Main news of December 4

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* At least 8,768 people have died of swine flu globally, the World Health Organization reported

* At least 47 people died on Friday when a ferry sank in a river in northeast Bangladesh's Kishoreganj district, local officials reported

* Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko on Friday gave a guarantee that his country would ensure the uninterrupted transit of Russian natural gas to Europe this winter

* NATO members are ready to send 7,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said

* At least 30 people have died in a shooting and suicide blast in a mosque in the north Pakistani city of Rawalpindi, the interior minister told national media

* At least 47 people died on Friday when a ferry sank in a river in northeast Bangladesh's Kishoreganj district, local officials reported

* Japanese carmaker Nissan Motor Corp. is recalling about 310,000 cars due to defects in the emergency brake system and fuel gauges, the Kyodo news agency reported

RUSSIA

* Russia and NATO have formed a working group on missile defense issues and the first meeting will be held in January, Russia's envoy to the military alliance, Dmitry Rogozin, said

* Russia's foreign minister called on Friday military cooperation with NATO "mutually beneficial"

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday they would continue arms reduction cooperation after the expiry of the START I treaty, the Kremlin said

* Actor Vyacheslav Tikhonov, star of the legendary Soviet-era Seventeen Moments of Spring spy serial, died on Friday in Moscow at the age of 81

* A popular Russian tabloid's website came under the attack of hackers, who destroyed the site's entire contents, including the editorial interface and all of the daily's archives, the editor-in-chief said