FACTBOX-Latest on worldwide spread of the coronavirus

At least four drugmakers expect their COVID-19 vaccines will be effective against the new fast-spreading virus variant that is raging in Britain, while Americans were warned again not to travel for Christmas as the latest surge in cases overwhelmed hospitals.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS * Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals https://apac1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1592404098 for a case tracker and summary of news.

EUROPE * France will reopen its borders to passengers from England, ending a blockade intended to stop the spread of a new coronavirus variant, but which has held up thousands of lorries before Christmas.

* Sweden's government is rushing to put forward a temporary pandemic bill that would give it powers to shut shops, private museums and by law limit the number of people in gatherings, news agency TT reported. * Ireland will shut restaurants, pubs and some shops on Christmas Eve and they may not open again until early March amid "enormous concern" for older people from a sudden surge in COVID-19 cases, the government said.

AMERICAS * U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to not sign an $892 billion coronavirus relief bill that includes desperately needed money for individual Americans, saying it should be amended to increase the amount in the stimulus checks.

* Weekly COVID-19 cases rose by the highest amount since the pandemic began, the World Health Organization said, with the Americas accounting for half of them. * Brazil's Health Ministry expects to have at least 150 million doses of vaccines against COVID-19 available in the first half of 2021, with a third or more coming from a Chinese company despite the president's early scepticism.

* Peru surpassed 1 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus, as concerns about a potential second wave of infections began to grow in the hard-hit Andean nation. * The U.S. government does not intend to impose COVID-19 screenings for passengers travelling from Britain after the emergence of the new virus variant there, people briefed on the decision said.

* Canada is introducing extra measures to screen people who have spent time in Britain to check for the mutated COVID-19 variant. ASIA-PACIFIC

* As Singapore prepares to roll out COVID-19 vaccinations its striking success in controlling the virus is making some question whether they should take the jabs. * Australia's most populous state relaxed coronavirus restrictions for Christmas following a second straight day of low case numbers, although parts of Sydney's northern seaside suburbs remain under lockdown.

* South Korea reported its second-highest daily tally of coronavirus cases as a survey underscored growing public dissatisfaction with President Moon Jae-in's handling of the latest wave of infections hitting the country. * Japan will ban the entry of non-Japanese people from the United Kingdom following the emergence of the new virus strain.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA * Dubai will start inoculating people with the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech for free from Wednesday.

* Kenya's parliament voted to end tax cuts put in place in April to cushion the economy from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc told Reuters its COVID-19 vaccine should be effective against the new coronavirus variant, adding that studies were under way to fully probe the impact of the mutation. ECONOMIC IMPACT

* U.S. stock futures fell, commodities slipped, and Treasuries edged higher after Trump threw a last-minute spanner in to pandemic relief plans by threatening not to sign a long-awaited stimulus bill in to law. (Compiled by Aditya Soni and Krishna Chandra Eluri; Editing by Maju Samuel and Subhranshu Sahu)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)