FACTBOX-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

* Pregnant women who get an mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 pass high levels of protective antibodies to their babies, new research shows. ECONOMIC IMPACT * Asian shares nudged higher on Monday as risk sentiment turned for the better, though a surge in oil prices to three-year highs could inflame inflation fears and aggravate the recent hawkish turn by some major central banks. * Sales of new U.S. single-family homes increased for a second straight month in August, but demand for housing has probably peaked after a COVID-19 pandemic-fueled buying frenzy.

The COVID-19 pandemic reduced life expectancy in 2020 by the largest amount since World War Two, according to a study published by Oxford University, with the life expectancy of American men dropping by more than two years. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

* Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals for a case tracker and summary of news EUROPE

* Hundreds of protesters marched against the introduction of a "corona pass" in the Netherlands on Saturday, as proof of COVID-19 vaccination became compulsory to get into bars, restaurants, theatres, and other venues. * President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday said France would give 120 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to poor nations, doubling an earlier pledge, French news agency AFP reported.

* England's COVID-19 weekly reproduction "R" number was estimated to have fallen to between 0.8 and 1.0, and the epidemic could be shrinking in the country. AMERICAS

* New York Governor Kathy Hochul is considering employing the National Guard to fill hospital staffing shortages with tens of thousands of workers possibly losing their jobs for not meeting a Monday deadline for mandated vaccination. * Pedro Guimaraes, a member of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's delegation to the United Nations, has tested positive for COVID-19.

* The COVID-19 vaccine by Pfizer-BioNTech will be the only one used in Mexico for at-risk children aged 12-17, Mexico's deputy health minister said. ASIA-PACIFIC

* Australian authorities announced plans to gradually reopen locked-down Sydney, unveiling a two-tiered system that will give citizens inoculated for COVID-19 more freedoms than their unvaccinated neighbors for several weeks. * New Zealand is to begin allowing small numbers of vaccinated travelers to isolate at home instead of in state-run quarantine facilities as part of a phased approach to re-opening its borders.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA * Tunisia will entirely lift its nightly curfew against COVID-19 from Saturday, the presidency said, after about a year in force.

* Egypt has authorized Russia's single-dose Sputnik Light vaccine against COVID-19, said the Russian Direct Investment Fund which markets the shot abroad. MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* A new COVID-19 "antibody map" is helping researchers identify antibodies that will be able to neutralize the coronavirus even after it mutates. * Pregnant women who get an mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 pass high levels of protective antibodies to their babies, new research shows.

ECONOMIC IMPACT * Asian shares nudged higher on Monday as risk sentiment turned for the better, though a surge in oil prices to three-year highs could inflame inflation fears and aggravate the recent hawkish turn by some major central banks.

* Sales of new U.S. single-family homes increased for a second straight month in August, but demand for housing has probably peaked after a COVID-19 pandemic-fueled buying frenzy. * Malaysia is targeting economic growth of 4.5% to 5.5% per annum between 2021 and 2025 as it recovers from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.