MOSCOW -- Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed on a ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh region starting Saturday noon, following lengthy negotiations in Moscow on Friday night.

On early Saturday morning, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the deal was announced in a joint statement by Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. (Armenia-Azerbaijan-Russia-Nagorno Karabakh)

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BEIJING -- General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping on Saturday sent a congratulatory message to Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), on the 75th founding anniversary of the WPK.

In his message, Xi said that on behalf of the CPC Central Committee and in his own name, he extends warm congratulations and best wishes to Kim, and through Kim to the WPK Central Committee, all WPK members as well as the people of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). (China-DPRK-Founding Anniversary)

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NEW DELHI -- India's COVID-19 tally continues to rise and is close to 7 million, as 73,272 new cases in the past 24 hours took it to 6,979,423 on Saturday, said the latest data released by the federal health ministry.

With as many as 926 deaths since Friday morning, the total death toll rose to 107,416. (India-COVID-19)

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SUVA -- Fiji celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence from Britain on Saturday, as leaders of the island nation urged Fijians to work together for a brighter future.

In the capital city of Suva, thousands of people gathered at Albert Park where the main celebration was held. They witnessed a military parade reviewed by Fijian President Jioji Konrote. (Fiji-National Day-Celebrations)

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BAGHDAD -- The Iraqi government has struck a historic agreement with the government of the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan over the status of the predominantly Yazidi city of Sinjar in the northern province of Nineveh, according to a government statement issued on Friday.

The agreement to restore stability and normalize the situation in Sinjar came during a meeting held by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi with officials from the federal government and officials from Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), said a statement by Prime Minister's office. (Iraq-Kurdish Region-Sinjar)