TOP STORIES

· Germany will offer vaccines to children aged 12 and over after they complete a medical consultation. Health Minister Jens Spahn said the country has "enough vaccines for all age groups." The European Medicines Agency has cleared the Pfizer and Moderna jabs for 12 to 15-year-olds. 

· Russia reported 22,010 new cases of COVID-19 and 788 deaths in the past 24 hours. That's slightly down on the previous day, but is still significant. 

· The number of foreign tourists to Spain jumped to 2.2 million in June, nearly 10 times higher than the number of arrivals a year ago amid strict travel restrictions. Tourists spent $2.87 billion in the month. Despite the improvement, it's still 75 percent lower than in June 2019, when 8.8 million visited Spain.  

· French pharmaceutical company Sanofi plans to buy U.S. firm Translate Bio for $3.2 billion in an attempt to catch up with other COVID-19 vaccine producers. The French firm has lagged AstraZeneca and Pfizer, which both employed mRNA technology, which Translate Bio is developing, but Sanofi has not been able to. 

· French overseas department Guadeloupe will go into a three-week lockdown, after another French Caribbean territory Martinique was locked down last week. Reunion Island has also imposed curbs, while 30 mainland departments have reintroduced outdoors mask mandates. 

· The Italian Olympic Committee thanked the decision to exempt Olympic athletes from strict COVID-19 restrictions for the country's impressive medal haul in Tokyo. With five days of competition left, Italy has already won more than in the previous two Games. 

· The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned against travel to Greece, Ireland and other global destinations because of a rising number of COVID-19 cases.

· The UK government has launched a study into the best gap between vaccine doses for pregnant women. Some 52,000 pregnant women in England have been vaccinated, without any cause for concern reported, according to the Department of Health and Social Care.

AROUND EUROPE 

Nicole Johnston London 

The UK government has canceled plans to create an "amber watchlist" of countries at risk of moving to the "red" list in the country's travel traffic light system. The travel industry was concerned destinations such as Spain and Greece would be added to the list and millions of summer holiday plans would be thrown into chaos. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he wants a "simple and balanced approach."

Johnson also said the UK must be protected from the introduction of new variants. The next review of the travel list is this week. Meanwhile, clinical trials are about to start to look at the best vaccination schedule to protect pregnant women against COVID-19.

Toni Waterman in Brussels

Belgium is expected to receive its first allocation of money from the EU's COVID-19 recovery fund today. It will be the pre-financing portion, equivalent to 13 percent of the total amount it is due to receive. For Belgium, that comes to just over $900 million. Luxembourg and Portugal are also expected to receive their first installments. 

The money comes as the Delta variant is sweeping across the bloc, threatening to derail an economic recovery. New infections have climbed to an average of 1,557 a day in Belgium, while hospital admissions are up by a third in the past week.

Penelope Liersch in Budapest 

Several Slovakian hospitals will start vaccinating people today without prior registration. It comes as a leading epidemiologist recommended people in the country will need a third booster dose, but said it was too early to begin administering them as vaccine protection lasts between nine and 12 months. 

A vaccine lottery in Slovakia has also begun as an incentive to encourage people to have the jab.

People can now register for the lottery and can win cash prizes between $1,200 and $120,000 for getting vaccinated. As of Monday afternoon, at least 160,000 people had registered online to enter the draw.

Ross Cullen in Paris

Guadeloupe has reimposed a three-week lockdown. The French Caribbean territory follows another French island in the region, Martinique, in reintroducing tight controls due to the new wave of coronavirus cases. 

More than 680 people were admitted for COVID-19 hospital treatment across France in the past 24 hours, the highest figure since mid-May. President Emmanuel Macron has taken to social media to try to convince young people to get vaccinated. 

He posted video responses on Instagram to address fake news and false stories surrounding vaccines. Macron says 85 percent of the people currently being treated in intensive care in France are unvaccinated.

FROM OUR GLOBAL COLLEAGUES

CGTN Europe: How Spain's vaccination rate has overtaken the U.S. 

CGTN China: Nanjing COVID-19 outbreak linked to Delta variant 

CGTN America: Colombia begins lifting COVID-19 restrictions

CGTN Africa: World Bank to finance Ghana's COVID-19 vaccine rollout

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