MAZAR-E-SHARIF, Afghanistan -- At least 12 insurgents including a Taliban local commander were killed in a counter-attack from Afghan forces in northern Balkh province on Saturday, army spokesman in the northern region Mohammed Hanif Rezai said.

A group of armed Taliban fighters stormed security checkpoints in Dawlat Abad district of the province early morning and the soldiers on duty returned fire, killing 12 militants including district commander Mullah Hamidullah alias Sadis on the spot, the official said. (Afghan-Taliban-Attack)

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SUVA -- The Fijian rescue team found on Saturday one more body, bringing the death toll to three in the landslide which occurred in Navua, about 39 km from Fiji's capital city of Suva.

The landslide in a quarry in Navua happened on Friday afternoon while a total of four persons were working at the site. (Fijian-Landslide-Toll)

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KIGALI -- Rwanda on Friday announced that it has suspended tourism and research activities in three primate-dominated national parks effective immediately.

Tourism and research activities have been temporarily suspended in and around three national parks of primates, namely, Volcanoes, Mukura-Gishwati and Nyungwe due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rwanda Development Board said in a statement. (Rwanda-Parks-Closure)

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RIO DE JANEIRO -- The Brazilian government on Friday updated estimates for the country's GDP growth in 2020 to 0.02 percent, only nine days after the projection was reduced from 2.4 percent to 2.1 percent, suggesting the possibility of economic recession.

The new estimates were motivated by concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. According to a latest report from the Health Ministry, there are 904 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Brazil, including 11 deaths, compared to 98 cases with no deaths a week ago. (Brazil-GDP-COVID)

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NEW DELHI -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India Saturday rose to 258, India's federal health ministry said.

"Total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across India is 258," a statement issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said. "Of these, 219 cases are Indian nationals and 39 foreign nationals." (India-COVID-Data)

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OUAGADOUGOU -- Burkina Faso's Minister of Mines and Quarries Oumarou Idani has tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of infected ministers in the country to four, according to a statement on Friday.

Idani tested positive after leading a delegation to visit Canada, said the statement, adding that one of the representatives in the delegation was from the presidency. (Berkina-Minister-COVID)

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WASHINGTON -- A staff member of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's office has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, Pence's office announced Friday.

It is the first known positive test to date for a White House staffer, according to local media reports. (U.S.-Pence-COVID)

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GENEVA -- Europe reported 17,506 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours as of midnight Thursday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the region to 104,591, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday in a daily situation report.

A total of 4,899 patients in Europe had died of COVID-19 as of 23:59 CET Thursday (2259 GMT), an increase of 816 deaths compared with the previous day, according to the WHO report. (WHO-Europe-COVID) Enditem

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