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Friday, 26 February 2021 3:35 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 26 February 2021 3:35 AM ]

US Syria strike

The US says it has launched airstrikes on a number of facilities in eastern Syria that Washington claims were being used for rocket attacks against American troops in Iraq. The Pentagon stressed that the attack was authorized by US President Joe Biden and resulted in the destruction of multiple buildings. The US Defense Department also noted that the infrastructure was being utilized by militia groups to target American forces in the region. There are no reports of casualties following the strike. US forces and their supply convoys have repeatedly been targeted in Iraq in recent months amid growing anti-US sentiments there. On February 15th, rockets hit the US military base in Erbil, killing one non-American contractor and injuring a number of US contractors and a service member.

Covid-19 global toll

The global death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic has topped two and a half million while nearly 113 million people are infected with the fast-spreading disease. Almost half of the fatalities have occurred in just five countries: The United States, Brazil, Mexico, India and Britain. The US has the highest death toll with more than 508-thousand fatalities. The country has also registered over 28.4 million infections. Brazil has the second-highest death toll worldwide. The country’s total fatalities have now surpassed a quarter-million. The South American country has also registered more than 10 million cases.

Venezuela-EU row

The European Union has declared Venezuela’s ambassador to the bloc persona non grata after Caracas ordered the E-U envoy to leave. A statement said member states had agreed on the move which was proposed by EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell. This came after Caracas on Wednesday gave the bloc’s ambassador Isabel Brilhante 72 hours to leave the country following EU’s decision to sanction 19 Venezuelan officials. The EU described Caracas’s move as wholly unwarranted and contrary to the bloc’s objective of developing relations and building partnerships in third countries. The West expanded its sanctions against the Latin American nation following the December legislative elections claiming the vote was rigged. Venezuela, however, rejects the allegation as baseless.

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