Steffen Seibert
Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett speaks to journalists after touring Ben Gurion Airport, with the Minister of Health Nitzan Horowitz and the Minister of Transportation Merav Michaeli, Tuesday, June 22, 2021.(AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
The Latest: COVID-19 cluster worsens in Australian city

By The Associated Press Jun. 23, 2021 06:01 AM EDT

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, center, with from left, Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, South Korea's President Moon Jae-in, US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the G7 summit in Cornwall, England, Saturday June 12, 2021. (Leon Neal/Pool via AP)
The Latest: WHO chief says vaccine need outstrips G7 pledges

By The Associated Press Jun. 12, 2021 10:25 AM EDT

Bangladeshi Muslims protesting against Israeli attacks on Palestinians in Gaza, gather after Eid al-Fitr prayers in front of Baitul Mukarram Mosque and wave Palestinian and Bangladeshi flags in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, May 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
The Latest: Israeli airstrike on Gaza house kills at least 7

The Associated Press May. 14, 2021 07:55 AM EDT

File - In this Thursday, March 25, 2021 file photo, German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends a session of the German parliament Bundestag ahead of an European Union summit at the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has talked about her country’s difficulties, during the coronavirus pandemic. In a lengthy television interview late Sunday she called for greater flexibility to tackle the latest surge in cases. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, file)
Merkel faults German 'perfectionism' for current virus woes

By Frank Jordans Mar. 29, 2021 02:33 AM EDT

Jens Spahn, Federal Minister of Health, left, and Lothar Wieler, President of the Robert Koch Institute, arrive for the press conference on the Corona situation before Easter in Berlin, Germany, Friday, March 26, 2021. (Kay Nietfeld/dpa via AP)
Officials urge vigilance as Germany sees 3rd infection wave

By David Rising Mar. 26, 2021 09:01 AM EDT

Teacher Michael G. Gromotka speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Berlin, Germany, Friday, March 19, 2021. Amid pressure to relax the lockdown, Germany agreed last month to gradually begin reopening schools. Then coronavirus cases started climbing again, prompting authorities in some regions to put those plans on hold even as others press on and insist that in-class teaching needs to be the norm. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
Teachers lament 'chaotic' virus rules in German schools

By Frank Jordans Mar. 22, 2021 03:29 AM EDT

Susann Zierenner, left, of the German Red Cross takes a test with a test stick from resident Angelika Dankert after the opening of the municipal Corona test centre in Ludwigslust, Germany, Monday, March 15, 2021. At the centre, residents can have themselves tested for possible infection with the Corona virus using a free rapid test. (Jens Buettner/dpa via AP)
Government urges Germans to limit travel as bookings surge

By Frank Jordans Mar. 15, 2021 10:24 AM EDT

FILE - In this Friday, Feb. 19, 2021 file photo, a pharmacist prepares a syringe from a vial of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine during preparations at the Vaccine Village in Antwerp, Belgium. A shipment of a quarter million AstraZeneca vaccines destined for Australia has been barred from leaving the European Union in the first use of an export control system instituted by the bloc over a month ago. An EU official, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue, confirmed a report that first appeared in the Financial Times. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)
France backs Italy in vaccine ban as EU defends mechanism

By Samuel Petrequin Mar. 05, 2021 07:49 AM EST

Pupils attend a lesson at the 'Russee' elementary school in Kiel, northern Germany, Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. Elementary schools and kindergartens in more than than half of Germany's 16 states reopened Monday after two months of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic. The move comes despite growing signs that the decline in case numbers in Germany is flattening out again and even rising in some areas. (Gregor Fischer/dpa via AP)
Germany reopens some schools amid fears pandemic may rebound

By Frank Jordans Feb. 22, 2021 07:16 AM EST

A member of staff at the university hospital injects the Moderna vaccine against COVID-19 into a patient in Duesseldorf, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021. (Federico Gambarini/dpa via AP)
Merkel, governors to meet amid fears over virus variants

