Covid: Austria lockdown begins as protests hit European cities

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has condemned the violent clashes across the country over lockdown restrictions, describing the rioters as “idiots”.

Protests have broken out across the continent, amid efforts to control the worrying surge in Covid cases, including in Belgium and in Austria – where a nationwide 20-day lockdown began today.

While Germany’s health minister warned that by the end of the year everyone would either be vaccinated, recovered or dead.