At least 33 Turkish soldiers have died in a Syrian government attack in opposition-held north-western Syria, in a major escalation of the conflict. Turkey, which backs the opposition, says it hit 200 government targets in response, “neutralising” 309 soldiers.

Russia, Syria’s key military ally, says Turkish troops were attacked in Idlib province by Syrian forces while operating alongside jihadist fighters. The EU has warned the crisis could escalate further. “There is a risk of sliding into a major open international military confrontation,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell tweeted. “It is also causing unbearable humanitarian suffering and putting civilians in danger.”

The Turkish and Russian presidents spoke by phone on Friday. Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin both expressed concern and agreed on the need for “additional measures” to normalise the situation, with the possibility of a summit in the near future, the Kremlin says. Russian and Turkish officials are due to meet at the Turkish foreign ministry. Russia also says top Russian and US military officials have discussed the situation in Idlib.

Russia denies its own forces were involved in the fighting in the Balyun area. Government forces, supported by Russia, have been trying to retake Idlib from jihadist groups and Turkish-backed rebel factions based there. The attack came after Turkish-backed rebels retook the key town of Saraqeb, north-east of Balyun. Idlib is the last Syrian province where Syrian rebel groups still control significant territory.(BBC)…[+]

The acting White House chief of staff says US media is stoking a coronavirus panic because they hope it will take down President Donald Trump. “The reason they are paying so much attention to it today is that they think this is going to bring down the president,” Mick Mulvaney said.

Speaking to a group of conservatives on Friday, he added people should ignore the media in order to calm the markets. Global markets have continued to fall as the virus infects over 50 countries. There have been 82,000 reported cases of Covid-19 worldwide and 2,800 deaths since the disease emerged late last year. All but 3,664 cases and 57 of the deaths have been reported in China.

“We took extraordinary steps four or five weeks ago,” Mr Mulvaney said, referring to the Trump administration order to close the border to foreign travelers coming from China, where the virus originated. The move was widely covered in the media at the time. “Why didn’t we hear about it? What was going on four or five weeks ago? Impeachment. And that’s all the press wanted to talk about,” he told a gathering of conservatives outside Washington on Friday.(BBC)…[+]

Rock royalty met the Royal Family when the Duke of Sussex got behind a microphone with Jon Bon Jovi. They met at Abbey Road Studios, where the US rocker is re-recording his song Unbroken with the Invictus Games Choir.

The prince – who will step down as a working royal at the end of March – posted a video of both men in a recording booth. Bon Jovi said he looked forward to working with the “artist formerly known as prince”. Both men greeted each other warmly on the steps of the world-famous London studio synonymous with the Beatles. They were then ushered inside to the control room overlooking Studio 2 – where Fab Four recorded during the 1960s. A video filmed during the duke’s visit showed the prince and the popstar wearing headphones. The footage ends just as the pair are about to break into song. (BBC)…[+]