Germany aims to ease distancing, lift European travel warning - media

Germany's government and its state premiers have agreed to extend social distancing rules until June 29 to contain the coronavirus pandemic, a government spokesman said. Tuesday's deal, confirmed by the spokesman after being revealed to Reuters by a source, follows a dispute over how quickly to ease lockdown measures that have helped Germany weather the outbreak with far fewer deaths than European peers. Under the agreement, public gatherings of up to 10 people would also be allowed from June 6, the government spokesman said. Chancellor Angela Merkel originally suggested extending the distancing rules, which require people to stay 1.5 metres apart, until July 5, as the conservative leader is worried about a second wave of cases that could require another costly lockdown.