Europe

ROME (Reuters) - The Italian head of state wants both the cabinet and parliament to approve a European Union recovery plan before any eventual political showdown between the ruling coalition parties, a political source said on Monday.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte faces a confrontation with his coalition partner and former premier Matteo Renzi that could topple his government even as it struggles with COVID-19, and President Sergio Mattarella’s demand will likely prolong the standoff.

LONDON (Reuters) - Brent crude oil prices fell as much as $1 per barrel on Monday, hit by renewed concerns about global fuel demand amid tough coronavirus lockdowns across the globe, as well as a stronger U.S. dollar.

Brent was down 80 cents, or 1.4%, at $55.19 a barrel at 1010 GMT, after falling $1 to a session low of $54.99 earlier.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) slipped 49 cents, or almost 1%, to $51.75 a barrel.

BERLIN (Reuters) - The storming of the U.S. Capitol will herald an era of tougher social media regulation, European Union Commissioner Thierry Breton said, comparing the violence with the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that led to a global crackdown on terrorism.

“Just as 9/11 marked a paradigm shift for global security, 20 years later we are witnessing a before-and-after in the role of digital platforms in our democracy,” the Commissioner for the Internal Market wrote in a column for Politico.

MOSCOW, January 10. /TASS/: Coronavirus spread indicator in Russia on Sunday remained at the mark of 0.97. In Moscow this value decreased from 1.12 to 1.09, according to TASS’ calculations based on the data from the anti-coronavirus crisis center.

Thus, nationwide the coefficient in general has been below one since December 28, for two straight weeks. This may indicate the stabilization of the epidemic situation.

MOSCOW, January 9. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed condolences to President of Indonesia Joko Widodo due to the fact of the passenger airplane crash in the Java Sea. The telegram has been posted on the Kremlin’s website on Saturday.

"Please accept sincere condolences in view of the death of passengers and crewmembers of the airplane crashed near the Java coast. Please convey words of compassion and support to the nearest and dearest of the victims," the telegram says.

GENEVA, January 9. /TASS/: Over 799,000 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection have been recorded globally in the past day, pushing a total number of infections to more than 87.58 million, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its daily bulletin on Saturday.

According to the WHO updates, the coronavirus-related death toll increased by more than 15,400 to over 1.9 mln.

KALININGRAD, January 9. /TASS/: A Baltic Fleet detachment consisting of Stoikiy corvette, Kola intermediate sea tanker and Yakov Grebelskiy sea tug made a business call at the Syrian port of Tartus, the Fleet’s press service says.

"Crews of the Baltic Fleet detachment will conduct scheduled inspections of ships and vessels and replenish fuel, water and food stocks during the business call at Tartus. The rest of crews after the long-term voyage will be organized in the port," the press service says.

MOSCOW, January 10. /TASS/: The number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in Russia over the past 24 hours has increased by 22,851, bringing the total to 3,401,954, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told journalists on Sunday.

For the first time since November 18 the number of new detected cases is below 23,000. According to the crisis center, the relative growth of new weekly cases has not surpassed 0.7% for two days.

The lowest daily growth rates were registered in the Republic of Tuva (0.1%), the Jewish Autonomous Region (0.3%).

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain has now given around 2 million people a COVID-19 vaccination, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Sunday ahead of a ramp-up in the roll-out of the shots on Monday.

“Over the last week we’ve vaccinated more people than in the entirety of December, so we’re accelerating the roll-out,” he told BBC TV.

Asked how many people had been vaccinated, Hancock said: “It’s around the 2 million mark, but we’re going to publish the exact figures tomorrow and then henceforth on a daily basis.”

BERLIN (Reuters) - Security has been stepped up at Germany’s Bundestag (lower house of parliament) after the storming of the Capitol in Washington by rioters last week, Bundestag President Wolfgang Schaeuble has told lawmakers, Bild am Sonntag weekly reported.

“Berlin state police have arranged for a reinforcement of their forces around the Reichstag building,” it quoted Schaueble as saying in a letter to lawmakers.