The European Commission said that between 60% and 80% of the EU population was estimated to have been infected with COVID-19, as the bloc enters a post-emergency phase in which mass reporting of cases was no longer necessary. In preparing for this less acute phase, European Union governments should ramp …

Turkish authorities ruled to release a journalist from pre-trial detention, his lawyer said on Wednesday, a week after he was formally arrested for sharing President Tayyip Erdogan’s ID card as proof that hackers had stolen Turks’ personal information. The independent journalist, Ibrahim Haskologlu, had said in a post on Twitter …

Several French cities suffered internet outages, a government minister said on Wednesday, confirming media reports of coordinated attacks on the country’s communication infrastructure. “Internet cables have been cut in the Ile-de-France region, which is affecting the landline and mobile network,” Minister for Digital Affairs Cedric O said on Twitter. “We …

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday it was expelling eight Japanese diplomats in a retaliatory move as it criticized Japan for taking an “openly hostile anti-Russian course”. The ministry said it had summoned a representative of the Japanese embassy in Moscow and told him the eight diplomats must leave Russia …

Denmark has become the first country in the world to suspend its COVID vaccination program. The country has cited its high vaccination rate vaccinated and ta reduction in the number of new infections and stable hospitalization rates as the reason for the move. The decision means that invitations for vaccinations …

Russian forces were on Wednesday pounding a huge steelworks in Mariupol where the southern Ukrainian city’s last defenders are holed up, a local official said. Petro Andryushchenko, an aide to the city mayor, said there had been no let-up in airstrikes on the Azovstal plant despite Russian President Vladimir Putin …

According to the Syrian news media, the country’s air defense on Wednesday repealed an Israeli attack above Damascus. News sources on early Wednesday reported that the sound of several explosions was heard over the skies of the Syrian capital of Damascus. A military source told SANA that the Israeli regime …

Local Iraqi media said that the Iraqi army killed more than 40 ISIS terrorists in operations recently launched in the south of Mosul. A statement from the Iraqi army’s public relations department said that the Iraqi armed forces recently conducted an operation against terrorist remnants in the south of Mosul …

Twenty Muslim worshippers were killed in Ethiopia’s Amhara region in clashes with unidentified armed men, an Islamic leader in the region said. “The incident happened yesterday when Muslims were on their way to bury an individual,” Seid Muhammed, president of the Amhara Islamic Affairs Supreme Council, told Reuters on Wednesday. …

A Japanese woman recognized as the world’s oldest person, Kane Tanaka, has died at age 119, just months short of her goal of reaching 120. Born on Jan. 2, 1903, Tanaka loved playing the board game Othello and had a penchant for chocolate and fizzy drinks. She was certified by …

Police in the region of Trans-Dniester say two explosions on Tuesday morning in a radio facility close to the Ukrainian border knocked two powerful antennas out of service. Trans-Dniester, a strip of land in Moldova with about 470,000 people, has been under the control of separatist authorities since a 1992 …

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Turkey is ready to lift all measures against the coronavirus, adding that mask-wearing will no longer be obligatory indoors. Speaking after the final meeting of the advisory science council, Erdogan said masks will still be mandated on public transport and in medical institutions …

U.S. President Joe Biden will hold talks with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Friday to discuss migration, security, and economic cooperation, the White House said. The two leaders will meet virtually ahead of the upcoming Summit of the Americas, it added in the statement released on Tuesday.

Spain’s King Felipe VI disclosed that his wealth is worth about 2.6 million euros ($2.8 million) as the government pushes rules to make the Royal House more transparent and end the opaqueness that prevailed during the reign of his father Juan Carlos. The king’s assets include just under 2.3 million …

Lebanon’s cabinet ordered the military court on Tuesday to investigate the capsize of a migrant boat after colliding with a naval vessel giving chase, with at least six dead and dozens missing. The boat carrying Lebanese and Syrian migrants sank off the coast near the impoverished northern city of Tripoli …

Moscow on Tuesday said it was expelling three Swedish diplomats after Stockholm expelled three Russian diplomats over the conflict in Ukraine, despite Sweden saying four were dismissed. Russia’s foreign ministry said it summoned the Swedish ambassador to Russia and “strongly protested” the expulsion of Russian diplomats and Sweden’s “military support …

A suicide bombing targeted the Iraqi army north of Baghdad on Tuesday, resulting in deaths and injuries. “A man wearing an explosive belt blew himself up near an Iraqi army force during operations within the Tarmiyah district, which killed a soldier and injured an officer.” A security source told Al-Ghadeer …

News sources reported an armed attack on a kindergarten in central Russia, killing two children and a kindergarten teacher. Media sources reported that the suspect entered the building with a gun, and shot the teacher and two children before turning the weapon on himself. Some other sources put the death …

Zionist forces have killed a Palestinian man during a raid on the Aqabet Jaber refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Jericho, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The man was identified as 20-year-old Ahmad Ibrahim Owaidat. The Ministry of Health said he had been shot in …

Media sources reported Tuesday morning the Libyan National Army repelled an ISIS attempt to attack the Libyan town of Ghadwa, south of the city of Sabha. Issuing a statement on Tuesday, the Libyan National Army said that its forces clashed with ISIS-affiliated elements in the Libyan town of Ghadwa, killing …