Italian politics and Dutch protests add to Europe's Covid woes

Spain reports record number of new cases, France holds off on lockdown, and Germany discusses flights cut

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Efforts to curb the Covid pandemic in Europe are being complicated by political upheaval in Italy, lockdown protests in the Netherlands, a continuing surge in cases in Spain, and rows about the delivery and export of vaccines as fears rise over new variants of the virus.

Italy's attempts to emerge from the pandemic suffered a setback after the country was plunged into political crisis after the resignation of the prime minister, Giuseppe Conte.