The 11 Turkish soldiers martyred by a helicopter crash were honored by state and military funeral services on Friday.

Besides the martyred soldiers, including one corps commander, two other soldiers were injured when a military helicopter crashed in the eastern Bitlis province on Thursday.
Contact with the Cougar-type military helicopter, which took off from Bingol for the Tatvan district of Bitlis at 1.55 PM local time (1055GMT), was lost at 2.25 PM (1125GMT).
The state ceremony was held in Ahmet Hamdi Akseki Mosque in the capital Ankara for 8th Corps Commander Lt. Gen. Osman Erbas, Technical Sgt. Nazmi Yilmaz, Col. Senturk Aydinyer, Lt. Salih Sarioglu, Chief Master Sgt. Mehmet Demir, Master Sgt. Omer Umulu, Lt. Cpts. Tayfun Kures and Gokhan Uysal, Staff Sgt. Sukru Karadirek, and Specialized Sgts. Tolga Demirci and Hakan Gul.
The funeral prayers were performed following the Friday prayers.
Speaking at the ceremony, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wished patience for the families of the deceased and conveyed his condolences.
Erdogan remembered Erbas with gratitude, saying he was a very humble person.
The service was also attended by Parliament Speaker Mustafa Sentop, Vice President Fuat Oktay, political party leaders, as well as ministers, commanders, and officials.
Bodies of Erbas, Aydinyer, Sarioglu, Kures, and Uysal will be buried in Ankara, while Karadirek will be laid to rest in the western Afyonkarahisar province later in the day.
Other martyrs will be sent to their hometowns to be buried on Saturday.
Before the state ceremony, a military funeral was held in the eastern Elazig province with the attendance of National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Guler, Deputy Interior Minister Ismail Catakli, Elazig Governor Erkaya Yirik, Bingol Governor Kadir Ekinci, other commanders, families of the martyrs, and officials.
Following the funeral, the bodies of the martyrs were sent to Ankara for the state ceremony.

State, military funerals held for 11 soldiers martyred in helicopter crash

Speaking at the ceremony, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wished patience for the families of the deceased and conveyed his condolences

State ceremony held for martyrs from crash

Cyprus will open its doors from May 1 to British tourists who have been vaccinated against Covid-19, a government minister said.

The coronavirus pandemic has devastated the Mediterranean island's vital tourism industry, with arrivals slumping to 631,609 in 2020 from nearly four million in 2019.
-We informed the British government that as of May 1, we would facilitate the arrival of British citizens immunised with EU-licenced vaccines to enter Cyprus with no negative Covid-19 test and no quarantine- Tourism Minister Savvas Perdios said, quoted by the state-funded Cyprus News Agency.
Perdios said the policy was subject to the British government's Covid-19 restrictions, which currently ban international travel.
The announcement comes after Cyprus and Israel agreed a deal last month allowing vaccinated citizens of the two countries to travel each way without limitations, once passenger flights resume.
-This is a very important development for tourism and follows the arrangement with Israel, as they are two of Cyprus' main tourist markets- said Perdios.
Britain is the island's largest market for tourists, making up a third of its arrivals in 2019, while nearby Israel is its third-biggest source.
Under the Cypriot government's plan, UK citizens who have received the second dose of a Covid vaccine at least seven days before travelling would be allowed entry, but could still be subject to random testing at airports.
Britons would also still have to comply with health protocols such as mandatory mask-wearing and social distancing.
Although Cyprus has imposed two national lockdowns during the year-long pandemic, it has had a milder outbreak than many other European Union countries.
The Republic of Cyprus has recorded 232 coronavirus deaths and 36,004 infections since the onset of the pandemic.

