Vaccines effective against variants but overseas travel still not safe: WHO

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.

The UN health body has given the new variant a name and said it is a variant of concern. The WHO urged against hasty travel curbs while it gathers more data.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Tuesday. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Tuesday.

The vaccine-maker's CEO says existing COVID-19 vaccines are unlikely to be as effective against omicron. Meanwhile, Japan detected its first case of the variant. Follow DW for the latest.

For years, Vietnamese children and teenagers have been disappearing in Germany. Those responsible are unscrupulous human traffickers whose networks span continents. The young Vietnamese are smuggled into Germany via Russia and Eastern Europe. Many end up in the world of crime, working as slaves for the Vietnamese mafia. This film tells their story. One high-ranking investigator describes the phenomenon as "modern slavery". This is how many children and young people are brought from Vietnam to Germany: They are crammed into vans, loaded into refrigerated trucks, on the road for months, held along the way in abandoned warehouses or apartments. They are beaten, raped, exploited, they fear for their lives. They are lured by the prospect of a better life, as promised to their families by the criminals.

Activists who helped migrants reach Greece in 2018 are on trial on the island of Lesbos. The accusations against them include spying and human trafficking. DW caught up with some of those facing the most serious charges.

Blaming South Africa for the new COVID-19 variant is wrong. A global crisis needs a global response, says DW's Sertan Sanderson. Instead of finger-pointing and isolation, there should be more solidarity.

Human Rights Watch says that more than 100 former Afghan security personnel have disappeared or been killed by the Taliban since they came to power in August. The actual number could be much higher than that.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Thursday⁣ ⁣

The pharma giant and its German partner BioNTech announced preliminary lab results showing a 25-fold increase in protection. Germany has ordered millions of booster doses as a new government takes over in Berlin.

"Dago Nivel Intelecto" was active in the movement to contest the regime of José Eduardo dos Santos in Angola. Now, he dedicates his time to community projects and the street library he set up in one of the busiest areas of Luanda.

Germany's new top diplomat emphasizes a "values-guided" foreign policy. But what inspired those values, and can the Green co-leader back them up in one of the most high-profile offices?