FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

The number of new cases per week has nearly doubled globally over the past two months, approaching the highest rate seen so far during the pandemic, the head of the World Health Organisation said. Top U.N., financial and vaccine officials on Thursday urged rich countries to donate excess vaccine doses to the COVAX initiative in a bid to end the pandemic and get the global economy back on track.

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 * No decision has been made yet on whether the European Union should sign new contracts for vaccines with AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, a French junior industry minister said.

* German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged lawmakers to approve new powers that would allow her to force lockdowns and curfews on areas with high infection rates. * The French government is working on gradually re-opening some cultural and leisure venues from mid-May onwards, government spokesman told France Info radio.

* Finland said it would allow all restaurants to reopen next week after a steady fall in infection rates over the past month. * Denmark said it would reopen the economy sooner than expected as infections decrease, allowing indoor service at restaurants and cafes and football fans to cheer from the stands from April 21.

* Sweden will ease restrictions on those, mostly elderly, citizens who have had at least one vaccination shot against COVID-19, the Public Health Agency said. AMERICAS

* Brazil is in talks with Spain and other countries as hospitals are running out of emergency drugs, its health minister said on Thursday amid reports of the seriously ill being tied down and intubated without effective sedatives. ASIA-PACIFIC

* The Serum Institute of India urged U.S. President Joe Biden to lift an embargo on U.S. exports of raw materials that is hurting its production of COVID-19 shots, while the country's daily vaccinations have slowed from their record high early this month, government data show. * Tokyo's Olympics chief said Japan was committed to holding safe Games this summer, as a surge cases prompted an expansion of contagion controls and with fresh calls for the Games to again be postponed or cancelled.

* Vietnam's health ministry called for the acceleration of its vaccine rollout as the expiry date of the Southeast Asian country's first batch of jabs supplied through the COVAX scheme fast approaches. * Thailand will close close schools, bars and massage parlours, as well as ban alcohol sales in restaurants, for at least two weeks starting from Sunday after a jump in cases, a senior official said.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA * Many Africans who have received their first vaccine do not know when they will get a second shot because deliveries are delayed, the continent's top public health official said on Thursday.

* The coronavirus is killing one person every four minutes in Iran, state TV reported on Thursday. MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* South Korea's Huons Global said it will lead a consortium to produce 100 million doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine per month as Moscow ramps up production for supplies abroad. ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Global stocks hit a record high and oil climbed after strong U.S. and Chinese economic data bolstered expectations of a solid global recovery from the coronavirus-induced slump. * London's FTSE 100 rose above the 7,000-mark for the first time since the pandemic pummelled financial markets last year.

* China's economic recovery quickened sharply in the first quarter to record growth of 18.3% from last year's deep slump. (Compiled by Juliette Portala and Krishna Chandra Eluri; Edited by William Maclean)