Here is a summary of the news in the world.

As Russia’s COVID-19 toll rises, Siberian hospital struggles to cope

The beds in the intensive care unit of this Siberian hospital rarely stay empty for long. Doctors at the No. 2 hospital in the Russian city of Biysk are facing an unprecedented wave of coronavirus patients, many of whom are unvaccinated. Doctors at the hospital have to work up to three shifts of 24 hours in a row. The work is much more difficult than in the first wave of the pandemic last year, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Olga Kaurova said.

Melbourne, Australia enjoys weekend of relaxed COVID restrictions after long lockdown

Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, has started its first weekend away from the world’s longest streak of COVID-19 lockdowns with spontaneous street parties, live music and crowded pubs, bars and restaurants . Home to around five million people, Melbourne has suffered 262 days, or nearly nine months, of restrictions in six closures since March 2020, longer than the continuing 234-day shutdown in Buenos Aires.

Turkish Defense Minister warns of alliances that harm NATO

The Turkish defense minister, a NATO member, said forming alliances outside of NATO would harm the organization, according to comments released on Saturday after Greece and France agreed to a defense pact last month. NATO allies Greece and France signed a strategic military and defense cooperation pact in September, which includes an order for three French frigates worth around € 3 billion.

US nuclear envoy visits South Korea amid missile tension in North Korea, talks stalled

The US envoy for North Korea arrived in South Korea on Saturday amid stalled denuclearization talks and tensions over recent Pyongyang missile tests. Special Representative Sung Kim’s visit comes days after North Korea fired a new submarine-launched ballistic missile https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/nkorea-fires-unidentified- projectile-off-east-coast-skorea-military-2021-10-19 (SLBM), which has drawn criticism from Washington and calls for a return to talks aimed at denuclearizing the North in exchange for easing US sanctions.

Red Cross warns aid organizations to avoid Afghan humanitarian crisis

The Red Cross on Friday urged the international community to engage with the new Afghan Taliban leadership, saying aid groups would be unable on their own to avert a humanitarian crisis. Afghanistan was plunged into crisis by the abrupt end of billions of dollars in foreign aid after the collapse of the Western-backed government and the return to power of the Taliban in August.

Afghanistan heading for collapse faster than expected, Swedish minister warns

Afghanistan is heading for an economic collapse that risks plunging the country into a new political crisis, the Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation warned on Saturday. Afghanistan was plunged into crisis after the collapse of the West-backed government and the Taliban takeover in August, which met an abrupt end of billions of dollars in aid to its economy aid dependent.

Budapest hosts rival political rallies as Hungary’s 2022 election race intensifies

Tens of thousands of Hungarians gathered in Budapest on Saturday to commemorate a 1956 anti-Soviet uprising and show their support for Nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban who faces a close election race next year. For the first time since coming to power in 2010, Orban, 58, will face a united front of opposition parties including the Socialists, the Liberals and the former far-right, now center-right, Jobbik during of the legislative elections of 2022.

Russian and Chinese warships conduct their first joint patrols in the Pacific

Russian and Chinese warships carried out their first joint patrols in the western Pacific Ocean from October 17 to 23, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday. Moscow and Beijing, which held naval cooperation exercises in the Sea of ​​Japan in early October, have forged closer military and diplomatic ties in recent years at a time when their relations with the West have deteriorated. .

Italian Salvini ridicules actor Gere’s call for kidnapping trial

Matteo Salvini, leader of the right-wing Italian League party, said a trial where he faced kidnapping charges for refusing to let a migrant ship dock in the country in 2019 was not serious, as actor Richard Gere was admitted to testify. Salvini, who was then Italian interior minister, appeared on Saturday at the second hearing of a trial in the Sicilian capital Palermo, where the court approved a list of witnesses.

UN plane interrupts landing as airstrike hits Tigray in Ethiopia

An Ethiopian government airstrike on the capital of the northern Tigray region on Friday forced a UN flight carrying aid workers to halt a landing there, the United Nations said. Humanitarian sources and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray (TPLF), which controls the region, said a university in Mekelle was affected by the strike.

(This story was not edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)