URENA: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro decided to cut off diplomatic ties with Colombia over its support for opposition leader Juan Guaido and gave a 24-hour ultimatum to its diplomatic staff to leave the country, reported Reuters.
President took a decision to this effect after the Columbian government allowed the American aid conveys to use its land to enter Venezuela.
According to the report, troops loyal to President Nicolas Maduro turned back foreign aid convoys from Venezuela’s border using teargas and rubber rounds on Saturday, resulting in the death of two protesters.
Western nations recognize Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. (Agencies)
PORT-AU-PRINCE: Haitian police fired tear gas and rubber pellets to disperse protesters and mourners who were carrying the casket of a person killed last week in anti-government riots.
Police confronted the protest rally near Haiti’s National Palace, according to reports.
Thousands of protestors have taken to the streets of Haiti’s main cities calling for President Jovenel Moise’s resignation. Protestors have alleged the President of failing to take responsibility for ballooning inflation. (Agencies)
At least 70 people died after drinking toxic bootleg alcohol in India’s north-eastern state of Assam, reports say.
Agencies said more than 200, several of them women, are being treated in hospitals. The victims are workers in tea estates in Golaghat and Jorhat districts. Local reports say the number of deaths is expected to go up.
Reports said 58 people died from drinking illegal alcohol in Golaghat district alone. Likewise, another 12 people died by the poisonous liquor in Jorhat district, reports said. (Agencies)
VENEZUELA: Venezuelan troops opened fire on indigenous people near the Brazilian border killing two people, reports said.
This, agencies said, has been a move of President Nicolas Maduro to block U.S.-backed efforts to bring aid into the country.
The United States has been storing aid in the Colombian town of Cucuta this weekend.
Despite shortages of food and medicine in the country, Maduro has been denying of a humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. (Agencies)
WASHINGTON: The United States will leave at least 200 American peacekeeping group in Syria for a certain period of time after a U.S. pullout, agencies have said quoting the White House.
President Donald Trump in December last year ordered a withdrawal of the 2,000 American troops in Syria. He said the troops had defeated the Islamic State (IS) militants there.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement that a small peacekeeping group will remain in Syria for a certain period of time, reports have said.
However, according to international news agencies, Trump has been under pressure from several advisers to adjust his policy to ensure the protection of Kurdish forces. The Kurdish forces supported the fight against the IS militants.
DHAKA: The death toll from a fire in Chawkbazar, a centuries-old area in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, reached to 70, officials said.
The toll could even increase, they said. So far, 70 bodies have been recovered for the wreckage of the building, officials informed. They said the number could rise further as the search is continuing, agencies said.
The fire that began a four-story building last night spread to nearby buildings in the area of Old Dhaka that which dates back to the Mughal period more than 300 years ago, reports said.
Officials have said that more than 50 people had been taken to hospital, some in critical condition.
Reports said about 200 firefighters fought for more than five hours to bring the blaze under control. According to reports, the building where the fire began had housed a plastics warehouse and contained flammable material. (Agencies)
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi received Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the airport signaling the significance that India attaches to its strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia.
The Crown Prince touched down in New Delhi late on Tuesday. PM Modi, in a break from normal protocol, welcomed the Saudi prince at the airport with a warm hug.
PM Modi later tweeted: “India is delighted to welcome HRH Mohammed Bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.”
Saudi Crown Prince’s two-day visit takes place against the backdrop of an escalation in tensions between India and Pakistan after the February 14 Pulwama terror attack in which 44 personnel of the CRPF lost their lives.
Here’s a chronological timetable of events that occurred on this day in history. Let’s find out what happened today in history.
February 20
1792 The U.S. Postal Service is created.
1906 Russian troops seize large portions of Mongolia.
1918 The Soviet Red Army seizes Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.
1938 Hitler demands self-determination for Germans in Austria and Czechoslovakia.
1941 The United States sends war planes to the Pacific.
1943 German troops of the Afrika Korps break through the Kasserine Pass, defeating the U.S. forces.
1954 The Ford Foundation gives a $25 million grant to the Fund for Advancement of Education.
1959 The FCC applies the equal time rule to TV newscasts of political candidates.
1962 Mercury astronaut John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth.
1963 Moscow offers to allow on-site inspections of nuclear testing.
1965 Ranger 8 hits the moon and sends back 7,000 photos to the United States.
1968 The North Vietnamese army chief in Hue orders all looters to be shot on sight.
1982 Carnegie Hall in New York begins $20 million in renovations.
Born on February 20
1844 Ludwig Boltzmann, atomic physics engineer
1888 Marie Rambert, ballet dancer and director.
1894 Curt Richter, biologist.
1898 Jimmy Yancey, American blues pianist.
1901 Rene Dubos, microbiologist; he developed the first commercial antibiotic.
1901 Louis I. Kahn, architect.
1904 Alexei Nikolayevich Kosygin, Premier of the Soviet Union (1964-1980).
1924 Gloria Vanderbilt, fashion designer
1925 Robert Altman, film director (Nashville, The Player).
Source: History Net
A pilot died in mid-air collision of two Hawk trainer jets on Tuesday at Bengaluru’s Aero India show. Two pilots have been injured in the incident.
The collision occurred during the practice session of the Suryakiran aerobatic team of the Indian Air Force, Indian media reported.
Sahil Gandhi sustained fatal injuries while Shelke and TJ Singh ejected. (Agencies)
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said he would act against the perpetrators of the Pulwama terror attack if India shared “actionable intelligence”.
He, however, warned against any “revenge” retaliatory action.
In a video message, PM Khan said it is in Pakistan’s interest that nobody from the Pakistani soil spreads violence. “Let me clearly tell the Indian side that Pakistan will take necessary action if evidence is found against anyone involved in the attack from Pakistan,” he said.
In his address, PM Khan said he should have responded immediately as Pakistan was blamed for it. “Since Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia was visiting, and an investment conference was under way, for which Pakistan prepared a lot, I decided not to respond then.”
Now that the Crown Prince has left, he said he decided to respond.
He said India blamed Pakistan for the attack without any evidence adding that the allegations were made without a thought as to how Pakistan would gain from it.