France and Germany have agreed that people crossing the border between the French region of Moselle and Germany will have to have proof of a negative COVID-19 antigen test in the previous 48 hours, French Europe Minister Clement Beaune said on Sunday.

COVID-19 curbs have curtailed celebrations of the Jewish costume festival of Purim, with Israeli police preventing parties and some rabbis urging people not to drink too much so social distancing is maintained.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is expected to ask President Joe Biden to consider sharing part of the U.S. coronavirus vaccine supply with its poorer southern neighbor when the two leaders hold a virtual summit on Monday, U.S. and Mexican officials said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease official, said on Sunday he would take the newly approved Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, as he encouraged Americans to accept any of the three approved shots.

More than 20 million people across the United Kingdom have now received their first COVID-19 vaccine shot, data showed on Sunday as the country made more progress with Europe's fastest vaccination programme.

Israel approved plans on Sunday to offer COVID-19 vaccines to Palestinians with Israeli work permits, a step a rights group said did not go far enough to safeguard Palestinians in occupied territory.

A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel voted unanimously on Sunday to recommend Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 shot for widespread use, a final clearance for the vaccine a day after it was authorized by U.S. regulators.

Iran on Sunday ruled out holding an informal meeting with the United States and European powers to discuss ways to salvage the unravelling 2015 nuclear deal with major powers, insisting that Washington must first lift all its unilateral sanctions.

Myanmar police fired on protesters around the country on Sunday and at least 18 people were killed in the worst violence since a Feb. 1 military coup, the United Nations said, calling on the international community to act to stop the repression.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's office backed down on its plan to choose an investigator to review sexual harassment allegations against him, saying on Sunday it had instead asked the state's attorney general and a senior judge to pick a lawyer to conduct an independent review.