International

More than 600,000 infections have been diagnosed worldwide with the new coronavirus. More than 28,000 patients died from the effects of Covid-19, reports American Johns Hopkins University. It is based on official sources.   In total, some 607,965 infections had been counted on Saturday afternoon. The United States (104,000), Italy (86,000) and China (82,000) top the list. The figures do not provide a complete picture because not everyone is tested with the virus. Italy has reported the highest death toll worldwide. More than 9,100 patients died there, far more than in the US (1,700) and China (nearly 3,300). The number of recovered patients is almost 133,000 worldwide.

President Vladimir Putin is going to the international conference on the conflicts in Libya on Sunday. The Kremlin reported that he is participating in the conference in Berlin, which should lead to a peace settlement.   It was not confident whether Putin himself would come. The Kremlin reported that Putin had received a letter from Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar. Last Monday an unsuccessful attempt was made in Russia to bring the warring parties to a file. Haftar wrote to his "good friend" Putin that he would like to continue the dialogue that started Monday and is prepared to come to Moscow again for that. But the parties involved are already talking to each other in Berlin on Sunday, along with a series of countries that are included in the fight. These are in particular Turkey,...

Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar has requested an extension of the ceasefire agreement with the UN-recognized Libyan government.   Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says that no deal has been reached as a result. The peace talks are organised by Turkey and Russia and are held in Moscow. Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) has been under siege for months to the capital of Tripoli, where the government of Fayez al-Serraj sits. The warlord does not recognise the current Libyan government. Russia and Turkey are calling for a ceasefire in the North African country.

Two American soldiers were killed on Saturday by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan.   Two others were injured in the attack on a US Army vehicle near Kandahar. That has been publicised by a spokesperson for the NATO mission in the Central Asian country. The Taliban have taken responsibility for this attack.

Turkey is committed to reducing tensions between Iran and the United States. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has called with his colleagues in Washington and Tehran.   "We will endure working with other countries over the coming days to resolve this issue or to de-escalate tensions." The already cooled relationship between Iran and the US has deteriorated even further after the death of top Iranian soldier Qassem Soleimani. He died in an American drone attack in Iraq. Iran reacted furiously and announced that it would return its death. The crisis has led to feverish consultations between several countries. Cavusoglu said that the crisis would be further discussed when Russian President Vladimir Putin pays a visit to Turkey on Wednesday. Turkish President Erdogan is also said to...

Thousands of Iraqis scanned "death to America" on Saturday at the funeral of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and Abou Mehdi al-Mouhandis, his chief lieutenant in Iraq, who died in an American attack.   Among other things, a photographer from the French press agency AFP has established this on the spot. Early this morning, thousands of civilians came to the streets of Baghdad for the commemoration of Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, which took place this morning. Many participants chanted slogans such as "Death to America". Some people in the crowd held up a portrait of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader, or Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese Shiite Hizbollah movement. Nasrallah yesterday called for a "just punishment" for the "...

The Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg celebrated her seventeenth birthday on Friday not with cake, but with an hour-long protest at the parliament in Stockholm.   "I'm not the kind of person who celebrates birthdays," the teenager said. "I stand here as usual from 8 am to 3 pm. Then I go home." Greta Thunberg Tweets! Thunberg has had a busy year. She travelled the world to demand that governments take more action against climate change. "It was a strange and busy year. But also a great year because I have found something that I want to do with my life. And what I do has an impact," the activist said. The teenager started her so-called climate strike when she was fifteen. She skipped school to take action at the Swedish parliament. That made her world-famous — the American ...

China denies that it has secretly sentenced to death the Uighur academic Tashpolat Tiyip. Human rights organisation Amnesty International already suspected a "secret and unjust conviction" in September.   The United Nations, therefore, demanded answers from the Beijing government. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs publicized on Friday that the trial against Tiyip is still ongoing and that his rights are being protected "following the law". According to the Chinese government, the geographer and former president of the University of Xianjing are suspected of "corruption and bribery". The Uyghurs form a Muslim minority in China and live mainly in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. Many of them are locked up there in detention camps. China itself has repeatedly denied that ...