Here are a few stories from around Asia you may have missed this week.

At least 19 people have been confirmed dead and more than 200 injured after a strong earthquake jolted northern Afghanistan and Pakistan. 

The magnitude-6.9 earthquake struck Afghanistan at 9:17 p.m. local time on March 21, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center. Tremors were felt as far away as the Indian capital, New Delhi.

Thailand will hold elections on May 14, the national poll body said on Tuesday. The national parliament was dissolved a day earlier, and campaigning has already started. 

The race looks to be a battle between the conservative grouping, led by the incumbent Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, against the largest opposition, Pheu Thai party, headed by the Shinawatra family. Prayut, who is running for re-election with the United Thai Nation Party, told reporters that his cabinet was still governing the country. 

The South Korean government will offer free COVID-19 vaccinations to all in the final quarter of this year. The vaccine will likely be offered once a year for free, similar to flu shots. Once-a-year vaccinations will likely be maintained based on scientific evidence, according to Kim Won-ki, an official at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

"To maintain a stable quarantine situation and speed up daily recovery, protecting high-risk groups is paramount," Health and Welfare Minister Cho Kyu-hong said at a meeting of the COVID-19 Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures headquarters held at the Government Complex in Seoul on Wednesday.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on March 20 its board had approved a nearly $3 billion bailout for Sri Lanka. The country's president said the program will enable it to access up to $7 billion in overall funding. The decision will help the bankrupt country to emerge from its worst financial crisis since independence. 

President Wickremesinghe praised the deal, but told parliamentarians that the bailout was only the first step in more difficult structural reforms. On March 22, he said more taxes were on the cards to meet the IMF demand that Sri Lanka halve its spending on foreign debt servicing from the 9 percent of gross domestic product recorded in 2022. Trade unions opposed the austerity program with strikes that crippled the health and transport sectors last week, and have warned of more industrial action.

Unseasonal rains and hailstorms damaged winter-planted wheat crop in India's north, central and western regions, further raising the risk of food price inflation. 

The untimely rains in mid-March hit the states of  Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. They account for a majority of India's wheat output. The rain and hail destroyed crops and flooded farms. After China, India produces the most wheat in the world.

(Cover: Residents clear debris from a damaged a house at Sooch village in Jurm district of Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan following an overnight earthquake, March 22, 2023. /CFP)