Hello, I'm Debbie Russ with the BBC News. At least four people have been killed in a militant attack on a hospital in the Afghan capital Kabul. Several others, including children have been injured. The security forces have rescued about 70 people, including women and newborn babies. Our South Asia editor Jill McGivering has more details. A hospital doctor who escaped during the attack told the BBC about 140 members of staff were inside at the time, including foreigners working for Medecins Sans Frontieres, which runs the maternity unit. The doctor said he saw a gunman in military style clothes searching the rooms. Many foreign staff stay at a guesthouse at the back of the hospital, and the doctor said he saw an explosion there too. The Taliban has denied involvement in this attack. In the past, similar attacks in mostly Shia area have been attributed to the Islamic State group, which hasn't yet issued a statement. Elsewhere in Afghanistan, more than a dozen people have been killed in a militant blast at the funeral of a local police commander in the eastern province of Nangarhar. It's unclear if it was a suicide attack or if the explosives were planted before the ceremony. In a separate incident, at least 10 people were killed as the result of a US airstrike in the northern province of Balkh. Local people and the Taliban militant group said all the dead were civilians, contradicting an Afghan government claim they were militants.
Construction, farming and factory workers are returning to work across Russia a day after President Putin announced a gradual lifting of coronavirus restrictions. In Moscow, where more than half the country's cases have been detected, masks and gloves are mandatory on public transport and in shops. In St. Petersburg, a fire in a hospital has killed five people being treated for coronavirus in an intensive care unit. Sarah Rainsford reports. There were 20 patients in the intensive care unit of St. Georges hospital this morning when the fire broke out. Staff were able to evacuate most of them but five who had been hooked up to ventilator died in the blaze. The head of St. Petersburg Emergencies Ministry says the reason for the fire on the 6th floor is being investigated. But Alexei Anikin said there is reason to believe it was caused when one of the ventilators caught fire. 150 patients in total were evacuated from St. Georges, which was repurposed to treat coronavirus cases two months ago. St. Petersburg has recorded just over 8000 cases of COVID-19 so far. That's far fewer than Moscow, where the infection rate is continuing to climb at around 6000 new cases each day.
India is starting to run a limited passenger train service as the country gradually emerges from a lockdown designed to control the coronavirus epidemic. Fifteen train services are restarting today between the capital Delhi and other major cities. Online ticket sales have been limited to prevent overcrowding. You're listening to the world news from the BBC.