FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

Airlines slammed Britain's plans for restarting international travel, saying that expensive testing requirements for trips to low-risk countries would mean that only wealthy people could take holidays abroad. 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

* Germany is currently negotiating with Russia on an advance purchase agreement of its Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Friday. * German Chancellor Angela Merkel plans to take control from federal states to impose restrictions on regions recording high numbers of new coronavirus infections, a government source said on Friday.

* Germany's top public health official said that it would not be possible to halt a third wave that is causing a worrying increase in patients in intensive care. * France's top health body said recipients of a first dose of AstraZeneca's vaccine who are under 55 should get a second shot with a new-style messenger-RNA (mRNA) vaccine.

* Poland seems to have passed a peak in the number of coronavirus infections, Health Minister said, adding that the country is still testing its health system capacity. * Finland plans to gradually begin to ease restrictions, Prime Minister Sanna Marin told a news conference on Friday.

* Britain "depends practically entirely" on the European Union for its COVID-19 vaccines, European Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton - who heads the EU executive's vaccine task force - told France Info on Friday. AMERICAS

* Venezuela has the capacity to produce the experimental Cuban coronavirus vaccine candidate known as Abdala at a Caracas biomedical facility, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said. * The U.S. state of Florida sued President Joe Biden's administration in federal court seeking to block the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's decision to prevent the cruise industry from immediately resuming operations paused for a year because of the pandemic.

ASIA-PACIFIC * India reported another record number of new COVID-19 infections on Friday with daily deaths also hitting their highest in more than five months.

* Australia has doubled its order of the Pfizer Inc COVID-19 vaccine, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday, as the country raced to overhaul its inoculation plan over concerns about the risks of blood clots with the AstraZeneca vaccine. * South Korea will reimpose a ban on nightclubs and karaoke bars after the number of new coronavirus cases surged, fanning fears over a potential fourth wave.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA * Tunisia approved Johnson & Johnson's vaccine, Health Minister Faouzi Mehdi said, and will soon receive 1.5 million doses under an African Union plan.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS * Johnson & Johnson is in talks with India to begin a clinical trial of its single-dose vaccine, the company said on Friday.

ECONOMIC IMPACT * Global stocks hit record highs on Friday, as tech shares on Wall Street cheered receding U.S. inflation fears, with the lack of inflation pressure keeping bond yields near two-week lows.

* Thailand's economy may expand less than forecast this year, a central bank official said on Friday, after a third wave of coronavirus infections and concerns about a highly contagious variant. (Compiled by Jagoda Darlak and Amy Caren Daniel; Edited by Shounak Dasgupta)