Briefly

AFGHANISTAN

Releases of Taliban fighters top 360

The government had set free 361 Taliban detainees and the release of prisoners would continue, a spokesman for Afghan National Security Council Javid Faisal said on Monday. According to the official, the release of the detainees is part of the government efforts to bolster the peace process in the insurgency-plagued country. The first batch, a total of 100 Taliban loyalists, was set free by the government on Wednesday, the second batch of 100 detainees was released on Thursday. So far, the number of detainees set free by the Afghan government has reached 361, according to the spokesman. The exchange of 5,000 Taliban prisoners for 1,000 Afghan security forces prisoners as a precondition for initiating an intra-Afghan dialogue is part of the US-Taliban peace deal inked on Feb 29 in Doha to end the war in Afghanistan.

UNITED STATES

Storms sweep Deep South, claiming 6 lives

Strong storms pounded the Deep South on Sunday, killing at least six people in south Mississippi and damaging up to 300 homes and other buildings in northern Louisiana. Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Director Greg Michel said one person killed was in Walthall County, two died in Lawrence County and three were killed in Jefferson Davis County. All three counties are more than an hour's drive south of Jackson, near the Louisiana state line. The National Weather Service said strong winds were sweeping through other parts of Mississippi, and a tornado was spotted north of Meridian near the Alabama state line.

TURKEY

Erdogan refuses minister's resignation

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday refused to accept the resignation of his interior minister over an abrupt nationwide lockdown that triggered a spate of panic-buying. Suleyman Soylu came in for fierce criticism after the 48-hour shutdown to counter the spread of the coronavirus was announced on Friday night with just two hours' notice. The declaration sent thousands flocking to markets and bakeries in defiance of social distancing rules. Roads in Istanbul and Ankara were also packed, with long queues forming outside off-licences, grocery stores and banks. On Sunday the 50-year-old minister accepted "entire responsibility for the implementation of this measure", which he said had been carried out "in good faith".

RUSSIA

100 people evacuated from building after fire

A fire in a residential building in southwestern Moscow caused no casualties, Sputnik reported on Monday. "The fire was put out at 6:10 am," Sputnik quoted the local department of the Russian Emergencies Ministry as saying, adding that no one was injured. More than 100 people were evacuated from the residential building due to the fire, and have been placed in temporary accommodation at a hotel, the media reported earlier. The eight-story building is located on Leninsky Avenue, a major avenue in the Russian capital. The fire spread over an area of 2,000 square meters.

Xinhua - Agencies