FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

* The U.S. State Department has added at least 116 countries this week to its "Level Four: Do Not Travel" advisory list. * Argentina is going through its "worst moment" of the COVID-19 pandemic, the health minister said, as deaths from the virus hit 60,000 amid a sharp second wave that has forced the country to re-impose some lockdown measures.

India reported on Thursday 314,835 new cases of the coronavirus over the previous 24 hours, the highest daily increase recorded anywhere, while Japan is expected to issue a third state of emergency on Tokyo and three western prefectures that could last for about two weeks.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

* Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals for a case tracker and summary of the news. EUROPE

* European countries prepared to start using Johnson & Johnson's vaccine and speed up their vaccination campaigns after Europe's drug regulator backed the shot and deliveries started trickling in after a week-long pause.

* Police clashed with protesters in Berlin as they tried to disperse a rally against the lockdown, as parliament approved a law to give Chancellor Angela Merkel's government more powers to fight the third wave.

AMERICAS

* A U.S. plant that was making JNJ's vaccine must fix a long list of problems including peeling paint, shoddy cleanups and poorly-trained staff to resume operation, according to a highly critical report by the FDA.

* U.S. President Joe Biden announced tax credits for certain businesses that pay employees who take time off to get vaccines. * The U.S. State Department has added at least 116 countries this week to its "Level Four: Do Not Travel" advisory list.

* Argentina is going through its "worst moment" of the COVID-19 pandemic, the health minister said, as deaths from the virus hit 60,000 amid a sharp second wave that has forced the country to re-impose some lockdown measures.

* Ecuador implemented a nighttime curfew and other mobility restrictions as a spike in coronavirus cases again overwhelms hospitals in the Andean country, which in 2020 experienced one of the region's worst COVID-19 outbreaks.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* Malaysia's government enacted a new emergency law allowing it to use funds derived from oil and gas contributions to pay for vaccine procurement, as it looks to ramp up its COVID-19 vaccination programme.

* Singapore's manpower ministry said authorities were investigating the possibility of COVID-19 re-infections among residents in a migrant workers' dormitory, after finding a dozen positive cases in the facility.

* Two Australian states urged staff and guests in COVID-19 quarantine hotels to get tested immediately and fully self-isolate, launching investigations into three suspected cases of travellers contracting the virus from other residents.

* At least 24 COVID-19 patients in western India died on Wednesday when the oxygen supply to their ventilators ran out, amid a nationwide shortage of gas and a surge in infections.

* South Korea hopes its ally the United States will help it tackle a shortage of vaccines in return for test kits and masks Seoul sent to Washington earlier in the pandemic, the foreign minister said.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* South African researchers hope to next week resume a study using JNJ's vaccine to immunize healthcare workers, one of the scientists leading the programme said.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* India's only domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, has been found to be 78% effective in the second analysis of clinical trials done around the country, its makers said.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Asian stocks rose on Thursday, extending a rebound in global markets following a sharp selloff earlier this week, while oil prices eased again on worries about rising COVID-19 cases in some parts of the world.