At least 1 million people have died from COVID-19 in Europe, a top official from the World Health Organization said.

While speaking about the deaths in Europe, WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge told reporters in Greece that the COVID-19 remains a "serious" issue even as more people get vaccinated against the virus, according to the Associated Press.

Data from Johns Hopkins University shows that more than 2.9 million people have died from COVID-19 worldwide since the virus first started to spread.

The Americas have been hardest hit by the virus — with Brazil, Mexico, and the United States collectively recording more than 1.1 million deaths — but the 53-country European region that stretches into parts of Asia, is close behind.

India reported more than 200,000 new daily COVID-19 cases for the first time on Thursday, the Associated Press reported.

In addition to the 200,739 new cases, India's health ministry said that 1,038 people had died, bringing the total number of deaths to 173,123.

India has now passed the milestone of 14 million total cases, the AP said, and the country is now facing a crisis as cases continue to rise. India has a population of about 1.4 billion people.

As of Thursday, the country has recorded the second-highest COVID-19 cases in the world, behind the United States.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just reignited the debate on whether airlines should be blocking middle seats just as airlines thought it was settled. 

A newly-publicized study found that maskless flyers could spread COVID-19 at a higher rate when middle seats are not blocked, as Insider's Hilary Brueck reported. Flyers on opposite ends of a three-seat row with the middle open reduce their risk of exposure by 57%, the study says. 

Multiple airlines including American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Hawaiian Air, and Southwest Airlines deferred to the trade organization Airlines for America on the issue when reached for comment by Insider.

"Multiple scientific studies confirm that the layers of protection significantly reduce risk, and research continues to demonstrate that the risk of transmission onboard aircraft is very low," a spokesperson for Airlines for America told Insider, indicating no changes would be...

Former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has fallen victim to a viral prank on the video-sharing website Cameo.

The app, which is a means for fans to pay celebrities for personalized messages, has found favour among some actors, sportspeople and politicians.

In one message, which quickly went viral on social media, Farage, who charges £75 for each recording, can be seen wishing a happy birthday to a "Hugh Janus."

"Happy birthday Hugh Janus, I've heard you're a massive fan," Farage said.

He is survived by his wife, Ruth Madoff.

Born in New York City in 1938, Madoff founded a stock brokerage in 1960 that eventually became Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. The firm specialized in over-the-counter penny stocks , using pink sheet quotes to make markets for traders. Madoff's brokerage then moved on to computerized trades, employing an information technology to organize quotes. The digital market-making service went on to underpin the NASDAQ exchange.

The brokerage bypassed traditional exchange firms to allow traders to directly order from retail brokers, and at one point served as the largest market maker at the NASDAQ. Madoff served as a NASDAQ director for three single-year terms. 

The financier developed close friendships with major players in the financial sector and used his network to spark what became the largest case of financial fraud in US history. Madoff signed on numerous wealthy friends as investors in his firm, offered...

President Biden is on track to admit the lowest number of refugees of any president, according to new researchh, which said that the White House had yet to reverse refugee policies introduced during President Trump's time in office.

A report published by the International Rescue Committee found that through the 2021 fiscal year, which began in October 2020, the United States had admitted 2,050 refugees.

If the Biden administration continued admitting refugees at the same rate, that would mean 5,000 refugees were admitted this year.

That would be less than half the number admitted under the Trump administration last year, and would amount to the lowest number of any US president in history, the International Rescue Committee said.

The monarch had a phone call with Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday morning, the day after Philip died.

The Queen traditionally holds an audience with the prime minister every week, and this is something that she has continued to do via telephone since the beginning of the UK's first lockdown last year.

Former President Donald Trump has issued another attack on Mitch McConnell, this time saying the Senate Minority leader was "helpless" to stop President Joe Biden from packing out the Supreme Court.

"Our politically correct Supreme Court will get what they deserve — an unconstitutionally elected group of Radical Left Democrats who are destroying our Country," Trump said in a statement issued through his Save America PAC, which came after President Biden announced a commission to study expanding the Supreme Court.

"With leaders like Mitch McConnell, they are helpless to fight. He didn't fight for the Presidency, and he won't fight for the Court," Trump said.

Trump's latest attack on McConnell comes days after he called him a "dumb son of a b---h" in an expletive-laden speech to Republican donors at his Mar-A-Lago resort on Saturday, per reports.

Former President Donald Trump has issued another attack on Mitch McConnell, this time saying the Senate Minority leader was "helpless" to stop President Joe Biden from packing out the Supreme Court.

"Our politically correct Supreme Court will get what they deserve — an unconstitutionally elected group of Radical Left Democrats who are destroying our Country," Trump said in a statement issued through his Save America PAC, which came after President Biden announced a commission to study expanding the Supreme Court.

"With leaders like Mitch McConnell, they are helpless to fight. He didn't fight for the Presidency, and he won't fight for the Court," Trump said.

Trump's latest attack on McConnell comes days after he called him a "dumb son of a b---h" in an expletive-laden speech to Republican donors at his Mar-A-Lago resort on Saturday, per reports.