FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

U.S. federal health agencies recommended pausing the use of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine after six women under 50 who had received it developed rare blood clots, dealing a fresh setback to efforts to tackle the pandemic.

U.S. federal health agencies recommended pausing the use of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine after six women under 50 who had received it developed rare blood clots, dealing a fresh setback to efforts to tackle the pandemic. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

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* Johnson & Johnson said it would delay the rollout of its vaccine in Europe and was reviewing cases of extremely rare blood clots in people with European health authorities. * Belgium will continue vaccinations with the Johnson & Johnson jab for the moment, while the Dutch medicines regulator (CBG) said the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the possible risks.

* Chancellor Angela Merkel said her decision to seek temporary powers from parliament to enforce lockdowns in areas with high infection rates was necessary for Germany to curb a third wave of the pandemic. * British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that the rapid drop in deaths was largely down to a three-month lockdown, not the vaccination programme, and that cases would rise once again as restrictions ease.

* Austrian Health Minister Rudolf Anschober of the Greens said he is stepping down, exhausted and sick from battling the pandemic and occasionally other officials. AMERICAS

* The pause of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine will not slow U.S. vaccination efforts, the White House COVID-19 coordinator said, adding that officials were working to reschedule people with other shots made by Pfizer and Moderna. * Mexico aims to have developed a vaccine against COVID-19 that could be granted approval for emergency use by the end of this year.

ASIA-PACIFIC * India is to fast-track emergency approvals for COVID-19 vaccines that have been authorised by Western countries and Japan, as the country reported 161,736 new infections, hitting the world's highest daily tally once again.

* Japan's western region of Osaka reported a record number of 1,099 daily infections as a new strain of the virus fuelled a rebound in cases. * South Korea's health authorities said they would consider the use of coronavirus self-test kits despite their relatively low accuracy, after the new mayor of Seoul called for their approval.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA * Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said the coronavirus science council will recommend a tighter set of measures as the outbreak reached what the minister called "a third peak".

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS * U.S. infectious disease official Dr. Anthony Fauci said AstraZeneca's vaccine had good efficacy, but safety concerns needed to be straightened out and it might not be needed for Americans because of supplies of other shots.

* Novavax Inc has pushed back the timeline for hitting its production target of 150 million COVID-19 vaccine doses per month until the third quarter due to supply shortages. * China's locally developed COVID-19 vaccine candidate that uses messenger RNA (mRNA) technology could start late-stage clinical trial overseas as early as next month, official media said.

* India's health ministry said its drug regulator had found that safety and immunogenicity data from a local trial of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine was comparable to that of a late-stage trial done in Russia. ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Global stocks were steady on Tuesday as market players awaited U.S. data expected to show a pick-up in inflation, with the dollar also edging higher. * Britain's economy grew by 0.4% in February from January as companies prepared for the lifting of a third lockdown, according to official data that also showed a partial recovery in post-Brexit trade with the European Union.

* Investor sentiment in Germany fell unexpectedly in April, the ZEW economic research institute said, citing rising fears that Europe's largest economy will go into a stricter lockdown, depressing private consumption. (Compiled by Anita Kobylinska and Federico Maccioni; Edited Barbara Lewis and Lisa Shumaker)