How Berlin’s hotels are fighting to survive in the COVID lockdown

With Europe still grappling with Covid-19, Talking Europe speaks to Christa Schweng, President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC).

At least one officer was injured and 11 demonstrators were arrested in an unofficial rally in Munich as police described the behavior of protesters as "aggressive."

The pandemic claimed more than 600,000 lives in Brazil. But an effective vaccination campaign has turned the tide. While the pandemic may not be causing the havoc it did in the first half of 2021, it remains a major challenge.

The head of the World Health Organization says rich countries are merely prolonging the pandemic by fueling vaccine inequality. "No country can boost its way out of the pandemic," he says.

Instead, mRNA vaccines use mRNA created in a laboratory to teach our cells how to make a protein—or even just a piece of a protein—that triggers an immune response inside our bodies. That immune response, which produces antibodies, is what protects us from getting infected if the real virus enters our bodies.

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Friday.⁣⁣

The person who died was between the ages of 60 and 79, according to the Robert Koch Institute health body. Germany has also registered a spike in omicron infections in recent days.

Antiviral drugs like Paxlovid could slash hospitalizations and deaths from coronavirus. Treatment would bring us a step closer to the end of the pandemic.

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Saturday.⁣

Berlin Zoo bids farewell to Katjuscha the polar bear, who has died at the ripe old age of 37. The elderly bear had been suffering from a heart condition for some time.

Three BTS members — Suga, RM and Jin — have tested positive for COVID-19. The superstar group had recently returned to South Korea from the United States where they held their first in-person concerts since the pandemic.

Pfizer's anti-COVID treatment has already received emergency approval in the US. Now, Germany is hoping the drug will reduce the burden on intensive care units.