World roundup: January 11 2023

Stories from Iran, Ukraine, Peru, and elsewhere

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

The New Arab is reporting that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fighters attacked a Syrian army position in Idlib province on Wednesday, killing at least three soldiers. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights there were at least four combatants wounded on either side. HTS is claiming that its fighters killed 15 soldiers in a similar assault in Aleppo province on Tuesday, while the SOHR is reporting five soldiers and three HTS combatants killed in that engagement.

An anonymous “senior Turkish official” told reporters on Wednesday that a meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia, Syria, and Turkey may happen as soon as next week. This would be the next step in Moscow’s project to get these two crazy kids to patch things up and could be the final step before the long-awaited (?) summit involving their respective heads of state. Nothing has been scheduled as yet, however.