From Our Own Correspondent

Turkey has had record numbers of new coronavirus infections recently with around 30,000 positive cases a day. That number has now dropped slightly, and the Health Ministry says restrictions have begun to bear fruit. But how did it get to this, in a country which was initially regarded as doing well in the pandemic? Now the government has been accused of covering up the spread of the virus, and putting lives at risk, as Orla Guerin reports from Istanbul. In Sudan’s western region of Darfur, the long-running armed conflict has cost 300,000 lives, and forced two and a half million people to flee their homes. After a peace deal in August, the international peacekeeping force is preparing to pull out this month. Hopes now rest on the new part-civilian, part-military government, which came to power after 30 years of dictatorial rule. But as Mike Thomson found, the dual structure of the new administration can pose challenges on the ground. People in Bethlehem are preparing for an austere Christmas without the income