Russia

South Korea's government said on Wednesday it will increase restrictions on people traveling from overseas to prevent new coronavirus infections. The country will temporarily suspend visa waivers for citizens of countries that have imposed travel bans on South Koreans, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said. The change will affect travelers from at least 88 countries, including Australia, Canada, Russia, and France, among others.

The number of coronavirus cases in Russia rose by more than 1,000 for the second day running, taking the total to 8,672, the crisis response centre said on Wednesday. The number of reported cases rose by 1,175, a record daily rise, while deaths increased by five to 63, the centre said.

Russia may delay the public vote on amendments allowing Vladimir Putin to hold office potentially until 2036 due to the corona virus pandemic. The Kremlin has not yet officially rescheduled the vote originally planned for April 22nd. Putin intends to alter the constitution in order to get the chance for a fifth and sixth term as President.

The Moscow healthcare department announced that people who return from countries with increasing infection rates such as China, South Korea, Iran, France, Germany, Italy and others should self-isolate themselves for 14 days inside their own homes. Not following this could be punished by up to five years in prison.

The members of the US Congress reportedly have been warned by US intelligence officials that Russia was trying to interfere in the 2020 election campaign. The interference was directed to favor Republican President Donald Trump.

In an interview the former congressman for the republican party in California Dana Rohrabacher confirmed that he offered Julian Assange a presidential pardon in 2017. Before the confirmation, only Assange's lawyers claimed that a presidential pardon was offered to the WikiLeaks founder. The offer was tied to the condition that Assange provides prove that Russia hasn't been the source of the, by WikiLeaks published, internal emails from the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

The lawyers of the Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said that he's planning on calling a witness on the stand that will testify that Assange was offered a presidential pardon. The pardon was allegedly tied to Assange denying that Russia were responsible for the interference in the US elections. They claim that the offer was made by the former republican congressman   Dana Rohrabacher who claimed to act on behalf of President Donald Trump.