Health 'Basically In A New Pandemic,' Says Merkel, As Germany Extends Lockdown The German chancellor announced an intensified coronavirus lockdown going into Easter, warning that new mutations raised the specter of a potentially deadly "third wave" of COVID-19. Scott Neuman
Health EU Officials Propose Digital Travel Certificates — Vaccination Not Required Certificates with QR codes would serve as proof that a person has either been vaccinated against COVID-19, received a negative test result or recovered from the disease. Laurel Wamsley
Business Boeing's 737 Max Cleared To Return To European Skies, Regulator Says The European Union Aviation Safety Agency announced a modified version of the 737 Max will be allowed to fly once again. The Max jetliner was grounded worldwide after two deadly crashes. Brakkton Booker
Business U.K. And EU Agree To Last-Minute Brexit Trade Deal The agreement comes a week before the Brexit transition period ends. The pact averts a worst-case divorce that would have hurt the EU economy but damaged the British economy even more. Frank Langfitt
Health Travel From The U.K. Shut Down As Nations Assess Threat Of New Coronavirus Strain Several European nations, including Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany and Italy announced travel restrictions from the U.K. where officials say a new variant of the coronavirus is rapidly spreading. Brakkton Booker
Politics Biden Is Good News For Europe, But China Challenges Await Even as European Union leaders welcome more cordial U.S. relations, the trans-Atlantic partnership faces the tough test of handling China's expansion. Frank Langfitt
Business EU Leaders Meet In Hopes Of Closing Divisions Over COVID-19 Relief Package In their first face-to-face since the pandemic exploded, European Union leaders hope to hammer out a 1.85 trillion euro ($2.1 trillion) EU budget and COVID-19 recovery plan. Scott Neuman
Health EU To Shut Borders As France, Germany Tighten Restrictions To Control Coronavirus The European Union's extraordinary measure would reverse an earlier reluctance by member states and follow suit with the U.S., which has banned non-citizens from EU countries. Scott Neuman
Health Coronavirus: Chaos Follows Trump's European Travel Ban; EU Says It Wasn't Warned "The Coronavirus is a global crisis and requires cooperation," EU leaders say. Trump also left many people confused about the extent of new restrictions on travel from Europe. Bill Chappell
World Migrants Again Try To Leave Turkey For Europe, But This Time The Gate Is Closed Four million Syrian refugees are living in Turkey, and another million displaced Syrians are trapped between Russian-backed Syrian forces and the Turkish border. Turkey says to head for Europe. Joanna Kakissis