By Frank Jordans Jan. 18, 2021 11:59 AM EST

FILE - This combination of photos shows logos for social media platforms Facebook and Twitter. For the past four years, President Donald Trump has enjoyed special status not given to regular users on Twitter and Facebook even as he used his perch atop the social media pyramid to peddle misinformation and hurl abuse at his critics. Could his loose leash on the platforms come to an end on Jan. 20, 2021, when his successor is inaugurated? (AP Photo/File)
Tech giants banished Trump. Now things get complicated

By Barbara Ortutay Jan. 12, 2021 04:47 PM EST

Chairs are placed on the desks in a classroom at the closed Schadow-Gymnasium high school in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. Schools are due to reopen on Jan. 8 (Christophe Gateau/dpa via AP)
Berlin backtracks on plan to reopen schools after protests

By Frank Jordans Jan. 08, 2021 01:09 PM EST

A nurse prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at the at the Champmaillot nursing home in Dijon, central France, Sunday Dec. 27, 2020. France is starting its first vaccinations Sunday against the coronavirus at a nursing home northeast of Paris, in one of France's poorest regions. (Philippe Desmazes/Pool Photo via AP)
France's go-slow coronavirus vaccination strategy backfires

By Angela Charlton Jan. 04, 2021 10:15 AM EST

People queue in line to wait for coronavirus testing while maintaining social distancing at Seoul Plaza in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 18, 2020. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
The Latest: S Koreans line up for virus tests as cases surge

The Associated Press Dec. 18, 2020 06:03 AM EST

File -- In this Tuesday, Nov.10, 2020 file photo windows are illuminated at the headquarters of the German biotechnology company "BioNTech" in Mainz, Germany. Germany prepares for the vaccination of the German population during the upcoming month. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, file)
Keep cool: Germany preps vaccine drive as COVID cases hit 1M

By Frank Jordans And Christoph Noelting Nov. 27, 2020 06:16 AM EST

People wave German flags as they take part in a demonstration against coronavirus restrictions in Leipzig, Germany, on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020. Police ordered the rally to disband after many of the estimated 20,000 participants flouted rules on mask wearing, but didn't step in to prevent people continuing the march, prompting widrespread criticism including from lawmakers and Germany's justice minister. (Sebastian Kahnert/dpa via AP)
German security officials defend inaction at virus protest

Nov. 09, 2020 12:15 PM EST

A couple hugs after being released from a detention center where protesters were detained during a mass rally following presidential election in Minsk, Belarus, Friday, Aug. 14, 2020. Nearly 7,000 people have been detained and hundreds injured in the clampdown on demonstrators protesting the official results that said Lukashenko won 80% of the vote and his top opposition challenger got only 10%. Police have broken up protests with stun grenades, tear gas, rubber bullets and severe beatings. (AP Photo)
Thousands flood Belarus capital as election protests grow

By Yuras Karmanau Aug. 14, 2020 05:23 AM EDT

Parents wait with children on the schoolyard for the start of their first day at a school in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020. Students in North Rhine-Westphalia will have to wear face masks at all times due to the coronavirus pandemic as they return to school this Wednesday. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Concerns grow over rising COVID-19 infections in Germany

By Kirsten Grieshaber Aug. 12, 2020 09:22 AM EDT

This combination of photos shows candidates in Poland's presidential election, Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, right, and Poland's President Andrzej Duda. The two candidates are heading into a razor's-edge presidential runoff election Sunday, July 12, 2020, that is seen as an important test of populism in Europe after a campaign that exacerbated a conservative-liberal divide in the country. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
A deeply divided Poland chooses a president in runoff vote

By Vanessa Gera Jul. 08, 2020 02:13 AM EDT

Students wearing face masks to protect against the new coronavirus have their documents checked by security officers before the first day of China's national college entrance examinations, known as the gaokao, in Beijing, Tuesday, July 7, 2020. China's college entrance exams began in Beijing on Tuesday after being delayed by a month due to the coronavirus outbreak. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
The Latest: Air New Zealand puts hold on new flight bookings

By The Associated Press Jul. 06, 2020 12:55 AM EDT