German Health Minister Jens Spahn has urged states to reopen vaccination centers as pressure grows to administer booster shots. Meanwhile, the world has passed five milion COVID deaths. DW has the latest.

Since the Taliban returned to power in August, life in Afghanistan has become more and more difficult. The country, which was already beset by an economic crisis, is now confronted with a worsening humanitarian catastrophe. Billions of dollars in aid money have dried up, funding for hospitals is non-existent and nearly half the population faces acute hunger. Our team on the ground reports.

Taipei said it aims to build a "resilient defense" to cope with rising military threats made by China. The threats reportedly include overflights of Taiwanese airspace and cyber warfare.

Although the virtual meeting between the US and Chinese leaders did not lead to any big breakthroughs, both sides expressed willingness to cooperate on "guardrails" to prevent competition from turning into catastrophe.

Three-time FIFA World Cup winner Pele on Thursday stated he is feeling "better" and quipped that he can`t wait to get back to playing the beautiful game. Considered by many to be the greatest footballer of all time, Pele has been in poor health in recent years and has had quite a few stints in the hospital.

Health Minister Jens Spahn has stressed there's an alternative to Germany's homegrown BioNTech-Pfizer jab. He had come under fire from medical groups for limiting supplies in order to use up the country's Moderna stock.

Opponents of the certificate, which restricts entry to events and restaurants to mostly vaccinated people, forced Sunday's referendum. Most voters, instead, have backed the government's approach.

Russia is one of the countries with the lowest vaccination rates and highest Covid-19 death rates in the world. With just over 30 percent of the population vaccinated, the Russian authorities' vaccination campaign has been deemed a fiasco. And yet when Vladimir Putin announced the launch of the Sputnik V vaccine in summer 2020, it was supposed to "save humanity from Covid". More than a year later, the jab has still not arrived on the European market and the majority of Russians do not trust it.

The leader of the UK's opposition Labour party said on Sunday (December 12) that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had broken the public's trust over COVID-19 regulations, making him "unfit for public office." Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, Keir Starmer said Johnson posed a risk to public health following reports that parties were held at Downing Street during a 2020 Christmas lockdown when such festivities were banned.

A quarter of couples experience infertility despite regular sex, according to the French national research institute INSERM. The reasons include exposure to pollutants, endocrine disruptors, trying for a child later on in life, smoking and obesity. But in more than 15 percent of cases, the cause of the infertility remains unconfirmed. France's health minister has decided to take action by putting together a working group to better understand the issue and suggest changes by the end of the year. FRANCE 24's Eléonore Vanel and Camille Nedelec report.

The war-torn country's health system has been facing a severe crisis since the Taliban takeover, which resulted in the suspension of much-needed international aid.

Germany is Europe's economic powerhouse, with fantastic medical facilities and highly qualified professionals. But the fourth wave of the pandemic is threatening to bring the health care sector to its knees.