World News Roundup: U.S. urges WHO chief to invite Taiwan to assembly; Climate activist Thunberg hits back at Trump over anger management taunt and more

Ethiopia says military push has limited aims, as UN sounds alarm Ethiopia's federal military operations in the north have "clear, limited and achievable objectives", Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Friday, after the head of the United Nations said he was deeply alarmed by fighting in the country's Tigray region.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Ethiopia says military push has limited aims, as UN sounds alarm

Ethiopia's federal military operations in the north have "clear, limited and achievable objectives", Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Friday, after the head of the United Nations said he was deeply alarmed by fighting in the country's Tigray region. Abiy's government is mobilising troops from around the country and sending them to Tigray, after two days of clashes between government forces and a powerful ethnic faction that led the country's ruling coalition for decades.

U.S. urges WHO chief to invite Taiwan to assembly

The U.S. mission in Geneva urged World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday to invite Taiwan to a major meeting the body is hosting next week expected to focus on the COVID-19 pandemic. "We encourage the WHO to expand its efforts to offer Taiwan increased meaningful cooperation and collaboration with the organization, and this (an invitation to participate) would be a needed step in that direction," it said in a statement.

'America is more than a one-man show': German foreign minister on U.S. vote

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Friday urged both sides in the U.S. election to show restraint until the results were available, adding it was irresponsible to aggravate tensions. "America is more than a one-man show. Anyone who continues to pour oil on the fire in a situation like this is acting irresponsibly," Maas told Germany's Funke media in unusually blunt language.

Tusk says Trump, Kaczynski behave like 'bad-tempered brats'

Former European Council President Donald Tusk has compared both Donald Trump and the leader of Poland's ruling party to "bad-tempered brats" who use lies and conflict to stay in power. Tusk, a former Polish prime minister who now heads the main centre-right grouping in the European Parliament, said Kaczynski and Trump used similar strategies of dividing society and using propaganda to keep their hold on power.

English COVID infections stabilise at 50,000 per day: ONS estimate

New COVID-19 infections in England have stabilised at around 50,000 a day, the Office for National Statistics said on Friday, indicating a levelling off in the steep rise of cases even before England was pushed into a second national lockdown. The ONS said there was an estimated daily 45,700 new cases per day in the week to Oct 31, down slightly from the previous week's estimate of 51,900.

Denmark has found 214 people infected with mink-related coronavirus: State Serum Institute

Denmark's State Serum Institute, which deals with infectious diseases, has found mink-related versions of coronavirus in 214 people since June, according to a report on its website updated on Nov. 5. One strain of the mutated coronavirus, which has prompted Denmark to cull its entire herd of mink, has however only been found in 12 people and on five mink farms so far.

Climate activist Thunberg hits back at Trump over anger management taunt

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg hit back at Donald Trump on Twitter late on Thursday saying the U.S. president should "chill" about the election, a riposte to his tweet last year mocking the teenager over what he called her anger management issues. Commenting on Trump tweeting "STOP THE COUNT!" on Thursday, as the election race in the United States went to the wire, 17-year-old Thunberg tweeted: "So ridiculous. Donald must work on his Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Donald, Chill!" (https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1324439705522524162) Three more people brought before judge over murder of French teacher: BFM TV

Three more people were brought before a judge as part of an ongoing investigation into last month's murder of French teacher Samuel Paty, BFM TV reported on Friday, quoting judicial sources. The three had been arrested on Tuesday. India's top general says face-off with China could spark bigger conflict

India's top military commander said on Friday a tense border standoff with Chinese forces in the western Himalayas could spark a larger conflict, even as senior commanders from both sides met near the frontline for their eighth round of talks. Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat said the situation was tense at the Line of Actual Control, the de facto border, in eastern Ladakh, where thousands of Indian and Chinese troops are locked in a months-long confrontation. Austria orders closure of 'radical mosques', news agency APA says

Austria's interior and integration ministers have ordered the closure of "radical mosques" after Monday's deadly attack by a jihadist in Vienna in which four people were killed, Austrian news agency APA reported on Friday. Details will be announced at a news conference at 2 p.m. (1300 GMT), APA said.