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  1. EU leaders meet and German infections rise: Latest across Europe

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel looks on at the country"s parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, March 25, 2021.
    Image caption: Chancellor Angela Merkel told the Bundestag on Thursday that Germany and the EU were in effect in a "new pandemic"

    EU leaders will take the AstraZeneca row centre stage in a virtual summit after officials in Brussels proposed stricter export controls for countries with higher vaccination rates than the EU, such as the UK and US. Vaccination rates are sluggish in much of the EU and several countries, in particular Austria, want a new distribution system.

    EU leaders will also discuss a planned digital green certificate to allow summer travel across borders. Estonia is planning to have a digital vaccine certificate up and running from next month and Denmark is working on a corona passport.

    There’s been another big rise in German infections in the past 24 hours, with health officials announcing 22,657 cases. Vaccination centres are managing 268,000 inoculations a day but that’s well below capacity. Spain says only half of its population aged over 80 has so far been vaccinated. France starts vaccinating over 70s from Saturday.

    Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin has proposed a new law to limit movement in the capital Helsinki to tackle an increase in Covid cases. The bill could go before MPs today and would stop people visiting each other’s homes in Turku as well as the capital.

    France is to crack down on gatherings of more than six people outdoors by imposing fines. The rule does not apply to authorised groups such as funerals or professional meetings. Sixteen areas of France are already under lockdown and three more areas including the Rhône are expected to be added to that list.

    A Dutch church in the town of Urk says it’s been getting death threats because it has gone back to holding services for hundreds of people. Its spokesman Hessel Snoek insists infections in Urk are low and last Sunday the church was almost full. The government advice is a maximum of 30.

  2. Video content

    Video caption: Coronavirus: 'Transparency' will ease EU tensions with UK, says Breton

    EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton tells the BBC that there is no attempt to penalise the UK.

  3. 'Transparency' will ease EU tensions with UK - Breton

    Video content

    Video caption: Coronavirus: 'Transparency' will ease EU tensions with UK, says Breton

    EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton tells the BBC that there is no attempt to penalise the UK.

  4. Video content

    Video caption: Nice catch: Fisherman rescues boy stranded on ice

    A fisherman in Ukraine reels in a boy who was stranded on a block of ice in a river.

  5. Video content

    Video caption: Up close drone footage of Icelandic volcano eruption

    A drone captures spectacular images as lava spews from the Fagradalsfjall volcano.

  6. How we linked this Nazi to a possible MI6 spy ring

    Stanislaw “Stan” Chrzanowski - artwork

    A BBC News investigation has found that an alleged Nazi war criminal - who settled in the UK - could have worked for British intelligence during the Cold War.

    Jewish leaders are calling for an inquiry into whether he, and others like him, were protected from prosecution because they spied for Britain.

    Read the full story,