TOP STORIES

• India has recorded the world's highest ever daily COVID-19 death toll. In the latest 24-hour period, 4,529 deaths have been recorded. 

• The number of cases of the Indian variant detected in the UK has risen to 2,967. London Mayor Sadiq Khan says he is asking the government to roll out the coronavirus vaccine more quickly for those aged under 36 in areas where there is concern about the variant. The country's health secretary has also announced surge testing in certain areas. 

• EU ambassadors have backed plans to allow UK travelers to travel into the bloc if they have received two doses of a coronavirus vaccine, said a spokeswoman for the Portuguese presidency of the EU Council. 

• Hotels and the sports, leisure, catering and culture sectors are all reopening in Austria under some restrictions. 

• France has begun its second stage of reopening. Bars and restaurants will be serving outdoors at 50 percent capacity and places of culture and shops are all back in business. Cinemas and theaters can reopen to 35 percent capacity in addition to museums. 

• Marc Van Ranst, one of Belgium's top COVID-19 experts, has been taken to safety with his family as police hunt a heavily armed man who's threatened him in the past. The man on the run is a professional soldier known to be a far-right extremist. It is said that he is armed with a rocket launcher, a machine gun and a pistol. 

• More than half a million UK Travel and Tourism jobs could be lost if significant international travel remains off limits this summer, says the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). The organization has warned against a repeat of last year's summer of limited travel and changing restrictions. 

• North Macedonia President Stevo Pendarovski has received his first shot of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine at a center in Kumanovo. The Balkan country has so far logged over 154,000 confirmed infections and more than 5,200 deaths. 

• A member of the group that performs Iceland's entry in the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest has tested positive for coronavirus. Daoi og Gagnamagnio will still be in the competition but will not be in today's rehearsal or Thursday's live semi-final. 

AROUND EUROPE 

Penelope Liersch in Budapest 

From today, Hungarians who have been vaccinated with China's Sinopharm jab can enter Austria after the vaccine was given emergency authorization by the World Health Organization. Austrian media previously reported neither Sinopharm nor Russia's Sputnik V vaccine would be accepted as they're yet to be authorized by the European Medicines Agency. Those vaccinated with Sputnik will need to show negative tests to enter. 

The number of people requiring hospital care for COVID-19 in Hungary has dropped to below 2000. As of Wednesday, 1,908 people were hospitalized, a decrease of nearly 300 compared with the day before. The number of patients requiring ventilation has also dropped but new infections have risen by nearly 250 on yesterday's figure, which was the lowest since September last year. This may indicate a lag in data reporting around the weekend. 

Ross Cullen in Paris

The next stage of the French government's plan to reopen the economy and loosen restrictions comes into effect from today. 

Bars, cafes, and restaurants can reopen their outside areas at 50 percent of normal capacity. Cinemas, museums, galleries, theaters and non-essential shops can also reopen, albeit with a limit on total capacity based on the floor size of the venue. France's culture and hospitality sectors have been closed for more than six months since the second lockdown in October 2020. 

The nationwide curfew has been relaxed from today to start at 9 p.m.. However, schools remain closed in French Guiana as a lockdown is still in place there until the end of the month.

Toni Waterman in Brussels 

A manhunt is under way for a heavily armed soldier who has made threats against Belgium's top virologist, Marc Van Ranst. 

The suspect is on the country's terror list for sympathizing with the extreme right. Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne said "indications have emerged that the man poses an acute threat" and officials fear he could carry out an attack. 

Van Ranst, who has been one of the faces of Belgium's COVID-19 fight, has been moved to a secure location along with his family until the suspect is apprehended. He is an outspoken critic of the far-right and has been under police protection since last summer after receiving threats from the Flemish hard right and anti-vaxxers (those who oppose vaccinations). According to the Belgian army, roughly 30 soldiers suspected of being extreme-right sympathizers are under surveillance.

Andrew Wilson in the UK

Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces tough questions today over the speed of the government's reaction to travel from India.

There is also criticism about the lack of clarity over the UK traffic light system for travel, with different ministers offering contradictory interpretations.

India has been on the red list since April 23, but there are media reports that 110 flights have arrived from India since then, with stories of British holidaymakers standing side-by-side with arrivals from those flights.

Johnson is also likely to face accusations from the opposition Labour Party in Parliament today that Downing Street delayed putting India on the red list because he had a trade trip in his diary.

FROM OUR GLOBAL COLLEAGUES

CGTN Europe: Trash or Treasure: Where does our waste go?  

CGTN China: China continues to support India in pandemic fight

CGTN America: U.S. children and the COVID-19 vaccine 

CGTN Africa: Ghana to issue enhanced COVID-19 vaccination cards in counterfeit crackdown 

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CGTN Europe has been providing in-depth coverage of the novel coronavirus story as it has unfolded.