SAN NICOLAS DE BARI, Cuba: Disguised as a sparrowhawk, and convincingly mimicking its predatory cry, a drone made of wood, scrap metal and plastic disperses birds at a Cuban airfield. 

BRUSSELS: The European Parliament was to vote yesterday to ratify the EU’s post-Brexit trade deal with Britain, but not without issuing bitter final warnings that trouble lies ahead in cross-Channel ties. 

BERLIN: Germany raised its growth forecast for 2021 yesterday, offering a glimpse of light at the end of the coronavirus pandemic tunnel as vaccinations finally begin to gather pace in Europe’s biggest economy. 

WASHINGTON: US tourists vaccinated against COVID-19 will be able to visit the European Union in the coming months, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said in an interview on Sunday with The New York Times. 

ROME: Bars, restaurants, cinemas and concert halls were reopening across Italy yesterday in a boost for coronavirus-hit businesses, while parliament was to debate the government’s €220-billion ($266-billion) EU-funded recovery plan. 

HARARE: For years, Zimbabwean single mother Spiwe Tembo would sell buns on the streets of central Harare, earning enough to feed her three children. But her fortunes have dived. 

LONDON: The collapse of Greensill Capital has sparked a political scandal in Britain and cast a light on a shadowy world of finance. Outlined below are the main political and financial personalities caught up in the affair:

BEIRUT: A Lebanon-made electric car made its debut Saturday, the first time the Mediterranean country has manufactured an automobile, despite struggling amid a dire economic crisis with frequent power cuts. 

GUANYUN, China: Americans like their lingerie to be risque, Europeans prefer it more classy, and Chinese remain a bit shy but are opening up. But the biggest order of all came from North Korea.