Following an Israeli strike on Iran's consulate in Syria, the United States is on high alert for a possible attack by Iran aimed at Israeli or American assets in the region, as per Reuters, citing a US official. In other news, a second earthquake of magnitude 4.0, according to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), was reported in New Jersey on Friday (April 5).
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Ahead of Tuesday's (Feb 20) vote on an Algerian resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the United States on Monday (Feb 19) tabled its own UN Security Council draft resolution on Gaza. In other news, a number of European countries on Monday (Feb 19) summoned Russian diplomats over the rather suspicious death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny last week, whilst also warning of fresh sanctions.
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A 6.5 magnitude earthquake hit Manilla, Philippines this morning. The earthquake was felt at 10:19 am local time (2:19 am GMT). The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has warned that damage and aftershocks are expected. In other news, Elon Musk's popular social media platform Twitter has been hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit. 17 music publishers, including Sony Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management, and Universal Music Publishing Group, have accused Twitter of completely refusing to license the millions of songs available on its service.
In India's eastern state of Odisha, a horrific three-train collision between two passenger trains and a freight train has resulted in the death of at least 288 people, while another 900 people were injured. Amid the tragedy, reports of locals queuing up all night to donate blood, to help the injured, have emerged. Meanwhile, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has said that dialogue between the United States and China is "essential' to prevent any miscalculation or conflict.
A pro-Taiwan candidate of Paraguay's right-wing party Colorado party, Santiago Pena, sealed the victory in the presidential elections on Sunday. He defeated rival Efrain Alegre by a significant margin. In Mexico, a tourist bus crashed into a ravine killing at least 18 people while 33 are left injured. All passengers onboard were Mexican nationals.
In other news, Turkey's national intelligence agency, MIT killed a suspected ISIS chief in an operation it carried out on Saturday in Syria. The target was neutralised at an abandoned farm which was used as an Islamic school.