UK

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has issued an executive order prohibiting state governmental entities such as counties, public school districts, public health authorities and government officials from requiring mask wearing.

With vaccination rollouts gaining ground and the summer season around the corner, there is fresh hope for Europe's devastated tourism industry. This week, EU countries decided to let in travellers from outside the bloc, providing they have been vaccinated.

NATO military chiefs have been meeting this week to prepare a crucial summit next month in Brussels that will decide the alliance's budget. But it comes at a time when the EU is looking at expanding its military cooperation, sparking questions of whether the two overlap.

France's constitutional council rejected on Thursday a controversial provision of the country's "global security" law which made it an offence to maliciously share images that identify operating police officers. The new legislation had sparked widespread protests throughout the country.

The BBC has offered an unconditional apology after a report found a prominent journalist used "deceitful" methods to secure a landmark interview with Princess Diana as her marriage broke down.

The world's biggest iceberg — larger than the Spanish island of Mallorca — has formed after breaking off from Antarctica, according to the European Space Agency (ESA). Satellite imagery shows the mass of ice is about 170 kilometres (105 miles) long and 25 kilometres wide.

The European Parliament has overwhelmingly voted to freeze the ratification of the EU-China investment deal due to the sanctions that Beijing has imposed on five members of the hemicycle.

In the UK, the alarming spread of the Indian variant of coronavirus is calling into question the further easing of lockdown measures. A total lifting of restrictions in England is pencilled in for June 21. But the number of confirmed cases of the strain hit more than 3,400 on Thursday, a rise of 2,000 in just a week.

Kato Alepochori (Greece) (AFP) – Several Greek villages have been evacuated as firefighters battle the country's first major blaze of the year on a mountain range overlooking the Gulf of Corinth.

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports on a breakthrough cluster of Covid-19 infections that spread through the New York Yankees baseball team.

Copenhagen (AFP) – Dr Hans Kluge, the World Health Organization's director for Europe, tells a press conference that international travel should continue to be avoided due to the risk of the pandemic resurging in the region, but he stresses that authorised vaccines do work against variants of concern.