the pandemic last year. there were more than 1,500 new daily cases on sunday alone. sylvia lennan—spence, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. the main candidates to succeed angela merkel as german chancellor have clashed on climate change and taxation, in their first televised debate ahead of next month's election. snap opinion polls after the event suggest the social democrat 0laf sholz fared better than his conservative and green rivals. in southern yemen, at least 30 soldiers have been killed in an attack on an airbase. a fighter who witnessed what happened at the al—anad base said it was targeted by a drone. the army has blamed houthi rebels. france's president macron has urged iraq's different religious communities to work together to rebuild the country. he made the appeal from a church in mosul that was badly damaged in the battle to recapture it