*) Twitter accounts of Apple, Musk, Gates, others hit in major hack

The official Twitter accounts of Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Apple and many other influential US figures and entities were hijacked in a Bitcoin scam.

The fake tweets offered to send $2,000 for every $1,000 sent to an anonymous Bitcoin address.

Twitter responded by disabling the ability to tweet from validated and verified accounts for about two hours while working on fixing the issue.

*) Pompeo downplays possibility of summit with North Korea

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has downplayed the possibility of another summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Pompeo said Trump will only engage if there are real prospects of progress.

Repeated statements from Pyongyang have said Trump will no longer get high-profile meetings that he could pass off as foreign policy achievements.

*) Brazil's Bolsonaro tests positive for coronavirus, again

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro has announced he still has the coronavirus after undergoing a new test the day before.

Bolsonaro said he is not experiencing symptoms and that his use of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine was working.

The far-right president, whose anti-mask and anti-lockdown statements have caused much of the public to ignore coronavirus measures, first tested positive a week ago.

Pro-EU party claims win in North Macedonia polls

North Macedonia's pro-EU Social Democrats have declared victory after official election results showed a razor-thin win over nationalist rivals.

Wednesday’s vote was the first parliamentary election since the Social Democrats added "North" to the Balkan country's name last year.

Lacking an outright majority with only some 35.8 percent of the vote, the Social Democrats face tough coalition talks to form a government.

And finally

*) Banksy coronavirus graffiti removed from London tube The London Underground has removed British street artist Banksy's latest work on coronavirus. Banksy posted a video on social media in which he was seen in a boiler suit spray-painting stencils of his iconic rats inside a train, with one sneezing blue droplets. Transport for London said the work was removed due to the company's strict anti-graffiti policy but appreciated the spirit of Banksy’s message.