Pekka Haavisto, who is also Finland’s foreign affairs minister, told a European Parliament committee about comments made at talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and other officials in February. “If you wipe out your national minority, well, what is it? You cannot destroy all the people, you cannot destroy all the population in Tigray,” Haavisto said. “And I think that’s very obvious, that we have to react, because it looks for us like ethnic cleansing....

Vaccinations have picked up in Europe after a slow start compared to the U.S. or the U.K. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, estimated that about 300 million vaccine doses will be delivered to the region by the end of May, providing at least the first dose to 46 percent of the 450 million adult population, the Associated Press reported. EU leaders also agreed to donate 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to poorer countries....

Footage captured by Huffington Post reporter Igor Bobic showed Goodman, a Black officer, singlehandedly facing off against a group of mostly white insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol building, including some who carried Confederate flags. The clip went viral and prompted many to hail Goodman as a hero. In a tweet early on Thursday, the XVIII Airborne Corps said Goodman had been a member of the corps, adding that he was a hero “long before” the deadly siege at the Capitol on January 6....

The 26-year-old Canadian scored a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over world No. 92 Danka Kovinic at the clay-court event to book a semifinal against Spain’s Paula Badosa. Bouchard looked to have the tennis world at her feet in 2014 when she reached two Grand Slam semifinals as well as her run to the title match at the All England Club. Her career has followed a largely downward trajectory but there have been signs that Bouchard, now a lowly 272nd in the rankings, might be set to climb again....

The English are slight favorites over Italy, who beat Spain in a semifinal penalty-kick shootout. England was reinstalled as Euro 2021 favorites after beating Denmark in its semifinal. The Three Lions will be the home team with the final played at Wembley Stadium in England. Five U.S.-based betting houses have England at -120 to -145 to win the final. England’s odds were 2-to-1 before the quarterfinal and greater than 6-to-1 at the start of the Round of 16....

Meanwhile, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson dispatched medics, deployed the HMS Enterprise and released five million pounds in humanitarian aid. Angela Merkel’s Germany announced it would send a 47-strong rescue team, along with one million euros in immediate aid via the German Red Cross, to establish first aid stations in Beirut and provide medical equipment. These laudatory humanitarian gestures helped those leaders sidestep the elephant in the room—Lebanese Hezbollah and its puppetmasters in Tehran....

Fears over a potential second wave of the outbreak remain following a recent rise in new cases reported in several European countries. Here we look at five European Union (EU) nations that have reported the largest increase in new cases per capita (100,000 people) in the last 14 days from the 14 days prior to that two-week period, according to data compiled by WHO. Three of these five EU nations are reporting community transmission, which indicates they are “experiencing larger outbreaks of local transmission defined through an assessment of factors including, but not limited to: large numbers of cases not linkable to transmission chains; large numbers of cases from sentinel lab surveillance; and/or multiple unrelated clusters in several areas of the country/territory/area,” according to WHO....

But it’s not. The euro did climb briefly above the symbolically important marker of parity with the dollar–and still stands around 20 percent above its historic low. European markets, however, have slavishly followed Wall Street’s tumble. Shares in Frankfurt and London are around 40 percent below their 2000 peak, while French shares have halved in value from their record high. What’s going on here? Some investor skepticism stems from the poor short-term economic outlook for Europe....

Iraq has done much to discredit such hopes. Now comes another American-inspired folly—the brewing transatlantic spat over the deployment of a primitive antiballistic-missile defense system in Eastern Europe. At bottom, it has little to do with security, and everything to do with symbolism and spin. And in the end it is destined to come back to bite its adherents in their collective geostrategic backside. Begin with the Americans. Republican neoconservatives have long dreamed of a Star Wars missile defense....

Europe, like America, is determined to crack down on corporate accounting. The EU has passed new legislation that will harmonize accounting standards in member states by 2005, putting Europe onto an international system that may be safer and tougher to abuse than the U.S. system. This week, Britain will unveil its own major plan for reform, designed to revamp company laws that haven’t been updated since the 19th century. The plan will include everything from clearer responsibilities for company directors to tougher penalties for those who try to hide crucial financial information....

Apple’s cool quotient is part of the problem: when the company introduced its iTunes download service in Europe in mid-2004, customers snapped up 800,000 songs in the first week. Apple now owns 70 percent of the local entertainment-download market, and ivory iPod earbuds are as ubiquitous in Soho as they are in, well, Soho. That’s the problem, say a growing number of European consumer advocates. They’re taking aim at the digital-rights-management (DRM) software in iTunes, included at the behest of record labels to stop piracy....

The Bengals wound up losing the final game of the season to the Rams, but fiesty upstart Cincinnati rubbed some the wrong way with their swagger. Simmons, the team’s special teams coach, might be in that group. During halftime, Evan McPherson — everyone’s new favorite kicker who vaulted into stardom with his perfect postseason — decided to take in the show instead of heading back to the locker room with his teammates....

In one of the largest analyses of heart health in long COVID patients, researchers found that even those who recovered from a mild case could develop heart problems. Additionally, people who were younger than 65 and those lacking risk factors, like diabetes or obesity, were at elevated risk. The study, published recently in Nature Medicine, examined data from a cohort of more than 150,000 veterans treated in the Veterans Health Administration system who had survived at least 30 days after testing positive for COVID-19....

Henderson was impressive in his own right, but this exhibition showcase gave everyone in North America their first opportunity to see Wembanyama on national television, as the French star competed in his first-ever game on U.S. soil. Wembanyama didn’t disappoint in the spotlight, erupting for 37 points, five blocks and seven (!) 3-pointers — a stat line that has never been seen before on an NBA court. MORE: 2023 NBA Mock Draft: Wembanyama, Henderson headline talented class...

Despite Evergrande’s silence on the issue, both Reuters and The Wall Street Journal reported that offshore holders of Evergrande bonds had not received payments by Thursday’s deadline. According to Reuters, the people who reported Evergrande missed the payments were not named because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Evergrande owes roughly $83 billion in bond interest, part of a larger $300 billion-plus package of debt that was incurred over years of heavy borrowing as the company looked to grow alongside China’s expanding economy....

Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Burnley at Goodison Park was Everton’s fourth this season, leaving them 16th in the Premier League after seven matches. Toffees 13/10 to bounce back at Brighton The Toffees have not fared better in Europe so far, having picked up just one point from Europa League games against Atalanta and Apollon Limassol. Everton’s poor form has sparked rumours that Koeman could be the next manager to be sacked from the English top flight, but Moshiri insists he will be given time to improve things after finishing seventh in the table last term....

Christian Benteke ultimately secured a commendable point for the away side four minutes in the second half with a fine header, but it was Everton’s opener that left Delaney frustrated. The Irish defender was penalized for a high foot on Phil Jagielka — who handled the ball — on the edge of the box, with Romelu Lukaku scoring from the resulting free kick, but Delaney feels the Everton man got lucky....

It’s fair to say Liverpool have dominated proceedings since 2010, winning almost half of the head-to-head meetings without tasting defeat. Brendan Rodgers brings his side into this match off the back of a late comeback against Bolton in the FA Cup midweek. The Reds trailed for the majority of the second half, before goals from Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho rescued them and secured a place in the next round....

The Red Devils saw a four-game winning run end in humbling fashion as they lost 6-3 to an Erling Haaland-inspired City, who led 6-1 until the closing stages of the second half. Erik ten Hag’s side won 3-2 at Omonia in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday and have only a short turnaround to prepare for Frank Lampard’s Everton, having stayed in Cyprus for an extra training session on Friday....