World News Roundup: How COVID-19 became a 'boon' for a battered Indian hospital; EU calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to respect ceasefire and more

Doctors said when a second wave pummelled India this year, the government hospital with some 800 beds and meant to serve millions of people, barely pulled through. Estonia announces snap military exercise, will put razor wire along Russian border The Estonian government summoned 1,700 reserve soldiers on Wednesday for an unannounced exercise which will include installing a razor wire barrier along 40 km of its border with Russia, as the migration crisis in nearby Belarus intensifies.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

How COVID-19 became a 'boon' for a battered Indian hospital

At the height of the first COVID-19 wave in India last year, the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital (JLNMCH) in the eastern district of Bhagalpur exemplified the sorry state of healthcare in most of the countryside. Wards and ICUs were so swamped with patients and relatives that armed escorts went with doctors on their rounds, in case violence erupted. Doctors said when a second wave pummelled India this year, the government hospital with some 800 beds and meant to serve millions of people, barely pulled through.

EU calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to respect ceasefire

The European Union urged Armenia and Azerbaijan on Wednesday to disengage their troops and respect the ceasefire agreed the previous day, after reports that seven Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in border clashes. The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, discussed the situation in phone calls with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan, and called for urgent de-escalation, according to an EU statement.

Estonia announces snap military exercise, will put razor wire along Russian border

The Estonian government summoned 1,700 reserve soldiers on Wednesday for an unannounced exercise which will include installing a razor wire barrier along 40 km of its border with Russia, as the migration crisis in nearby Belarus intensifies. The EU has accused Belarus of flying in thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Africa and pushing them to cross into EU and NATO members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia in retaliation for sanctions already imposed on Minsk. Belarus has denied deliberately fomenting the crisis.

Poland faces months of migration pressure from Belarus, minister says

The crisis on Poland's border with Belarus will last months, the Polish defence minister said on Wednesday, as several thousand migrants remained stranded on the EU's eastern frontier in what the bloc calls a deliberate blackmail campaign by Minsk. Nine Polish service members were injured on Tuesday and Poland used water cannons against small groups of migrants throwing stones across the barbed wire border fence.

Philippines group seeks to bar Marcos from presidency over tax evasion

The son of late Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos, an early frontrunner for the May election, is facing a second petition seeking to bar him from the presidential race, centred on a tax evasion conviction nearly three decades ago. The complaint, filed on Wednesday at the election commission by a group called the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law, argued the conviction should have perpetually disqualified Ferdinand Marcos Jr from holding or running for office.

Retailer halts kayak sales in northern France to deter migrant crossings

French sporting goods retailer Decathlon has stopped selling kayaks and other small boats in four of its northern stores close to the Channel coast to prevent migrants buying them for an attempt to reach Britain. The move comes after a surge this month in the number of migrants making the perilous sea journey from France to Britain across some of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

Two blasts hit Afghan capital Kabul, officials say

Two explosions hit the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday, killing at least one person and wounding at least six, including three women, Taliban officials and residents said. One car bomb blast in Dasht-e Barchi, a heavily Shi'ite Muslim area of western Kabul, killed a civilian and wounded six, interior ministry spokesman Qari Sayeed Khosty said in a tweet.

Former protest leader Boric seeks to bury Chile's 'neoliberal' past

"If Chile was the cradle of neoliberalism, it will also be its grave." If one quote could sum up a candidate's platform - and send shivers through the traditional elite - it might be this one from Chilean former student protest leader and lawmaker Gabriel Boric, one of the front-runners in Sunday's presidential election.

Exclusive-Germany may have been naive on China at first, Merkel says

Germany may at first have been naive in some areas of cooperation with China, but should not sever all connections in reaction to growing tensions, Chancellor Angela Merkel has told Reuters. Merkel's strategy of engagement has seen China become Germany's top trading partner during her 16 years in office, and has shaped Europe's stance on Asia's rising superpower, even amid concerns about unfair competition and industrial espionage.

Queen Elizabeth shown standing and smiling at Windsor Castle

Queen Elizabeth, who missed a Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph due to a sprained back, was shown standing and smiling at Windsor Castle on Wednesday. The queen, 95, is the world's oldest and longest-reigning monarch.

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