WORLD

Brussels, Belgium | Xinhua | Weaker economic activity in the Eurozone during the first months of the year will give way to a rebound in the second quarter as the Omicron variant proves milder and governments become wary of imposing strict restrictions, said a Dutch banking company expert. However, higher inflation, …

Washington, U.S. | Xinhua | U.S. President Joe Biden reaffirmed Monday that a joint gas pipeline project between Germany and Russia won’t advance if Russia invades Ukraine, stopping short of explaining how it will be achieved if Germany has reservations for that decision as a deterrence against Moscow. With visiting German …

Seoul, Korea | Xinhua | South Korea’s imported car sale logged a double-digit fall last month owing to the global supply shortage of semiconductors used to make vehicles, industry data showed on Monday. The number of imported vehicles, sold in the local market, was 17,361 in January, down 22.2 percent …

Warsaw, Poland | Xinhua | A plane carrying U.S. soldiers landed in southern Poland on Sunday, on U.S. President Joe Biden’s order to deploy additional U.S. troops to Poland, Romania and Germany this week, amid rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine. The 1,700 U.S. soldiers sent to Poland will operate …

Lisbon, Portugal | Xinhua | The Portuguese Council of Ministers decided on Saturday that a negative COVID-19 test is no longer required to enter Portugal from Feb. 7. From that date onwards, it is only necessary to present the digital vaccination certificate from the European Union or another proof “duly …

The Other Threat to Democracy  COMMENT | FEDERICO FUBINI | The emergence of illiberal politicians across the West has led to prophecies about the end of democracy. In the United States, Donald Trump is maneuvering to return to the White House in 2025, after attempting to overturn an election that …

  Ankara, Turkey | Xinhua | Neither the United States nor other Western countries had not contributed to solving the crisis between Russia and Ukraine, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday. “Unfortunately, the West has not contributed to the solution of this issue until now. I can only …

Madrid, Spain | Xinhua | The Spanish government will next week revoke the mandate for wearing facemasks against the infection from COVID-19, Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias said on Friday. A proposal for that will be approved in a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the minister told local radio station Cadena …

United Nations | Xinhua | UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday expressed concern over the civilian casualties in a U.S. raid that led to the death of Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi. Asked for the secretary-general’s comment on the U.S. operation in Syria against al-Qurayshi, Farhan Haq, Guterres’ …

Brussels, Belgium | Xinhua | The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Thursday that there was “insufficient evidence” for it to recommend the administration of a second booster vaccine against COVID-19. “At the moment, there is insufficient evidence from clinical trials or real-world evidence that could support our recommendation for the …