The coronavirus pandemic has devastated the Mediterranean island's vital tourism industry

The announcement comes after Cyprus and Israel agreed a deal last month allowing vaccinated citizens of the two countries to travel each way without limitations, once passenger flights resume

Cyprus opens doors to vaccinated British tourists

Police in Myanmar on Friday opened fire on protesters against last month’s military coup, killing one man, as international condemnation rained down on the junta ahead of a United Nations Security Council meeting to discuss the crisis.The violence took place as the military lost a tussle over leadership of its U.N. mission in New York and the United States announced new sanctions targeting military conglomerates after the deaths of dozens of civilian protesters.
Activists demanding the restoration of the elected government of veteran democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi held more demonstrations in several towns and cities, with a crowd of thousands marching peacefully through the second city of Mandalay.
-The stone age is over, we’re not scared because you threaten us- the crowd chanted.
Police opened fire and one man was killed, witnesses and a doctor told Reuters by telephone.
In the main city of Yangon, police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse protesters who had been joined by about 100 doctors in white coats, witnesses said.
Crowds also gathered in the town of Pathein, to the west of Yangon, and in central Myingyan, where dozens of women in straw hats held up signs calling for Suu Kyi’s release, witnesses said.
On Thursday, police broke up rallies with tear gas and gunfire in several cities but their crackdown was more restrained than on Wednesday, when the United Nations said 38 people were killed in the bloodiest day of protests.
In all, at least 55 people have been killed since the Feb. 1 coup.

U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet demanded the security forces halt what she called their “vicious crackdown on peaceful protesters”. Bachelet said more than 1,700 people had been arrested, including 29 journalists.

A spokesman for the ruling military council did not answer telephone calls seeking comment.
Singapore has been the most outspoken of Myanmar’s neighbours and its foreign minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, said it was a “national shame” for armed forces to use weapons against their people.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said some Red Cross volunteers had been injured and wrongfully arrested and Red Cross ambulances had been damaged. It called for a halt to the violence.
The military seized power on Feb. 1, saying that the landslide victory of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) in an election in November was fraudulent. The electoral commission has said the ballot was fair.
The junta has promised to hold new elections at an unspecified date, but activists have rejected that and demand the release of Suu Kyi, who has been held in detention since the coup.

Condemnation of the coup and subsequent violence has come largely from the West, with Mynamar’s Asian neighbours, including India, mostly more restrained. The junta can count on some support from Russia and China - a major investor - at the United Nations.The military has weathered isolation and sanctions during previous eras of rule by generals and has indicated it will not be swayed this time round.
The U.N. human rights investigator on Myanmar, Thomas Andrews, urged the Security Council - which meets to discuss the situation later on Friday - to impose a global arms embargo and targeted economic sanctions on the junta.
The United States has told China, which has declined to condemn the coup, that it expects it to play a constructive role. China has said stability is a top priority.
The military, which ruled directly for nearly 50 years until it embarked on a tentative transition to democracy a decade ago, has been struggling to impose its authority on a country where many people abhor the thought of a return of army rule.

A civil disobedience campaign of strikes running parallel with the protests has been supported by many government workers including a trickle of policemen. Nineteen policemen crossed into India this week fearing persecution for disobeying orders, Indian police told Reuters.

More than 10 Myanmar diplomats in foreign missions have also declared their support for the pro-democracy campaign, the Irrawaddy news outlet reported. In Washington, it was unclear whether Myanmar’s embassy was still representing the junta.
Opposition to the junta has also united people across the ethnically diverse country.
In eastern Myanmar, former insurgents from the Karen ethnic minority guarded anti-coup protesters from security forces, saying in a statement everyone had to work together to end military dictatorship.
In New York, a clash over who represents Myanmar at the United Nations was averted after the junta’s replacement quit and the Myanmar U.N. mission confirmed that Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun remained in the job.The junta fired Kyaw Moe Tun on Saturday after he urged countries at the U.N. General Assembly to use “any means necessary” to reverse the coup.

In all, at least 55 people have been killed since the Feb. 1 coup.

Smoke rise from burning objects during a protest in Yangon, Myanmar, March 4, 2021, in this still image taken from a video.

