News Headlines - 19 March 2020

▽Crimea was annexed six years ago. - The Washington Post

Wednesday is the sixth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea. After a hastily organized and deeply contentious referendum on March 16, 2014, following Russia’s military occupation of the peninsula, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty of accession with Crimean leaders in Moscow two days later... In Crimea itself, the annexation was popular, especially among Crimea’s large population of older ethnic Russians. More than five years later, and billions of rubles of investment later, it remains popular. Here’s what we found from surveys in December 2014 and December 2019.

▽Man sentenced to death over 2016 Japan care home mass murder - The Mainichi

A Japanese man was sentenced to death Monday over a 2016 stabbing rampage at a care home near Tokyo for people with mental disabilities that left 19 residents dead and 26 others injured.

▽Japanese man who threatened to spread coronavirus dies - CNA

A 57-year-old man in Japan who had threatened to "scatter" his disease after testing positive for the coronavirus earlier this month died in hospital on Wednesday (Mar 18), local media reported.

▽Berlin to build 1,000-bed coronavirus hospital | DW

The Berlin government said on Tuesday it would create a new hospital to cope with a likely huge increase in coronavirus cases.
The facility, which will house up to 1,000 patients, will be set up in the Berlin Messe trade fair exhibition grounds in the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district of the German capital.
The hospital will be built with the help of the German armed forces, the Bundeswehr.

▽Iran to pardon 10,000, including 'security' prisoners | The Guardian

Iran is to pardon 10,000 prisoners, including some charged with political crimes, in honour of the Iranian new year on Friday, according to state TV... Iran is the Middle Eastern country worst affected by the pandemic, with a death toll of 1,284, the highest after Italy and China. Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said that Covid-19 was killing one person in the country every 10 minutes, while 50 new infections were detected each hour.