Europe

MILAN, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Italy reported 43 coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday compared to 75 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new reported infections fell to 15,021 from 16,632.

Italy has registered 134,195 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak began in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the ninth-highest in the world.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 5,597 on Sunday, up from 5,428 a day earlier.

STOCKHOLM, Dec 5 (Reuters) - A fire on a cargo ship carrying timber off Gothenburg on Sweden's west coast was still not under control on Sunday after more than 24 hours, authorities said.

The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) said it had sent two helicopters, while several other authorities and organisations, including the Coast Guard, were also fighting the fire.

The ship's cargo, timber, had caught fire on Saturday, and while the ship itself was not burning, the fire was difficult to extinguish, MSB said in a statement.

BRUSSELS, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Police fired teargas and used water cannons on Sunday to disperse protesters pelting officers with cobblestones and fireworks as a demonstration in Brussels over government-imposed COVID-19 restrictions turned violent.

A few thousand protesters marched peacefully through the centre of the Belgian capital to the neighbourhood which hosts the headquarters of European Union institutions, where the demonstration reached its end point.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s pro-business Free Democrats on Sunday approved a deal to form a new government with two center-left parties, moving Chancellor-designate Olaf Scholz a step closer to taking office as the country’s new leader this week.

The Free Democrats reached an agreement last month to form a coalition with Scholz’s Social Democrats and the environmentalist Greens, effectively crossing the aisle to ally with the two parties.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Belarus on Sunday protested what it said was a Ukrainian helicopter’s intrusion into its airspace amid rising tensions between the two neighbors, a claim that Ukraine immediately rejected.

The Belarusian Defense Ministry said it summoned a Ukrainian military attache to lodge a formal protest over a Ukrainian military helicopter that it said flew 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) Saturday into the territory of Belarus.

05 Dec 2021; MEMO: The reluctance of the United States to lift all sanctions on Iran is the main challenge to reviving the 2015 nuclear pact, a senior Iranian foreign ministry official was cited as saying by Iranian media on Sunday, Reuters reported.

Indirect talks between Washington and Tehran on reinstating their nuclear pact broke off on Friday, with both sides saying they would resume the following week, as Western officials voiced dismay at sweeping demands by the Islamic Republic.

05 Dec 2021; MEMO: Pope Francis told journalists and officials on Saturday that the world is seeing a scaling back of democracy, Anadolu Agency reported.

"We cannot avoid noting with concern how today, and not only in Europe, we are witnessing a retreat from democracy," said Francis at his welcoming ceremony at the Greek Presidential mansion.

The pontiff said the migration issue is a "horrendous modern Odyssey," aiming to draw attention to the refugee crisis in Europe.

05 Dec 2021; MEMO: The Council of Europe has announced that it will launch disciplinary action against Turkey over its continued detention of businessman Osman Kavala.

In a statement released yesterday, the Council said that "Turkey is refusing to abide by the court's final judgment in this case" and that the country will now be subject to "infringement proceedings" and disciplinary action.

MOSCOW (AP) — Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin will speak in a video call Tuesday, the White House and Kremlin said, as tensions between the United States and Russia escalate over a Russian troop buildup on the Ukrainian border that’s seen as a sign of a potential invasion.

Biden will press U.S. concerns about Russian military activities on the border and “reaffirm the United States’ support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Saturday, confirming the planned call after first word came from Moscow.

PARIOS, December 4. /TASS/: The launch of a Soyuz-ST-B carrier rocket with Galileo satellites from the Kourou space center in French Guiana was delayed again on Saturday due to adverse weather conditions, according to the live broadcast by launch operator Arianespace.

"No launch attempt today," reads a message that appeared during the broadcast.

Russian state-run space corporation Roscosmos said in its Telegram channel that another launch attempt is scheduled for 03:19 Moscow time on December 5.