Iraq has ruled out the possibility of the United States withdrawing its forces from the Middle East region, the country's ambassador to Amman, Haidar al-Azari, told Sputnik, adding that the regional states, including Jordan and Iraq, have strategic agreements with Washington.

"I do not subscribe to the view that the United States may withdraw from the region", al-Azari said.

A number of the Middle East nations, with Jordan and Iraq among them, consider Washington a partner, the Iraqi diplomat added, noting that the regional states have "strategic agreements" with the US. Al-Azari, who served as Iraq's ambassador to Moscow from 2016-2019, went on to highlight the importance of Russia's ties with the regional countries:

"Iraq is an important partner for Russia, as well as for the United States. A balance needs to be created between the major powers concerned with the Middle East. I believe that the US and Russia should be represented in the region. Most of the regional countries have solid relations with them. As for our role, we should know how to deal with [these] two states."

White House officials have previously said that the White House has not yet reached a decision on US force posture in Iraq and other countries going forward.

Senior Palestinian politicians, their bodyguards and the national football team received Covid jabs meant for healthcare workers, the Palestinian Authority (PA) said. It also gave the Jordanian royal court another 200 doses.

In all, the PA admitted on Tuesday it gave some 10 percent of 12,000 Covid vaccines to a coterie of government ministers, members of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's executive members, security personnel and soccer players as well as fulfilling a request from Amman for doses.

But it said the other 90 percent went to health workers treating Covid-19 patients in intensive care units and emergency departments and to other health ministry workers.

Germany's domestic intelligence agency is investigating the far-right Alternative for Germany — the largest opposition party in parliament — according to national media. The move comes ahead of national elections.

Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) have placed the Alternative for Germany (AfD) under surveillance, according to local media.

That designation gives state agents more powers for surveillance in certain circumstances, including potentially tapping the party's communications.

The BfV refused to comment on media reports from Der Spiegel magazine, the DPA news agency and public broadcaster ARD. The Interior Ministry, which oversees the BfV, said it would neither confirm nor deny them.

Why has there been no official statement?

The BfV is apparently unable to announce the decision officially because of an ongoing legal dispute.

Ten rockets landed on Wednesday at Iraq's Ain al-Asad air base, which hosts U.S., coalition and Iraqi forces, the Iraqi military said.

There were no reports of injuries among U.S. service personnel but an American civilian contractor died after suffering a "cardiac episode" while sheltering from the rockets, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.

"We cannot attribute responsibility at this time, and we do not have a complete picture of the extent of the damage," Kirby added. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Emmanuel Macron has admitted French soldiers tortured and killed a well-known Algerian lawyer and activist during the country's independence war.

Ali Boumendjel, 37, died after falling from a sixth-floor window in 1957 during the Battle of Algiers. Until now, his death has been recorded as suicide.

"At the heart of the Battle of Algiers, he was arrested by the French army, hidden, tortured then assassinated on 23 March 1957," the Elysée said in a statement.

"I just wonder what it would be like to be reincarnated in an animal whose species had been so reduced in numbers than it was in danger of extinction. What would be its feelings toward the human species whose population explosion had denied it somewhere to exist.... I must confess that I am tempted to ask for reincarnation as a particularly deadly virus." ~ Prince Philip, in his Foreward to "If I Were an Animal" - United Kingdom, Robin Clark Ltd., 1986.

"The world today has 6.8 billion people...that's headed up to about 9 billion. If we do a really great job on vaccines, health care, reproductive health services, we could lower that by perhaps 10 to 15 percent." ~ Bill Gates

"Depopulation should be the highest priority of foreign policy towards the third world, because the US economy will require large and increasing amounts of minerals from abroad, especially from less developed countries" ~ Henry A. Kissinger

"A total population of 250-300 million people, a 95% decline from present levels, would be ideal." ~ Ted Turner

"The most merciful thing that the large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it." ~ Margaret Sanger, Woman and the New Race, Chapter 5, "The Wickedness of Creating Large Families." (1920)

"That it is now far easier to manipulate with precision the human genome within viable embryos means that we are likely to see the advent of designer babies in the future who possess particular traits or who are resistant to a specific disease".

~ Klaus Schwab, Shaping the Future of the Fourth Industrial Revolution: A Guide to Building a Better World

"Eugenics is a social (and 'scientific') movement based on the belief that the genetic quality of the human race can be improved by the use of selective breeding, as well as other often morally criticized means to eliminate groups of people considered genetically inferior, while encouraging the growth of groups judged to be genetically superior."

While much of the world is focused on Covid-related issues, Ukraine's seven-year war on the people of Donbass continues. In recent weeks, Kiev's shelling of civilians has intensified, met by the predictable Western media silence.

Ostensibly, following the Minsk agreements, there was a ceasefire. In reality, Donbass residents in villages bordering peace lines are incessantly subject to Ukrainian shelling.

Ukraine uses heavy weapons in violation of the agreement, including 82mm and 120mm mortar shells, routinely shelling at night when Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) observers are not patrolling the area.

On his 90th birthday, the Soviet Union's first and last president, Mikhail Gorbachev, has revealed his belief that perestroika is his biggest life achievement and led to the "end to the totalitarian system."

Speaking to Russian news agency TASS, in an interview published on Tuesday, the former Soviet leader also argued that his policy of glasnost was essential for making changes within the country.

Gorbachev headed the USSR from 1985 until it fell apart in 1991 and is considered one of the most significant figures of 20th-century history, having helped to end the Cold War. However, while he has a good reputation outside of the country, inside Russia he is viewed rather differently. Many hold him responsible for the post-Soviet economic crisis which led to a steep decline in living standards, as well as a diminution of Moscow's status on the world stage.

Sen. Mitt Romney said Monday that he was briefly hospitalized over the weekend after a fall in Boston, receiving a number of stitches as a result.

Speaking to reporters Monday evening, the Utah Republican said that he "had a tough weekend" before briefly joking that he received the injuries because he "went to CPAC," referring to the Conservative Political Action Conference, where former President Trump and a number of his supporters gathered over the weekend.

"I took a fall," Romney clarified, laughing. "I took a fall, knocked me unconscious, but I'm doing better," he added.

In the years prior to taking office, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and many of their administration's top officials harshly criticized President Donald Trump's lack of action against Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Biden is now facing criticism for not following through on campaign promises to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for the killing. The administration last Friday released a declassified intelligence report on Khashoggi's murder that said the crown prince, commonly known as MBS, directly approved the operation that ended with the murder of Khashoggi. He was killed and allegedly dismembered after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, having gone into the building to collect documents for his upcoming wedding.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday announced visa restrictions that affected 76 Saudis believed to be involved in harassing activists and journalists, but he did not announce any measures against the crown prince. And while the Biden administration has taken more steps than the Trump administration to punish Saudi actors for their role in Khashoggi's death, the actions of key members of the Biden administration differ from the sharp criticism they offered before they took office.