World News

A volcanic eruption in the Philippines continues to spew lava half a mile into the sky, creating lightning bolts, and threatening to erupt again even as tens of thousands of people continue to flee the region and hundreds of flights have been canceled or delayed.

Following a brief lull, Lebanese protesters returned to the streets, blocking several roads around the capital, Beirut, and other areas of the country on Tuesday in renewed rallies against a ruling elite they say has failed to address the economy’s downward spiral.

At least two Iranian journalists at a state-owned media outlet reportedly resigned from their jobs, and another left a while back, apologizing for “the 13 years I told you lies” to her supporters as Tehran grapples with the fallout from protests stemming from a cover-up of its accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner.

Clouds of ash and tremors from the Taal volcano near the capital of the Philippines forced thousands to flee Sunday as the government planned to evacuate hundreds more.

Protests in Iran continued for a third day on Monday after the regime admitted over the weekend to accidentally downing a Ukrainian passenger jet carrying 176 people, killing everyone on board.

Iran conceded on Saturday to having made a ‘disastrous mistake’ in shooting down a Ukrainian airliner that was carrying 176 passengers, an allegation the regime initially denied.

An American Navy ship was approached by a Russian Navy ship in the north Arabian sea last Thursday when the Russian ship made an ‘aggressive’ maneuver, US officials said, Russian officials, responding by pointing the finger at the US.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Sunday said Iran ‘probably and could have been’ planning to target the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and three other diplomatic facilities abroad in the days leading to the American strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

Several people were wounded on Sunday in an attack on the Balad airbase in northern Iraq that houses U.S. personnel, according to the Iraqi military. The incident was decried by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hours later.

Protesters gathered on the streets of Iran Sunday for a second day of demonstrations against the regime, prompted by the Iranian leadership’s belated admission that it accidentally downed a Ukrainian airliner last week, killing all 176 people on board.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who announced last month that the Phase 1 trade deal with China would be signed on Jan. 15, said on Thursday the agreement could be signed ‘shortly thereafter.’

Facing a Friday deadline that could halt the delivery of humanitarian aid to more than 1 million Syrians every month, the divided U.N. Security Council is set to vote on rival resolutions that would continue deliveries through border crossings to mainly rebel-held areas.

Western officials are now leaning toward the conclusion that Iran shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet Wednesday that was leaving the airport in Tehran and bound for Kyiv.

The presidents of Turkey and Russia inaugurated the dual natural gas line connecting their countries Wednesday, opening up a new export path for Russian gas into Turkey and Europe and promising cooperation in trade and diplomacy.

Two earthquakes measuring 4.9 and 4.5 in magnitudes hit Iran on Wednesday, Jan. 8, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Hours after Iran fired missiles at U.S. soldiers in Iraqi military bases, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a de-escalation between both parties.

President Donald Trump said he’d be asking the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, to get more involved with the Middle East after Iran fired missiles at Iraqi bases hosting U.S. troops on Jan. 7.

President Trump announced that the US would not be responding militarily to a barrage of 16 missiles launched from Iran in the early hours of the morning Wednesday that hit Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq and damaged aircraft hangers and a US helicopter.

A Ukrainian passenger jet crashed minutes after takeoff from Iran Wednesday, killing all 176 passengers and crew.

U.S. defense officials believe Iran is sitting on a stockpile of thousands of ballistic missiles and powerful munitions, following the country’s attack early Wednesday on American coalition forces in Iraq.