Afghanistan did not commit to release 5,000 Taliban, Ghani says
The government of Afghanistan has made no commitment to free 5,000 Taliban prisoners as stated in a pact signed between the United States and Taliban Islamic militants, President Ashraf Ghani said on Sunday.
Tajikistan set to elect parliament loyal to strongman leader
Tajikistan voted in a parliamentary election on Sunday that is set to produce another legislature loyal to President Imomali Rakhmon who has run the ex-Soviet Central Asian nation for a quarter of a century.
Another death from coronavirus in Japan, in-hospital infection suspected
A man in his 70s died on Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido on Saturday night after testing positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2, local authorities said on Sunday.
Members of church at center of South Korea’s coronavirus outbreak visited Wuhan: KCDC
Some members of a church at the center of South Korea’s coronavirus outbreak visited the Chinese city of Wuhan in January, where the disease is believed to have originated, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Sunday.
Indonesia’s frontline hospital defends policies to tackle coronavirus
Indonesia has the resources to cope with a coronavirus outbreak, the director of its leading infectious diseases hospital said, defending detection procedures in the Southeast Asian nation of more than 260 million, where no cases have been reported.
South Korea closes churches as coronavirus tally passes 3,500
Churches were closed in South Korea on Sunday with many holding online services instead, as authorities fought to rein in public gatherings, with 376 new coronavirus infections taking the tally to 3,526 cases.
Slovak anti-corruption opposition parties score emphatic election win
Slovakia’s opposition led by the Ordinary People party (OLANO) won an emphatic victory in Saturday’s parliamentary election, as voters angry with graft routed the ruling center-left Smer that has dominated the political scene for over a decade.
Armenia reports first coronavirus infection
Armenia reported its first coronavirus infection on Sunday, in a citizen returning from neighboring Iran, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in a post on Facebook.
Australia’s first coronavirus death confirmed as former Diamond Cruise passenger
A former passenger on the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined off Japan for coronavirus died in a hospital in Perth early on Sunday, a health official said, becoming Australia’s first death from the virus.
China Xi’s visit to Japan could be delayed until autumn: Sankei
Tokyo and Beijing are leaning towards delaying Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Japan, originally planned for early April, as the neighbors battle a coronavirus outbreak, the Sankei newspaper said on Sunday.
