World roundup: August 19 2022

Stories from Iran, China, Montenegro, and more

INTERNATIONAL

In today’s global news:

• Worldometer is tracking COVID-19 cases and fatalities.

• The New York Times is tracking global vaccine distribution.

MIDDLE EAST

SYRIA

At least 21 people were killed on Friday in two incidents attributable to escalating violence in northern Syria. In the larger of the two incidents, shelling killed at least 17 people and wounded 35 more in the town of al-Bab, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Observatory is claiming that the Syrian military shelled the town in retaliation for a Turkish airstrike that killed several Syrian soldiers in northern Aleppo province earlier this week. An alternative theory is that the Kurdish YPG militia carried out the attack, but the Syrian Democratic Forces group, which is dominated by the YPG, has denied involvement. Earlier on Friday, an apparent Turkish drone strike hit what AFP describes as “a training centre for young girls” near the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakah, killing at least four children and wounding 11 others according to the SDF.