FACTBOX-Latest on worldwide spread of the coronavirus

The $2.3 trillion coronavirus aid and spending package signed by U.S. President Donald Trump positively influenced the stock and oil markets on Monday, while more countries detected their first cases of a new variant of the virus.

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.

EUROPE * Pfizer has postponed the delivery of a new batch of the coronavirus vaccine to Spain by one day to Tuesday due to a logistics hurdle, Health Minister Salvador Illa said on Monday.

* British regulatory approval of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca could accelerate the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, cabinet office minister Michael Gove said. * Hungary and Slovakia stole a march on their fellow EU nations as they began vaccinations on Saturday, a day ahead of rollouts in several other countries, while a 101-year-old woman became the first German to receive the shot.

AMERICAS * U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday signed into law a $2.3 trillion pandemic aid and spending package, restoring unemployment benefits to millions of Americans and averting a federal government shutdown.

* The U.S. government will require all airline passengers arriving from Britain to test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of departure starting Monday. * Hamilton Mourão, Brazil's vice president, has tested positive.

* Argentina will begin vaccinating its citizens on Tuesday using the recently delivered Sputnik V vaccine. ASIA-PACIFIC

* South Korean officials are vowing to speed up efforts to launch a public coronavirus vaccination programme as the country on Monday announced it had detected its first cases of the virus variant linked to the rapid rise in infections in Britain. * A Chinese court handed a four-year jail term on Monday to a citizen-journalist who reported from the central city of Wuhan at the peak of last year's coronavirus outbreak, on grounds of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble," her lawyer said.

* Authorities in Kazakhstan said on Monday they had signed a preliminary agreement with Pfizer to potentially buy its vaccine against COVID-19. * Sydney, one of the first major cities to welcome each New Year with a public countdown featuring a firework display over its well-known Opera House, has banned large gatherings that night.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA * Saudi Arabia's interior ministry extended on Monday a ban on entry to the kingdom by air, land and sea for another week amid concerns over a fast-spreading variant of the new coronavirus.

* South Africa's total infections crossed a million on Sunday, days after a new faster spreading variant was confirmed to be present in the country. MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Fragmental releases of efficacy data for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac could undermine confidence in the shot, experts warned. * Britain's Department of Health said medicines regulator MHRA must be given time to carry out its review of the data of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, while the Sunday Telegraph reported that the UK plans to roll out the vaccine from Jan. 4.

ECONOMIC IMPACT * Global shares rose, the dollar softened and oil prices edged higher on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump signed a $2.3 trillion coronavirus aid and spending package.