FACTBOX - Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

THE White House announced a series of steps aimed at boosting U.S. COVID-19 vaccination rates, including a partnership with ride-hailing services Uber and Lyft, as it seeks to achieve President Joe Biden's July 4 reopening deadline.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

EUROPE

* The European Union launched a lawsuit against AstraZeneca that could lead to financial sanctions for the company which the EU alleges has breached a supply contract for COVID-19 vaccines. The company's lawyer said the lawsuit was not needed as there was already one under way against AstraZeneca.

* Some 4,000 people watched singers Dua Lipa and Arlo Parks triumph as well as perform at the BRIT Awards on Tuesday, in the first major indoor music event with a live audience held in London in over a year.

* The European Commission expects to finish work soon on a COVID-19 certificate that could allow citizens to travel more easily this summer in the 27-nation bloc.

* Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine could potentially receive European approval for use in 12-year old children as early as the end of this month, the EU drug regulator's executive director told the Handelsblatt daily.

AMERICAS

* Brazil's federal government on Tuesday nationally suspended the vaccination of pregnant women with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 shot, after an expectant mother in Rio de Janeiro died from a stroke possibly related to the inoculation. * The Canadian provinces of Alberta and Ontario said they would stop offering first doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, with Ontario citing evidence that the risk of rare blood clots is somewhat higher than previously estimated.

* Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez said the Central American nation, a long-standing diplomatic ally of Taiwan, could open a commercial office in China in a bid to acquire coronavirus vaccines.

* Mexico plans to start a late-stage clinical trial this month for a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by China using similar technology to shots from Moderna and Pfizer , foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard said.

* The Canadian province of Alberta has stopped administering first doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine because of limited supply.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* India said on Wednesday a record number of people were killed by the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, pushing its overall death toll over a quarter million.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* The World Health Organization said it was reviewing coronavirus data from Seychelles after the health ministry said more than a third of people who tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week had been fully vaccinated.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Britain is open to talks with the United States and other World Trade Organization members on the issue of IP waivers for COVID-19 vaccines, a government spokesman said.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* An extended sell-off drove Asian shares to their lowest in seven weeks on Wednesday as surging commodity prices and growing inflationary pressure in the United States prompted markets to bet on earlier rate hikes and higher bond yields globally.

* Australia's budget will be in the red for the foreseeable future, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, as he defended the government's big spending plans as necessary to secure an economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

* Taiwan may raise its COVID-19 alert level in the "coming days", Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said, warning of an extremely serious situation on the island which has so far controlled the pandemic well, sending the stock market tanking.