Myanmar police open fire, kill one protester, ahead of U.N. Security Council meeting on crisis

Pope Francis landed in Baghdad on Friday for his most risky foreign trip since his election in 2012, saying he felt duty-bound to make the “emblematic” visit because Iraq had suffered so much for so long.An Alitalia plane carrying him, his entourage, a security detail, and about 75 journalists, touched down at Baghdad International Airport slightly ahead of schedule just before 2 PM local time.
Iraq is deploying thousands of additional security personnel to protect the 84-year-old pope during the visit, which comes after a spate of rocket and suicide bomb attacks raised fears for his safety.
-I am happy to be making trips again- he said in brief comments to reporters aboard his plane, alluding to the coronavirus pandemic which has prevented him from travelling. The Iraq trip is his first outside Italy since November 2019.
-This is an emblematic trip and it is a duty towards a land that has been martyred for so many years- Francis said, before donning a mask and greeting each reporter individually, without shaking hands.
Francis’s whirlwind tour will take him by plane, helicopter and possibly armoured car to four cities, including areas that most foreign dignitaries are unable to reach, let alone in such a short space of time.
He will say Mass at a Baghdad church, meet Iraq’s top Shi’ite Muslim cleric in the southern city of Najaf and travel north to Mosul, where the army had to empty the streets for security reasons last year for a visit by Iraq’s prime minister.
Mosul is a former Islamic State stronghold, and churches and other buildings there still bear the scars of conflict.

Since the defeat of the Islamic State militants in 2017, Iraq has seen a greater degree of security, though violence persists, often in the form of rocket attacks by Iran-aligned militias on U.S. targets, and U.S. military action in response.

On Wednesday 10 rockets landed on an airbase that hosts U.S., coalition and Iraqi forces. Hours later, Francis reaffirmed he would travel to Iraq.
Islamic State also remains a threat. In January, a suicide attack claimed by the Sunni militant group killed 32 people in Baghdad’s deadliest such attack for years.
Francis will meet clergy at a Baghdad church where Islamist gunmen killed more than 50 worshippers in 2010. Violence against Iraq’s minority religious groups, especially when a third of the country was being run by Islamic State, has reduced its ancient Christian community to a fifth of its once 1.5 million people.
The pontiff will also visit Ur, birthplace of the prophet Abraham, who is revered by Christians, Muslims and Jews, and meet Iraq’s revered top Shi’ite Muslim cleric, 90-year-old Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
The meeting with Sistani, who wields great influence over Iraq’s Shi’ite majority and in the country’s politics, will be the first by a pope.
Some Shi’ite militant groups have opposed the pope’s visit, framing it as Western interference in Iraq’s affairs, but many Iraqis hope that it can help foster a fresh view of Iraq.
-It might not change much on the ground, but at least if the pope visits, people will see our country in a different light, not just bombs and war- said Ali Hassan, a 30-year-old Baghdad resident picking up relatives at the airport.

He will say Mass at a Baghdad church, meet Iraq’s top Shi’ite Muslim cleric in the southern city of Najaf and travel north to Mosul, where the army had to empty the streets for security reasons last year for a visit by Iraq’s prime minister

Pope Francis boards the plane for his visit to Iraq, at Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy, March 5, 2021.

Pope Francis arrives in Baghdad for risky, historic Iraq tour

Turkey's defence minister on Friday blamed bad weather for a military helicopter crash that killed 10 soldiers and a senior commander in the country's restive southeast.

Lieutenant General Osman Erbas, who headed the army's 8th Corps based in the eastern Elazig province, was among those killed in Thursday's accident.
The crash was the deadliest since 13 soldiers died in the southeastern Sirnak province near Turkey's border with Syria and Iraq in 2017.
-Based on initial information and witnesses' statements, we determined that the accident occurred due to suddenly changing adverse weather conditions- the Anadolu state news agency quoted Defence Minister Hulusi Akara as saying.
Akara and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu took teams of senior military figures to the crash site in the southeastern Bitlis province on Thursday.
Defence officials said a formal investigation into the incident had been launched.
The European Union and the United States immediately offered their condolences to the NATO ally.
A Turkish diplomatic source said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also expressed his support in in a telephone call with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
The accident occurred in a region where Turkish forces have been conducting military operations against outlawed Kurdish militias since 1984 in a campaign that has killed tens of thousands.
Turkey also provides a vital staging post as well as defences in the fight against Islamic State group extremists in Iraq and Syria.
But its relations with EU members states such as France and Greece have been rocked by a range of regional disputes.

The crash was the deadliest since 13 soldiers died in the southeastern Sirnak province near Turkey's border with Syria and Iraq in 2017.

Defence officials said a formal investigation into the incident had been launched

Turkey blames bad weather for deadly military helicopter crash

Australian public broadcaster SBS said it would stop using content from Chinese state-run television Friday, pending a review of serious human rights concerns.

