FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

Russia said it was scrapping all remaining COVID-related restrictions, while Japan lowered its infectious diseases-related travel advisory from "do not make non-urgent trips" to "travel with caution" for China, India and 32 other countries. 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. ASIA-PACIFIC

* Indonesia recorded a sharp rise in foreign visitor arrivals in May from a year earlier as travel continued to recover after the easing of restrictions, data from its statistics agency showed. * North Korea claimed that the country's first COVID-19 outbreak began with patients touching "alien things" near the border with South Korea, while its neighbour said there is "no possibility" of COVID-19 crossing the border via contaminated balloons sent by activists in the South.

EUROPE * The UEFA Women's European Championship tournament, postponed last year due to COVID-19, will draw a record attendance in England this summer with 500,000 tickets already sold, UEFA said.

* Britain's Oxford Biomedica said it had signed a new three-year agreement to potentially make AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine beyond 2022, but no volumes were defined in an indication of waning demand for the shot. AMERICAS

* U.S. health regulators will not require companies to submit new clinical trial data on COVID-19 vaccines that target the now dominant BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants to authorize those shots, but will instead rely on studies showing the efficacy of targeting the earlier BA.1 subvariant, a top official said on Thursday. * Pfizer Inc said on Thursday it is seeking full U.S. approval for its oral COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid, which is currently available under an emergency use authorization.

AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST * Thousands of pilgrims started arriving in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia on Friday, among some one million Muslims expected to attend the 2022 haj pilgrimage season after two years of major disruption caused by the pandemic.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS * Coronavirus vaccines tweaked to include the Omicron variant strain can improve protection when used as a booster, the European Medicines Agency and other global health regulators said.

ECONOMIC IMPACT * Asia's manufacturing activity stalled in June as many companies were hit by supply disruptions caused by China's strict COVID-19 lockdowns, while sharp economic slowdown risks in Europe and the United States reinforced fears of a global recession.

* China's manufacturing activity expanded at its fastest in 13 months in June, buoyed by a strong rebound in output, as the lifting of COVID lockdowns sent factories racing to meet recovering demand, a private sector poll showed. * The mood among Japan's big manufacturers' soured for a second straight quarter in the three months to June, a central bank survey showed, hit by rising input costs and supply disruptions caused by China's strict COVID-19 lockdowns.

(Compiled by Olivier Sorgho; Editing by Diane Craft)