population in a Stalin-era prison camp.

* A vending machine that issues coronavirus tests and stores the samples has been installed in a Latvian hospital, as the Baltic state turns to automation to help contain the pandemic's spread. AMERICAS

* A panel of outside advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is meeting to weigh whether to recommend that the agency authorize Pfizer's vaccine for emergency use, one of the last steps before vaccinations could begin. * Amid a worsening second wave of infections and mounting domestic pressure, Brazil's health minister pledged to vaccinate the entire population in 2021.

* Russia has agreed with Argentina to supply 10 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine, developers of the vaccine backed by the Russian Direct Investment Fund said. ASIA-PACIFIC

* A suspected COVID-19 case aboard a "cruise-to-nowhere" from Singapore which forced the ship to return to dock and nearly 1,700 guests to isolate was a false alarm. * Japan will buy 10,500 deep freezers to store vaccines, as the capital Tokyo reported a record number of new cases.

* Indonesia has secured 155.5 million doses of vaccines and is seeking another 116 million through deals with Pfizer, AstraZeneca and global vaccine programme COVAX. MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Health authorities in Saudi Arabia have registered the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for import and use in the country, state news agency SPA said. MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* The head of the EU drug regulator said the agency's work on assessing COVID-19 vaccines had not been affected by a cyber attack over the past two weeks. * Moderna said it had dosed the first participants in a mid-to-late stage study testing its vaccine candidate in adolescents aged 12 to less than 18, and aims for data ahead of the 2021 school year.

ECONOMIC IMPACT * A generous extra helping of European Central Bank stimulus lifted the euro and kept Europe's stock markets steady, but Britain's pound saw its biggest drop in almost a month after overnight Brexit talks turned sour.

* The ECB expects economic growth to rebound more slowly next year, but the recovery could be quicker than thought in 2022 as vaccines bring herd immunity against the virus. * The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits increased more than expected last week as mounting new infections caused more business restrictions.

(Compiled by Milla Nissi and Jagoda Darlak; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Angus MacSwan)