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       Anti-coal protesters clashed with police at a massive rally of several thousand people in western Germany on Saturday, with police complaining that protective barriers had been broken down near a huge opencast coal mine.

       Police have also reported the intrusion of protesters into the mine site. Earlier, AFP journalists witnessed scuffles between groups of protesters and police.

       Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who has already visited the site over the past two years, regularly attends the demonstrations.

       For more watch Euronews' report in the video above.

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       A series of explosions rocked Ukraine's capital on Saturday morning, with critical infrastructure being targeted, according to the deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko.

       Kyiv’s military administration added that an unidentified installation was hit in the city and emergency services were operating at the site of the strike.

       It wasn’t immediately clear whether several facilities in Kyiv were targeted or just the one. The Ukrainian capital hasn’t been attacked with missiles since New Year’s Eve.

       In the wider Kyiv region, a residential building in the village of Kopyliv was hit, and the windows of the houses nearby were blown out.

       The attacks come amid conflicting reports on the fate of the fiercely-contested salt mining town of Soledar, in the country's embattled east.

       Russia claims that its forces have captured the town, a development that would mark a rare victory for the Kremlin after a series of humiliating setbacks on the battlefield.

       Ukrainian authorities and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, however, insist the fight for Soledar continues.

       For more watch Euronews' report in the video above.

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       China announced on Saturday it has seen at least 60,000 deaths linked to the COVID-19 pandemic since the country lifted health restrictions a month ago.

       "A total of 59,938 (deaths) were recorded between December 8, 2022 and January 12, 2023," health authority official Jiao Yahui told reporters.

       This report does not take into account deaths recorded outside hospitals and other medical facilities.

       Among these deaths, 5,503 were caused directly by respiratory failure linked to Covid-19, the official added.

       After three years of some of the most draconian restrictions in the world, China abruptly lifted most of its health measures against coronavirus in early December.

       Since then, the number of patients has grown rapidly. Hospitals have found themselves overwhelmed with elderly patients - and crematoriums are overwhelmed by the influx of bodies.

       Beijing reviewed its methodology for accounting for Covid deaths in December. Only people who died directly from respiratory failure linked to the coronavirus are now included in the statistics.

       This controversial change in methodology means that a large number of deaths are no longer listed as being due to the virus.

       The World Health Organization (WHO) last week criticised this new definition of a Covid death, deeming it "too narrow".

       Beijing has castigated these criticisms and called on the WHO to adopt an "impartial" position on Covid. On Wednesday, the Chinese health authorities said that it was "not necessary" to dwell on the precise number of deaths linked to Covid.