The Australian television, radio and web outlet -- which specialises in multilingual, multicultural content -- said it was investigating CGTN and CCTV's airing of dozens of forced prisoner confessions.
SBS said it had been contacted by human rights organisation Safeguard Defenders about CGTN and CCTV's decision to broadcast what they said were at least 56 confessions of prisoners held under duress or torture between 2013 and 2020.
-SBS has received a complaint which it is currently reviewing- a spokesperson for the broadcaster said. 
-Given the serious concerns it raises, and the complexity of the material involved, we have made the decision to suspend the broadcast of the overseas-sourced CGTN and CCTV news bulletins while we undertake an assessment of these services.-The move is likely to further sour relations between Australia and China, which are already at the lowest point in decades.
Australia has moved to limit the influence of Chinese state-linked individuals, organisations and technology firms in the country.
It has also barred Chinese state-linked firms from buying two local companies and is reviewing a slew of past investments.
China has responded with sanctions against a range of Australian exports, from grain and coal to wine and lobsters.
Media workers from both countries have been caught in the crossfire.
Last year a Chinese-Australian journalist was jailed and two other Australian journalists were forced to leave China.
Australian authorities also raided the homes of four representatives of Chinese state media as part of an investigation into covert influence operations.
SBS said it had carried 15 minutes of CGTN in Mandarin and 30 minutes of CCTV in English as part of its "World Watch" international news programme.
Its withdrawal of the segments comes after British regulator Ofcom slapped a ban on CGTN in February, arguing that the broadcaster's state-backed ownership structure violated British law.
China has long heavily censored foreign news outlets, including Britain's BBC which has been completely banned since earlier this year.
In the United States CGTN staff must register as agents of a foreign government.&nbsp;

In the United States CGTN staff must register as agents of a foreign government

The move is likely to further sour relations between Australia and China, which are already at the lowest point in decades

Australian public TV suspends use of China state media shows

Nine soldiers were martyred and four others injured when a military helicopter crashed Thursday in eastern Turkey, according to the country's National Defense Ministry.-As a result of the tragic accident, our nine heroic fellow soldiers in the helicopter were martyred and four others were injured- the ministry said in a statement.
The contact with the Cougar-type military helicopter, which took off from the eastern province of Bingol to Tatvan district at 1.55 PM[1055GMT], was cut off at 2.25 PM [1125GMT].
-The efforts are underway for the transfer of our injured personnel to the hospital- it said.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Military helicopter crashes in eastern Turkey, 9 martyred<a href="https://t.co/PvSjEjInhF">https://t.co/PvSjEjInhF</a>— ANADOLU AGENCY (ENG) (@anadoluagency) <a href="https://twitter.com/anadoluagency/status/1367510412305039363?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 4, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

4 military personnel injured after Cougar-type helicopter crashes, says National Defense Ministry

The efforts are underway for the transfer of our injured personnel to the hospital

Military helicopter crashes in eastern Turkey, 9 martyred

Facebook has removed 185 military-linked accounts and groups for allegedly engaging in an information-influencing operation in Thailand.

-We removed 77 Accounts, 72 Pages, 18 Groups and 18 Instagram accounts that originated in Thailand and targeted domestic audiences in the Southern provinces of Thailand- the social media giant said on Wednesday.
Facebook said its investigation found links of these accounts and groups with the Thai Military’s Internal Security Operations Command.
-This network posted primarily in Thai about news and current events, including content in support of the Thai military and the monarchy- the company said.
It said the majority of Page posting appeared to have occurred in 2020 using fake accounts posed as individuals from southern provinces of Thailand and also as young women.
Facebook said about 703,000 accounts followed one or more of these pages and around 100,000 accounts joined at least one of these groups.
Nathaniel Gleicher, head of security policy at Facebook, said the company took action for fraudulent acts and not the posted contents.
-It [the command] used fake accounts posing as individuals from the southern provinces of Thailand to criticize separatist movements and support the monarchy and military- Gleicher said in his Twitter account on Tuesday.
Southern Thailand is a Muslim minority region that has been rocked by tensions due to violence by the Thai military.
The Thai government imposed martial law in three Muslim-majority provinces in southern Thailand -- Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala -- following deadly violence in 2004.
According to the monitoring group Deep South Watch, more than 7,000 people were killed and 13,000 injured in the armed conflict from 2004-2020.
Since 2020, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has launched peace talks facilitated by Malaysia with the resistance group National Revolutionary Front (BRN).
However, this dialogue was delayed for one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and both parties agreed in February to continue negotiations online.

