'Stay united'
The Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution warns the Iranian nation about the enemy’s plot to bring the Islamic Republic to its knees by creating discord and mistrust within the people. Ayatollah Khamenei said the enemy has employed various tactics to pursue its strategy of driving a wedge among the Iranians. The enemy’s major tactic as the Leader added is spreading lies and rumors. Ayatollah Khamenei also said Iran’s foes claim they are not seeking to subvert the Islamic Republic while the conspiracies they have hatched over the years prove otherwise. The Leader mentioned the reason for the enemies' efforts to eradicate the Islamic Republic as well. He said that is because Iran has cut their access to the West Asia region. Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks in a meeting with Iranian Air Force commanders and personnel. The meeting was held on the anniversary of the historic allegiance of the Iranian Air Force with the late founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini in 1979.
Rising death toll
Search and rescue teams continue to look for possible survivors in the piles of rubble in Syria and Turkey as people are struggling to reel from two powerful back-to-back earthquakes. According to official figures, the death toll has risen to more than 9,000 in Turkey and over 2,600 in Syria. The World Health Organization has warned that the number of fatalities could cross 20,000 as freezing weather and aftershocks have slowed rescue efforts. The earthquakes measuring 7.8 and 7.5 on the Richter scale struck southeastern Turkey and northern Syria on Monday. The tremors caused hundreds of buildings to collapse in the two countries. The natural disaster left some 50,000 people injured and thousands more displaced.
US warns China
The US president has issued fresh warning to China amid a new controversy between the two countries over a Chinese balloon that recently entered into American airspace. Joe Biden’s tirade came during his annual State of the Union address. He called for investment in the military, technology and alliances to take on China which the US widely views as its chief competitor. The two big economies remain at odds over a host of regional and international issues. Tensions flared up after the US downing of a Chinese balloon which Washington claimed was on a spy mission. Beijing slammed as overreaction the US move, saying the balloon was on meteorological and other scientific missions and accidentally strayed into US airspace.