More coronavirus cases in Iran’s Qom; religious gatherings seen at risk
Iranian health officials urged all religious gatherings to be suspended in Qom, news agency ISNA said on Thursday, after two more people tested positive for the coronavirus in the holy city, where two died of it this week.
South Korea city deserted after coronavirus ‘super-spreads’ in church
The streets of South Korea’s fourth-largest city were abandoned on Thursday, with residents holed up indoors after dozens of people caught the coronavirus in what the authorities described as a “super-spreading event” at a church.
Suspected shisha bar gunman published racist manifesto: German prosecutor
A man suspected of shooting dead nine people in shisha bars in a German town before killing himself and his mother had posted a manifesto online including conspiracy theories and deeply racist views, prosecutors said on Thursday.
Kazakh governor to seek deportation of Chinese over coronavirus fears
The governor of a Kazakh province bordering China said on Thursday he would seek the deportation of dozens of Chinese workers to defuse the local population’s fears of coronavirus, news website Dalanews.kz reported.
Spain to overhaul sexual assault law, strengthen victims’ rights
Spain’s government is poised to toughen legislation against sexual violence to bolster victim rights and improve the state’s response to such crimes, government sources said on Thursday.
Avalanche on Svalbard Arctic archipelago kills two Germans
Two Germans were killed on Thursday when an avalanche hit a glacier in the western part of the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, Norwegian news agency NTB said.
Mexican President Lopez Obrador says unaware of probe into ex-President Pena Nieto
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Thursday said he is not aware of an investigation into his predecessor, Enrique Pena Nieto, after a media report that law enforcement authorities are probing the former leader.
More companies interested in using humanitarian channel to Iran: U.S. envoy
U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook said on Thursday the United States was in talks with at least two more companies that would like to send food and medicine to Iran through the Swiss humanitarian channel.
U.S. blacklists five Iranian officials for impeding ‘fair’ elections
The United States blacklisted five Iranian officials on Thursday, accusing them of preventing free and fair elections a day before a parliamentary vote that it branded a “sham.”
No ‘smoking gun’ in wartime archives of Pius XII on Holocaust, Vatican says
The Vatican will on March 2 open up its archives on the wartime pontificate of Pius XII to allow scholars to probe accusations that he turned a blind eye to the Holocaust, but they will find he helped Jews behind the scenes, Holy See officials say.
