TOP HEADLINES

· Fully vaccinated tourists from England and Scotland can now travel to France without having to quarantine, under the UK's updated "traffic light" system. The system ranks countries as either green, amber or red – and France has now been moved to the amber list.

· Germany, Slovenia, Latvia, Slovakia, Austria, Romania and Norway have also been added to the UK's green list, meaning that anyone, regardless of vaccination status, can now visit the countries without quarantining when they return. 

· Teenagers as young as 16 years old can now get vaccinated in the UK, but only vulnerable young people between 12 and 15 can do the same. By contrast, both the U.S. and the European Union's medicines regulators have approved jabs for younger teenagers.

· The Rugby League World Cup has been postponed until 2022 after both Australia and New Zealand withdrew from the tournament. The event was originally supposed to take place in England between October 23 and November 27, but the teams cited concerns about the pandemic and the wellbeing of their players before withdrawing.

· The German airline Lufthansa announced that it halved its losses between April and June compared to the same time last year because of easing travel restrictions and an increase in demand for travel. In the second quarter, Europe's largest airline group suffered an $890 million net loss, down from $1.7 billion year-on-year. 

· Elderly and vulnerable people may have to take a third shot in France, according to French President Emmanuel Macron. Posted on his Instagram account, Macron added that the country will prepare to roll out the booster jabs from September onward.

· However, the World Health Organization has called for a halt to administering booster jabs until the end of September to close the widening gap between vaccines administered in richer countries compared to poorer nations.

· More than 200 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide since December 2019, according to counts from both Reuters and AFP. However, the actual number is expected to be much higher since many cases go unreported. Infection rates are also currently rising in a third of the world's nations. 

· Cases and deaths in Russia continue to rise as the country reported 23,120 new cases and 794 deaths on Thursday. Since the pandemic began, 6,379,904 cases have been reported in the country and 162,509 people have died because of the virus according to Russian government task force. However, another conflicting figure from the federal statistics agency claims around 290,000 people died between April 2020 and May 2021.

AROUND EUROPE 

Toni Waterman in Brussels  

Anyone in Belgium whose mental health has suffered during the pandemic will soon be able to visit a clinical psychiatrist at a subsidized rate. The federal government said it would help pay for up to 20 visits, with the patient on the hook for only $13 per session. 

Some experts in the country are particularly concerned about the mental health of young adults, who were out of the classroom and without normal social interaction for months during the height of the pandemic.  

Meanwhile, new infections continue to climb, now averaging more than 1,600 a day. Hospital admissions and deaths are also on the rise, but overall the numbers remain relatively low. 

Ryan Thompson in Frankfurt 

Top health officials from across Germany met on Wednesday to discuss their response to a potential surge in cases during the fall and winter. 

As possible new measures were discussed, Health Minister Jens Spahn said he could not rule out the possibility of the government implementing another lockdown, according to Bild newspaper. 

Other measures being discussed include classroom quarantine rules for primary school children and stricter regulations for unvaccinated people. It's believed that the government will wind down free rapid testing in October as part of a bid to encourage people to seek vaccinations. 

Ross Cullen in Paris

Health pass

France's Constitutional Council will decide today whether to approve extensions to the health pass. The government wants the requirement to show your health pass imposed in bars, restaurants, and long-distance trains. So far health passes are only mandatory to access cultural or sporting venues. 

France's top constitutional body has scrutinized the proposed legislation and could approve the law without changes but it is expected to suggest amendments. MPs and senators have already approved the measure. 

New measures

Occitania, the south-west French region that includes Toulouse and Montpellier, becomes the third region to launch its 'White Plan'. The plan allows hospitals to delay non-urgent operations to free up capacity for other patients. 

Southern Corsica has re-imposed the obligation to wear a face mask outside in public, while a curfew is being re-introduced in the smaller French Caribbean islands of Saint Barthelemy and Saint Martin.

Travel from UK to France

The British government has removed the requirement for all visitors coming to the UK from France to quarantine for 10 days, even if they are double-vaccinated. 

But the UK has moved the French Indian Ocean islands of Mayotte and Reunion from its amber list to its red list, meaning anyone coming from those French islands into the UK must pay for a quarantine lasting 10 days in a government-approved hotel.

​​Penelope Liersch in Budapest 

Vaccine data collated by local media shows Hungary has enough jabs to vaccinate more than 100 percent of the adult population. Despite this, vaccination numbers have been stalling for months, with only 27,000 people vaccinated last week. 

Data to the beginning of August shows more than 95,000 people have failed to have their second vaccine in the required timeframe. 

In Czechia experts say data is showing a slight slowdown of the virus, with the reproduction number below one for the seventeenth consecutive day. 

Vaccine centers offering walk-in appointments without prior registration have vaccinated more 42,000 people since they opened less than a month ago, with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine proving most popular.

FROM OUR GLOBAL COLLEAGUES

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CGTN China: Chinese mainland reports 85 new confirmed COVID-19 cases

CGTN America: Venezuela struggles to get students back to class after pandemic

CGTN Africa: Africa's COVID-19 cases surpass 6.81M

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