The European Commission announced on Tuesday (19 January) its plan to accelerate the roll-out of vaccination across the EU. The Commission wants to see at least 80 percent of health and social care professionals and 80 percent of people over 80 years old vaccinated by March. But member states should also have vaccinated at least 70 percent of the adult …

Chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of the federal states (Länder) after a crucial meeting on Tuesday agreed on new corona pandemic containment measures in Germany. Among them are a lockdown extension and new, stricter rules on the types of masks that must be worn in certain public places. An overview of the new measures. — Extension of the lockdown …

Armin Laschet, the premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, has been elected chairman of Germany’s governing Christian Democrats (CDU). Laschet (59) defeated Friedrich Merz by 521 votes to 466 in a run-off vote at an online-only party conference on Saturday. A third candidate, Norbert Röttgen was eliminated in a first round of voting. Laschet’s victory puts him in a strong position to …