Latest on worldwide spread of coronavirus

* COVID-19 infections are hitting record levels in many countries across Europe as winter takes hold, prompting a call for action from the World Health Organisation which described the new wave as a "grave concern".

* Russia's daily death toll hit a record, while Ukraine's total cases exceeded three million and Poland's daily infections topped 15,000 for the first time since April.

* Belgium's hospitalisations rose back to levels that had forced a lockdown in October 2020, as the United States advised against travelling to the host of EU and NATO headquarters.

* Austria's daily new infections surged towards the record set a year ago, making a lockdown for the unvaccinated ever more likely as the government struggles to convince holdouts to get their shot.

AMERICAS

* US President Joe Biden will enforce a mandate that workers at companies with at least 100 employees be vaccinated or be tested weekly starting January 4, spurring legal challenges from Republican governors who say Biden is overstepping his authority.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* Boosted hospital funding and vaccines for younger children will be in focus when state and federal leaders meet to hash out Australia's reopening.

* China is on high alert at its international ports of entry to reduce the risk of cases entering from abroad, and it has stepped up curbs within the country amid a growing outbreak less than 100 days before the Beijing Winter Olympics.

* South Korea opened quarantine centres to house potentially thousands of teenagers with COVID-19 ahead of the country's gruelling eight-hour college entrance exam in two weeks.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* West and Central Africa could see a rise in HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths in a few years due to disruptions in health services because of the pandemic, the executive director of the Unied Nations AIDS agency said.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Britain became the first country in the world to approve a potentially game-changing antiviral pill jointly developed by US-based Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.

* The European Union's drug regulator is in discussions with AstraZeneca over possible authorisation of booster doses of the drugmaker's vaccine.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* Stocks climbed globally to new records after the US Federal Reserve decision to start scaling back its bond-buying program this month and the Bank of England's plan to keep interest rates on hold, dashing investors' expectations for a hike.

* Asia's gradual easing of international travel curbs is proving a welcome relief for the region's hard-hit tourism operators slowly opening up to visitors from around the world, with one giant exception - China.

GLOBAL

DEATHS 5,043,529

CASES 249,247,609

RECOVERED 225,749,309

Australian Associated Press