Thursday, February 20, 2020

The Daily World News Report of the 20th of February 2020


Coronavirus
2 of the 621 Coronavirus cluster from the Diamond Princess Cruise ship in Japan has died. The two were both elderly, having outstanding health issues. The total death count is now at 2,118.[1] South Korea faces a super-spreader as well in the city of Daegu with 31 people infected. The origin is a church called the Shincheonji Church of Jesus.[2]
United Nations Theme
Many regions of Yemen has been taken over by the Houthi revolutionaries as the former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi is in asylum in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has been seeking to restore him to presidency.  The Houthi rebels are blocking “half of the United Nations aid delivery programs”, and they are demanding more responsibility over the humanitarian effort involving the allocation of billions of dollars. The regions of the country under Houthi control seek to implement policies to guide the UN humanitarian aid, which they have rejected. The rebels reduced their requirements to concessions last week after a 2% cut of the funds for months. UN replied on Thursday, saying they will scale down their humanitarian aid, if the Houthi rebel continue to limit their access. The country is war-torn and many are dependent on international aid.[3]
UN reports today that their efforts to provide aid to the South Sudan people are blocked as well, and they are accusing the warring sides of “deliberately starving” people to their strategic advantage. About half of the nation of 6 million people are going hungry. Millions of dollars are used for personal gain by many officials.[4]
Locust Pestilence
Yesterday I reported on the struggle that eight eastern African nations are struggling with the pestilence of locusts. Pakistan is also enduring the same hardship. The Indian nation has had to implement measures to stop their invasion, and they are currently successful in their efforts. They are purchasing “drones and specialist equipment to monitor the movement of locusts and spray insecticides to ward off a new outbreak” according to Times of India. A small swarm can consume the food of 35,000 people in one day.[5]
Syrian Civil War
Assad has not completely secured Idlib in northwestern Syria as the Russian air force performs an airstrike, killing two Turkish soldier, in an operation that helped repel an offensive by the rebels with 5 injured.[6]
Europe
A mass shooting was carried out by a far-right man, who ended up killing himself and his mother, “in the town of Hanau, about 15 miles east of Frankfurt [Germany] on Wednesday night”. Half of the 10 killed were citizens of Turkey.[7] German Chancellor Merkel condemns racism "This poison exists in our society, and it's to blame for too many tragic events."
A wide spread cyberattack on October 28, 2019 in the country of Georgia, taking down many “state, private, and media websites” as well as a couple “private television stations”, was determined to be orchestrated by a Russian “military intelligence service, commonly known as the GRU” in a joint announcement with Britain and the United States today. According to Georgia’s “foreign ministry spokesman Vladimer Konstantinidi”, “causing anxiety among the general public”, Russia targeted Georgia because it is a former Soviet nation[8]
Russia
Russia hired a Mexican citizen to spy and provide information concerning a U.S. operation, monitoring them. The information was a picture of one of the vehicles’ license plate that participated in the U.S. operation. The Mexican was arrested, and the picture was found on his wife’s phone in the recently deleted images file. He did confess that the allegations were accurate.[9]




[1] “Coronavirus: Two Passengers Dead from Quarantined Diamond Princess.” BBC News, BBC, 20 Feb. 2020, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51568496.
[2] “South Korea Reports First Coronavirus Death as Daegu Church Cluster Cases Soar.” South China Morning Post, Reuters, 20 Feb. 2020, www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3051503/south-korea-reports-31-new-cases-coronavirus.
[3] Michael, Maggie. “Yemen’s Houthi Rebels Impeding UN Aid Flow, Demand a Cut.” AP News, The Associated Press, 19 Feb. 2020, apnews.com/edb2cad767ccbf898c220e54c199b6d9.
[4] “South Sudan Warring Sides 'Deliberately Starving' Citizens: UN.” Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera Media Network, 20 Feb. 2020, www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/south-sudan-warring-sides-deliberately-starving-citizens-200220105302156.html.
[5] “India Buys Drones, Specialist Equipment to Avert New Locust .. Read More at: Http://Timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Articleshow/74212114.Cms?utm_source=Contentofinterest&utm_medium=Text&utm_campaign=Cppst.” Times of India, Reuters, 19 Feb. 2020, timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-buys-drones-specialist-equipment-to-avert-new-locust-attack/articleshow/74212114.cms.
[6] Fraser, Suzan, and Vladimir Isachenkov. “Turkish Soldiers Killed in Syria amid Threats of Escalation.” AP, The Associated Press, 20 Feb. 2020, apnews.com/a245ab41546b6dd77be773137da8e0c4.
[7] Morris, Loveday, et al. “After Germany Shooting Tied to Far-Right, Merkel Says ‘Racism Is a Poison’ the Country Must Overcome.” The Washington Post, 20 Feb. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/world/death-toll-in-germany-shootings-climbs-to-11-including-alleged-suspect/2020/02/20/16feb5a6-53b3-11ea-80ce-37a8d4266c09_story.html.
[8] “U.S. and Britain Say Russia Launched 'Paralyzing' Cyberattack on Georgia.” NBC News, Reuters, 20 Feb. 2020, www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/u-s-britain-say-russia-launched-paralyzing-cyberattack-georgia-n1139766.
[9] Cramer, Maria. “Mexican Citizen Is Accused of Spying for Russians in the U.S.” The New York Times, 19 Feb. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/02/19/us/hector-alejandro-cabrera-fuentes-spying-russia.html.

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