Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 0600 GMT, May 16

TALUQAN, Afghanistan -- Forty-two people have fallen ill from mass food poisoning in Afghanistan's northern province of Takhar, local police said on Monday.

The incident occurred during a wedding ceremony in Takhan Abad village of Chah Hab district on Sunday night, Abdul Mubin Safi from the provincial police department told Xinhua. (Afghanistan-Food Poisoning)

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NEW DELHI -- India's COVID-19 tally rose to 43,123,801 on Monday, as 2,202 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the health ministry's latest data.

Besides, 27 deaths from the pandemic registered across the country since Sunday morning took the total death toll to 524,241. (India-COVID-19 Cases)

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COLOMBO -- Sri Lanka's National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA), in partnership with the World Health Organization, is planning to set up 362 smoke-free zones in the country, the NATA said on Monday.

The move is aimed at protecting the public from exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke, a researcher attached to the project told the media in Colombo. (Sri Lanka-Smoke-free Zones)

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JAKARTA -- Thirteen people were killed and scores of others injured in a bus accident at a toll road in Indonesia's East Java province on Monday, Muhammad Bayu S.D., a doctor in charge at the emergency unit of Dr. Wahidin Sudirohusodo Hospital, told Xinhua via phone. (Indonesia-Bus Accident, URGENT)