Accounts, pages originated in Thailand, targeted domestic audiences in southern Thailand, says social media giant

Facebook said about 703,000 accounts followed one or more of these pages and around 100,000 accounts joined at least one of these groups

Facebook removes 185 Thai military-linked accounts

A pre-dawn major earthquake struck northern New Zealand, triggering a tsunami warning.

According to the US Geological Survey, the 6.9 magnitude quake hit about 178 kilometers (110 miles) northeast of the Gisborne city in North Island on Friday at 2.27 am local time (1327GMT Thursday) and was at a depth of 10 km (6 mi).
However, New Zealand’s National Emergency Management Agency said the earthquake measured 7.3-magnitude.
The agency issued a tsunami warning for coastal areas following the earthquake.
In a statement, the agency said tsunami can trigger coastal inundation flooding of land area.
-Strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges near the shore are expected in the following areas. This means a threat to beach, harbor, estuary, and small boat activities- the statement added.
-Tsunami activity will continue for several hours and the threat must be regarded as real until this warning is canceled- the agency warned.

Strong, unusual currents near shore expected after magnitude 7.3 quake, says New Zealand authorities

Tsunami activity will continue for several hours and the threat must be regarded as real until this warning is canceled

Powerful earthquake triggers tsunami warning in N.Zealand

The UN on Thursday dispatched 44 more trucks with humanitarian aid to northwestern Syria, a region where millions of people remain in need of assistance due to conflict.

The trucks passed through the Cilvegozu border gate in Turkey’s southern Hatay province to enter Syria’s Idlib province, where the aid will be distributed.
A civil war has ravaged Syria since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protesters.
According to UN estimates, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced.
Idlib falls within a de-escalation zone forged under an agreement between Turkey and Russia.
The area has been the subject of multiple cease-fire understandings that the Assad regime and its allies have frequently violated.

44 trucks with aid head to Syria's northwestern Idlib province

The trucks passed through the Cilvegozu border gate in Turkey’s southern Hatay province to enter Syria’s Idlib province, where the aid will be distributed

UN sends more humanitarian aid to Syria via Turkey

French President Emmanuel Macron renewed his call on Thursday for an immediate end to repression in Myanmar, a day after the United Nations said 38 people had been killed in the bloodiest day of crackdown on protests against last month’s military coup.

-France calls for an immediate end to the repression in Myanmar, for the liberation of people who have been held and for the respect of the democratic choice of the Myanmar people as expressed during the recent elections. We are at your side- wrote Macron in a Twitter message.
Myanmar police broke up demonstrations in several places with tear gas and gunfire on Thursday but there was no immediate word on casualties. Undeterred by the crackdown, activists said they refused to accept military rule and were determined to press for the release of elected government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and recognition of her victory in a November election.

Myanmar police broke up demonstrations in several places with tear gas and gunfire on Thursday

French President Emmanuel Macron arrives to deliver a press conference after a European Council summit held over video-conference, in Paris, France February 25, 2021.

French President Macron renews calls for end to repression in Myanmar

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday the latest problems surrounding Brexit and Northern Ireland could be solved with good will and common sense.

The EU promised legal action on Wednesday after the British government unilaterally extended a grace period for checks on food imports to Northern Ireland, a move Brussels said violated terms of Britain’s divorce deal.
-I am sure that with a bit of good will and common sense that all these technical problems are eminently solvable- Johnson said in a pooled interview during a trip to north east England.
He added that he had not seen which Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary groups had said they were temporarily withdrawing support for the 1998 peace agreement due to concerns over the Brexit deal.

The EU promised legal action on Wednesday after the British government unilaterally extended a grace period for checks on food imports to Northern Ireland, a move Brussels said violated terms of Britain’s divorce deal

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during the weekly question time debate in Parliament in London, Britain, March 3, 2021, in this screen grab taken from video

UK's Johnson says Brexit problems in Northern Ireland are solvable

A female doctor was killed in a bomb blast in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad in what appeared to be another targeted hit, officials said Thursday, just days after three women media workers were gunned down in the area. 

