EU summit wants to warn against the lifting of corona restrictions

Given the spread of the mutated corona virus, the EU heads of state and government want to warn
against the lifting of restrictions on public life at their video summit this Thursday. The situation is
still "serious", according to the latest draft of the summit declaration. After that, the politicians want
to continue to speak out in favor of travel restrictions.

Austria's Chancellor is promoting Corona vaccination pass

Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz advocates an EU-wide corona vaccination certificate based on
the Israeli model. This certificate should ideally be available digitally on the mobile phone, said Kurz
"Bild Live". The vaccination certificate should, among other things, enable the return to freedom of
travel in Europe. Culture, sport and gastronomy can then also be guaranteed. Kurz wants to present
his proposal at the EU summit. He justified the gradual relaxation in Austria with the fact that a
quarter of the population was tested weekly. In addition, the lockdown was no longer accepted.

Study in Israel confirms high effectiveness of BioNTech vaccine

A comprehensive study in Israel on the corona vaccine by the German manufacturer BioNTech and
its US partner Pfizer has confirmed the very high effectiveness of the agent. For the study published
by the US journal "New England Journal of Medicine", the data from 1.2 million people were
evaluated. According to this, the vaccine protects 94 percent against symptoms of the disease. The
study took place between December 20 and February 1 - a period in which the particularly
contagious British variant of the virus was already spreading in Israel.

Berlin forbids Salafist association

In Berlin and Brandenburg the police raided a radical Islamic association. The Salafist group called
"Jamaatu Berlin" has been banned, the authorities in the capital announced. According to a report
by the Berlin newspaper Tagesspiegel, the Islamists glorified the struggle of the IS terrorist militia
and called for the killing of Jews. According to information from the newspaper, the members of the
group know each other from a mosque that has now been closed and which also frequented Anis
Amri, who carried out the attack on Breitscheidplatz in Berlin in 2016.

Designated CIA chief Burns considers China to be very tough opponents

The designated director of the CIA's foreign intelligence service, William Burns, sees the US's future
dealings with China as a special task. Outflanking the People's Republic will be "critical to our
national security in the coming decades," Burns said at the Senate hearing. He also wanted to keep
the CIA free from political influence. Politics must stop where the secret service begins. The
appointment of the 64-year-old by the Congress Chamber is considered certain. The career diplomat
was Deputy Secretary of State under former US President Barack Obama.
Australia adopts law to regulate the online media market

The Australian Parliament has passed a law that obliges Internet platforms to pay for the publication
of traditional media content. The new regulation had previously led to a violent dispute between the
Australian government and the social network Facebook. The US company blocked journalistic
content on its Australian pages in protest. After negotiations with the government in Canberra, the
lock was lifted.

Gladbach loses against Manchester City

Borussia Mönchengladbach is facing the end of the football Champions League. The Bundesliga club
lost the round of 16 first leg against favorites Manchester City in Budapest with 0-2. This means that
the chance of reaching the next round in the second leg on March 16 has decreased considerably.
Due to the entry restrictions for citizens from Great Britain in Germany, the game was played in the
Hungarian capital.