FACTBOX-Latest on worldwide spread of the coronavirus
(Updates with new developments)
Nov 24 (Reuters) - German states planned a relaxation of restrictions to allow gatherings of up to 10 people over the holiday period. The Spanish government, meanwhile, is to propose a "different" Christmas and New Year under restrictions with just six people at parties, and Italy's prime minister warned citizens not to go skiing during the holidays.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread of COVID-19, open https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/ in an external browser.
* Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals https://apac1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1592404098 for a case tracker and summary of news.
EUROPE
* The European Union has struck a deal for up to 160 million doses of U.S. firm Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine candidate, taking the EU's potential stock of COVID-19 shots to nearly 2 billion.
* Italy reported 853 COVID 19-related deaths on Tuesday, the highest daily toll since March 28, as the country is set to receive 16 million shots of the potential vaccine developed by AstraZeneca in the first months of 2021.
* Britain reported 608 deaths within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test, the highest daily total since May.
* Elderly residents and staff in nursing homes will be the first to get vaccinated in Spain, starting as early as January.
* The acting head of a big Russian state fur company floated the idea of vaccinating minks, after millions of infected minks were destroyed in Denmark and cases of the disease were found elsewhere.
AMERICAS
* Millions of Americans appeared to be disregarding public health warnings and travelling ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
* Canada could approve one or more COVID-19 vaccines early in the first quarter of 2021, under a new accelerated process similar to the U.S. emergency use authorization.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* China recorded 22 new infections on Monday, up from 11 a day earlier, while an official from the city of Tianjin said two confirmed cases this month caught the virus from pig heads from North America.
* Australia will lift more internal border curbs to boost tourism as it plans to obtain its first vaccines in March.
* Malaysia said it would close some factories of the world's biggest rubber glove maker as more than 2,000 of its workers had tested positive.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Iran plans to use foreign vaccines while also developing its own, President Hassan Rouhani said as new daily cases hit a record high in the Middle East's worst-hit country.
* Nigeria will bar passengers who fail to follow the country's COVID-19 protocol from flying for six months.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* The European Medicines Agency could produce a scientific opinion on COVID-19 vaccines seeking regulatory approval by the end of the year in a best case scenario.
* Russia's Sputnik V vaccine will cost less than $20 per person on international markets and Moscow aims to produce more than a billion doses at home and abroad next year, its backers and developers said.
* AstraZeneca must prove its claim that its potential vaccine has the lowest price of the main candidates so far, non-governmental organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres said.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Stocks, oil and risk currencies, including bitcoin, gained on Tuesday as U.S. President-elect Joe Biden got the formal go-ahead to begin his transition to the White House.
* U.S. federal agencies have begun scrutinizing lenders for potential misconduct when distributing $525 billion in pandemic aid to struggling small businesses, according to half a dozen people with knowledge of the matter, regulatory filings and statements.
* The hit to Brazil's government primary budget balance this year from the pandemic will be 615.1 billion reais ($114 billion), the special secretary to the economy ministry said.
* British retail sales fell by the most since June during this month's lockdown across the bulk of the country, though the decline was less than most economists feared.
(Compiled by Anita Kobylinska and Milla Nissi; Edited by Alexandra Hudson and Ed Osmond)