Journalists, religious scholars, activists and judges have all been victims of a recent wave of political assassinations across Afghanistan, forcing many into hiding -- with some fleeing the country.
In the latest incident, the doctor was killed after a magnetic bomb was attached to the vehicle she was travelling in, according to a spokesman from the provincial governor’s office. A child was also injured by the explosion. 
-She was commuting in a rickshaw when the bomb went off- the spokesman told AFP.
Another spokesman from a provincial hospital also confirmed the incident and toll. 
No group has claimed responsibility for the blast. 
The attack comes two days after three female media workers were gunned down in Jalalabad in separate attacks that were just minutes apart. 
The local Islamic State group affiliate said its gunmen carried out the killing of what it called "journalists working for one of the media stations loyal to the apostate Afghan government".
Afghan and US officials have blamed the Taliban for the wave of violence, but the group has denied the charges.
The assassinations have been acutely felt by women, whose rights were crushed under the Taliban's five-year rule, including being banned from working.
Intelligence officials have previously linked the renewed threat against female professionals to demands at the peace talks for their rights to be protected.
The attacks come as speculation is rife over America's future in Afghanistan after the administration of President Joe Biden announced plans to review the withdrawal agreement signed with the Taliban last year that paved the way for foreign troops to leave the country by May.

Journalists, religious scholars, activists and judges have all been victims of a recent wave of political assassinations

The attack comes two days after three female media workers were gunned down in Jalalabad in separate attacks that were just minutes apart

Female doctor killed in eastern Afghanistan after murder of media workers

New Zealand police arrested two people Thursday over online threats against two Christchurch mosques targeted in a white supremacist attack two years ago that claimed the lives of 51 Muslims.

Police in the South Island city announced the pair's arrest as Christchurch prepares for the second anniversary of the horrific attack on March 15, 2019.
They said no charges had yet been laid and did not provide further details.
-We take all threats of this nature seriously and we are working closely with our Muslim community- police said.
-Any messages of hate or people wanting to cause harm in our community will not be tolerated - it's not the Kiwi way.-In March 2019, Australian national Brenton Tarrant targeted men, women and children who had gathered for Friday prayers in Christchurch, killing 51 and injuring dozens more.
The self-proclaimed white supremacist was jailed for life last year without the possibility of parole.

In March 2019, Australian national Brenton Tarrant targeted men, women and children who had gathered for Friday prayers in Christchurch, killing 51 and injuring dozens more

Police in the South Island city announced the pair's arrest as Christchurch prepares for the second anniversary of the horrific attack on March 15, 2019.

New Zealand arrests two over mosque attacks anniversary threat

German flag carrier Lufthansa said Thursday it lost a record 6.7 billion euros ($8.1 billion) in 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic wiped out demand for travel and left aircraft grounded.

Europe's biggest airline said it expects to book an operating loss again in 2021, although smaller than last year, as capacity runs at only 40-50 percent of pre-pandemic levels for the full year. 
Underlining the long road to recovery, it added that capacity will climb to 90 percent of 2019's level only in "the middle of the decade".
After borders slammed shut as governments scrambled to halt the first wave of the Covid-19 crisis, the airline faced an uncertain future.
In June, it was offered a lifeline by the German government, which pumped in nine billion euros for a 25 percent stake.
-The past year was the most challenging in the history of our company - for our customers, our employees and our shareholders- said Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr.
In the airline's home base, demand is sluggish with work from home orders curtailing lucrative business travel while official warnings are in place against leisure tourism in many countries worldwide.
Across Europe, restrictions are also in place as governments continue to battle rising infection numbers.
Lufthansa is currently flying about 20 percent of its capacity, with little improvement expected in the next one to two months.
But it expects demand to pick up again in the summer with a vaccination rollout progressing and more capacity for tests available.
"Internationally recognised digital vaccination and test certificates must replace travel bans and quarantine," Spohr stressed, repeating calls by other airline bosses.

