ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan has taken a number of special measures in its southwestern Balochistan province bordering Iran to screen out any possible person carrying COVID-19 after a rising death toll of the disease in its southwestern neighbor, local media reported Sunday.

Local media quoted Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza as saying that the measures were taken after four deaths and 18 affected persons were reported in different areas in Iran.

According to the reports, the Balochistan provincial government has imposed a state of health emergency in all of the districts near porous Iran border, including Gwadar, Kech, Panjgur and Mashkeel. (Pakistan-Iran-Border Control)

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HONG KONG -- China's Hong Kong reported four new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and one confirmed case was transferred from a suspected one on Sunday, taking the total to 74 as of 8 p.m. local time, Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said.

At a daily press briefing, the CHP introduced that four new cases included a 62-year-old male security guard, and a 68-year-old man from the Diamond Princess cruise ship which had been quarantined since Feb. 5 with more than 600 passengers diagnosed with COVID-19 infection until now. (Hong Kong-COVID-19 Epidemic-Cases)

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KABUL -- The so-called seven-day "reduction in violence" agreed in the U.S.-Taliban talks recently and came into effect early Saturday has entered its second day in the conflict-battered country on Sunday without any major violent incident.

According to security officials, no major security incidents have been reported from across the country.

Only a convoy of security forces came under attack in Shah Walikot district of the southern Kandahar province at 10:30 a.m. local time Sunday, provincial police spokesman Jamal Barikzai has confirmed. (Afghanistan-Violence Reduction)

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TOKYO -- China is ready to strengthen cooperation with Japan on the containment of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), jointly safeguard the health and safety of the two peoples and uphold public health security in the region and the world, Chinese Ambassador to Japan Kong Xuanyou said.

In a joint written interview with the Chinese media in Japan on Saturday, Kong called on the two sides to tap respective advantages to contain and mitigate the COVID-19 outbreak, adding that China has the confidence, capacity and certainty to score an outright victory over the epidemic. (China-Japan-COVID-19) Enditem

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