Germany Marks New Year With Fireworks at Brandenburg Gate

Germany marked the start of 2021 with fireworks at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.

Germany has ordered most stores to shut until January 10 to reverse a tide of COVID-19 infections that lighter restrictions introduced last month had failed to tame.

The country is unlikely to lift its coronavirus lockdown early next year, a top aide to Chancellor Angela Merkel has said, signaling Europe's biggest economy will have to contend with the crippling restrictions well into the winter months.

Germany is forecast to suffer its worst recession since World War II this year, and the longer the lockdown the bigger the economic fallout.

(AP/Reuters)