Headlines- On Monday at 14:00 GMT, the US military says it would start blockading Iranian ports, preventing ships from entering or leaving Iran from passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
- In the southern town of Biyyada, Hezbollah claims that its men have attacked Israeli soldiers with "a swarm of attack drones."
- US President Donald Trump's threat to block the Strait of Hormuz was deemed "ridiculous" by Iran's navy chief, Shahram Irani.
- Any military ships approaching the Strait of Hormuz "will be considered a violation of the ceasefire and will be met with severe force," according to a statement released on Sunday by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
- The speaker of Iran's parliament Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf is leading the delegation that has arrived to Pakistan for talks with the United States.
- Nawaf Salam, the prime minister of Lebanon, stated that he was working to ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces and to put an end to the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
- Viktor Orban, the longtime prime minister of Hungary, has conceded defeat to Peter Magyar in the country's legislative election.
Month: February 2020
Civilians are Asking for an End...
Syrian Ambassador Bashar Jaafari said, “after two years of the Astana understandings, and after a year and a half of the Sochi agreements, the Turkish regime turned the observation posts on Syrian territory, which were supposed to control the activities of terrorists, preventing terrorists from committing those terrorists acts and thereby repelling any aggression on the positions of the Syrian Arab Army and the Russian forces, so, those observation posts were turned into operations rooms and ways to support terrorist organizations.”
Today is a historic day...
A peace agreement will be signed between US representatives and the Taliban in the presence of foreign ministers and special envoys from 30 countries and international institutions at the famous Shirin Hotel
Coronavirus – What’s Happening: Virus Fears...
The virus has now officially reached sub-Saharan Africa, as Nigeria reported its first case. The patient is an Italian traveler who recently arrived in Lagos, Africa’s largest city – home to 20 million people. Isolated cases of the virus were confirmed in Egypt and Algeria in north Africa in recent days, but there is growing concern that cases around Africa are going unreported. When the World Health Organization declared this virus a global health emergency last month, it was precisely because of worry that it could hit countries with weak health systems. And that’s increasingly what’s happening, from Africa to Afghanistan and beyond
Clarion Alley Mural Project
A narrow alley in San Francisco, California, is also an art exhibit, with walls covered by beautifully painted images and murals. It is called the Clarion Alley Mural Project, or CAMP, and it was established by a group of volunteers in 1992
NASA Prepares to Send New Rover...
NASA is preparing to send a new rover to Mars for a human exploration mission of the Red Planet
China’s Coronavirus Crisis Hits Russian Energy...
Russia is directly affected by the sudden slump in demand from the world’s leading oil buyer. China has been Russia’s largest trading partner with an estimated U.S. $110 billion (773 billion yuan) in bilateral business last year
UN Secretary-General Briefs Press on Syria...
United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed signs a book of condolences on the passing of Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, former President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
COVID – US Korean Church
At Korean American churches, worshippers are praying hard as they begin this year’s Lenten season for their friends and family in South Korea, which is fighting the world’s 2nd worst coronavirus outbreak
Idlib Refugees
The Russian-backed Syrian government push to capture the Idlib province in northwest Syria has worsened the humanitarian situation as nearly 1 million civilians have been forced to flee eastward to safer locations. VOA’s Zana Omer filed this report from Manbij, Syria
‘Don’t Forget Tibet,’ Group Urges UN...
Chinese authorities now maintain a tight grip on Tibet and on Tibetan-populated regions of western Chinese provinces, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identities, and subjecting Tibetans to imprisonment, torture, and extrajudicial killings