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EU leaders to hold online summit as Europe battles third wave of COVID-19

An EU summit scheduled for Thursday and Friday in Brussels will no longer be held in person due to the accelerating third wave of the coronavirus in Europe, a spokesman said.For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.European Council chief Charles Michel, who organizes the regular leaders’ meetings, made the decision “following the surge of COVID19 cases in member states,” his spokesman Barend Leyts tweeted on Sunday.The meeting is scheduled to address several sensitive topics, including deteriorating ties with Russia as well as Turkey, and disorganization in the EU response to the pandemic.EU diplomats said that leaders last week urged Michel to cancel the in-person meeting, though he had hoped to tighten sanitary measures to avoid reverting again to a videoconference.The leaders have only met physically a handful of times since the pandemic began, most notably a four-day marathon in July to agree the EU’s 750 billion euro recovery plan.Diplomats complain that topics requiring delicate diplomacy cannot be properly addressed in a video meeting.The leaders next scheduled in-person meeting is in Porto, Portugal on May 8.Read more:Police clash with people protesting against COVID-19 curbs in German cityBulgaria COVID-19 hospitalizations jump to record highFrance reports COVID-19 patients in intensive care at new 2021 high
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: EU leaders to hold online summit as Europe battles third wave of COVID-19

One killed, others wounded in Houthi attack on college in Yemen’s Taiz

One person was killed and several others were wounded in a bombing by the Iran-backed Houthi militia on a college building in Yemen’s Taiz, Al Arabiya reported on Sunday.The bomb occurred at the Faculty of Arts building of the Taiz University, Yemen’s Minister of Information Moammar al-Eryani said on Twitter.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The internationally-recognized government condemns the Houthi attack on the college that led to the death of one person and injured at least five others, he said.“We condemn in the strongest terms the Iran-backed terrorist Houthi militia bombing the College of Arts building and the adjacent Garden City Park, east of Taiz, with a mortar shell, which resulted in the death of a citizen and the wounding of five others,” al-Eryani wrote on Twitter.The attack also caused “significant material damage” and spread “a state of panic and fear” among civilians in the area, he added.The minister called on the international community, the United Nations and its special envoy to Yemen to condemn this crime and all the deliberate killing of civilians committed by the Houthi militia as a flagrant violation of international laws and conventions.He also called for those responsible to be held accountable by the International Criminal Court as “war criminals.”Read more:Arab Coalition launches air strikes on Houthi military targets in Yemen’s SanaaArab Coalition destroys explosive drone targeting Saudi Arabia’s Khamis MushaitMissiles, drones targeting Saudi Arabia were all Iranian made or supplied: Al-Jubeir
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: One killed, others wounded in Houthi attack on college in Yemen’s Taiz