International

World News. 14^th December
Germany will go into a national lockdown from Wednesday which will continue through Christmas.  Virus numbers have increased a lot.  Italy now has the highest number of deaths in Europe.  They report 64,520.  This just passes the UK which has 64,267.  In Italy, newspapers and television show large crowds in the centres of cities.  Experts say there could be a third wave.  In Netherlands, all bars and restaurants have been closed since October.  But schools and shops have stayed open and the virus cases are still rising.  The situation in Russia is very bad, especially in country areas.  In Moscow, the officials say it is all under control in the country.
They said they would protect the poor countries.  But the opposite is happening.  Rich countries are buying up all the vaccine supplies.  Billions of dollars by a few countries.  They have ordered much more than is needed for their own population.  There is no sign that they will share the vaccine.
Trump says he will not have the vaccine at the moment, but people in his staff will have the vaccine.  The Pfizer vaccine will be available in parts of the USA from this week.
Wild weather in Queensland and New South Wales in Australia.  There are huge rainstorms, very strong winds  and very high tides at the Gold Coast.  There is also flooding. This is summer time there.  It is caused by the weather condition, called La Ninya, which is in the Pacific Ocean.  It will gradually have an effect in many other countries.