EU

It says available evidence emerging from Israel and the UK shows a significant increase in protection against infection and severe disease following a booster dose in all age groups in the short term.

The CDC elevated its recommendation to 'Level Four: Very High' for Germany and Denmark, telling Americans they should avoid travel there, while the State Department issued 'Do Not Travel' advisories for both.

The latest unrest began on Friday night in Rotterdam, where police opened fire on a crowd that had swelled to hundreds during a protest that the city's mayor said had turned into 'an orgy of violence'.

The Alpine nation plans to make Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory from Feb 1 next year, while the lockdown will start from Monday and will be evaluated after 10 days, according to the chancellor.

Germany registered yet another record rate of cases over the past week on Monday as more indoor gatherings due to cold weather and flatlining vaccination campaigns turn Europe once more into the pandemic epicentre.

On Monday Austria became the first EU country to lockdown the unvaccinated in a bid to halt spiralling virus infection rates of around 12,000 per day in the country of 8.9 million.

The former Facebook engineer leaked a trove of internal documents that have sparked weeks of criticism of the social media giant and a major push worldwide to get tough on big tech.

The French agricultural ministry said separately that 130 outbreaks of bird flu in wild fowl and farm poultry have been discovered since August in Europe.

Australia in September cancelled a deal with France's Naval Group, opting instead to build at least 12 nuclear-powered submarines after striking a deal with the US and Britain.

Nigeria, Japan and Pakistan are among the 24 new signatories to the Global Methane Pledge, which was first announced by the US and EU in September with the aim of galvanising rapid climate action before the start of the Scotland summit on Oct 31.

Australia's Minister for Trade Dan Tehan however declines to comment on the role the submarine deal had played in delaying negotiations.

Hundreds protested on Tuesday, both in the capital and in the city of Herat, where two people at the demonstration site were shot dead.