STOCKHOLM – Europe is engulfed by a new covid-19 wave as the number of new infections has tripled in six weeks, the Stockholm-based European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said on Wednesday.
The wave is mainly driven by the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, which account for 80 percent of the total infections in Europe right now, says Agoritsa Baka, senior ECDC expert, to Sveriges Television. (Sweden-COVID-New Wave)
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WASHINGTON – New U.S. housing starts fell in June to the lowest level since September, underscoring concerns that the U.S. is on a slow downward path.
The decline occurred after the construction of new homes took a dive last month, driven by a decline in demand. (US housing inflation)
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PARIS – Two massive forest fires raging in southwestern France in the past week have evacuated at least 36,000 people from their homes and burned 20,600 hectares of land, the French news channel BFMTV reported on Wednesday.
During a visit to the fire zones in the Gironde, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a major national project to replant trees and regrow the damaged forests. (France-forest fires-evacuation)
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BAGHDAD – Iraq on Wednesday decided to withdraw its accusations from Ankara for consultation and summoned the Turkish ambassador regarding the deadly bombing of a resort in northern Iraq.
The Iraqi Council of Ministers for National Security announced the decisions after holding an emergency meeting on the artillery attacks that killed at least 9 tourists and injured 23 others earlier in the day. (Iraq-Turkey Ambassador-at-Large)
Source: sn.dk