Lufthansa, which includes subsidiaries Swiss, Austrian, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings, operated only 31 percent of its overall capacity last year.

Revenues sank 63 percent to 13.6 billion euros for 2020, compared to 36.4 billion euros in 2019.
The operating loss came in at 5.5 billion euros, while a year ago, the airline's comparative adjusted earnings before interest and tax stood in the black at 2.0 billion euros.
Although it has put much of its staff on curtailed hours and brought its headcount down from a pre-pandemic 141,000 to 110,000 currently, another 10,000 jobs are still on the line.
Over the last months, it has done deals with unions representing pilots and ground crew so as to head off forced redundancies until March 2022.
Pilots agreed to short hour arrangements and corresponding salary cuts while ground staff signed on to giving up bonuses and pay raises to save their jobs.
The group's current fleet of 800 aircraft will be slashed to 650 by 2023.
Lufthansa's woes mirror those of its competitors elsewhere.
Industry group IATA, which represents 290 major airlines worldwide, warned last week that global air passenger traffic will recover more slowly than expected this year because coronavirus variants have created strong headwinds.
The International Air Transport Association now estimates that traffic will reach between 33 and 38 percent of the levels recorded in 2019.
Its previous 2021 forecast was for traffic to reach 51 percent of the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic struck.

They are currently flying about 20 percent of its capacity, with little improvement expected in the next one to two months

Lufthansa is currently flying about 20 percent of its capacity, with little improvement expected in the next one to two months

Lufthansa posts record annual loss, sees long recovery

Three female media workers were shot and killed in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Tuesday, their TV network said, in what appeared to be the latest targeted killing to rock the war-torn country.

-They are all dead. They were going home from the office on foot when they were shot- Zalmai Latifi, the director at Enikass TV, told AFP. 
Latifi said the women were killed in two separate attacks. All three worked in the dubbing department for the broadcaster.
Zahir Adel, a spokesman at Nangarhar's provincial hospital, also confirmed the toll.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Journalists, religious scholars, activists and judges have all been targeted in a recent wave of political assassinations that has spread panic across Afghanistan and forced many into hiding -- with some even fleeing the country.
The killings have increased since peace talks were launched last year between the warring Afghan government and the Taliban -- the latest attempt to end decades of conflict.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attacks

Relatives wait outside a hospital for the bodies of three women that ware killed by gunmen in the city of Jalalabad, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, March 2, 2021.

State ceremony held for martyrs from crash

Cyprus opens doors to vaccinated British tourists

Myanmar police open fire, kill one protester, ahead of U.N. Security Council meeting on crisis

Pope Francis arrives in Baghdad for risky, historic Iraq tour

Turkey blames bad weather for deadly military helicopter crash

Australian public TV suspends use of China state media shows

Military helicopter crashes in eastern Turkey, 9 martyred

Facebook removes 185 Thai military-linked accounts

Powerful earthquake triggers tsunami warning in N.Zealand

UN sends more humanitarian aid to Syria via Turkey

French President Macron renews calls for end to repression in Myanmar

UK's Johnson says Brexit problems in Northern Ireland are solvable

Female doctor killed in eastern Afghanistan after murder of media workers

New Zealand arrests two over mosque attacks anniversary threat

Lufthansa posts record annual loss, sees long recovery

Three female media workers shot to death in eastern Afghanistan

World

State ceremony held for martyrs from crash

Cyprus opens doors to vaccinated British tourists

Myanmar police open fire, kill one protester, ahead of U.N. Security Council meeting on crisis

Pope Francis arrives in Baghdad for risky, historic Iraq tour

Turkey blames bad weather for deadly military helicopter crash

Australian public TV suspends use of China state media shows

Military helicopter crashes in eastern Turkey, 9 martyred

Facebook removes 185 Thai military-linked accounts

Powerful earthquake triggers tsunami warning in N.Zealand

UN sends more humanitarian aid to Syria via Turkey

French President Macron renews calls for end to repression in Myanmar

UK's Johnson says Brexit problems in Northern Ireland are solvable

Female doctor killed in eastern Afghanistan after murder of media workers

New Zealand arrests two over mosque attacks anniversary threat

Lufthansa posts record annual loss, sees long recovery

Three female media workers shot to death in eastern Afghanistan