NEWS UPDATE #1

First published at 20:10 UTC on January 28th, 2020.

News Update #1

-OUR TOP STORY: Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers basketball player who won 5 NBA championships, and his 13-year-ol daughter Gianna died in a plane crash in Calabasas. They were two of nine in the helicopter who were reported to be deceased by the LATimes. I will now give a moment of silence for the victims of the crash and for the victims’ families.
-In lighter news, President Donald Trump unveiled the new logo for the UNITED STATES SPACE FORCE, which the President tweeted to be “the Sixth Branch of our Magnificent Military!” Afterwards, the Verge published an article showing Miriam Kramer’s tweet placing the Star Trek’s STARFLEET COMMAND logo and the U.S. SPACE FORCE logo side-by-side to suggest stark similarities between the two logos, as the Verge states, ”the logo appears to borrow heavily from the fictional logo of Starfleet from the Star Trek universe.”
- On to our next news, Israelis are now able to travel to Saudi Arabia for religious and for business. This decision was announced by Israel’s Interior Minister Arye Deri. However, The Jerusalem Post reported that Israelis on a business trip have a limit of only nine days to stay in Saudi Arabia, and all travelers still require permission from Saudi Arabia and from Israel.
- Still focusing on the region, three rockets struck Baghdad’s U.S. embassy. In a CNN article, a state department spokesperson said ”We call on the Government of Iraq to fulfill its obligation to protect our diplomatic facilities.” In the same article, Iraq’s Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi was quoted on his country’s government being “committed to protecting all diplomatic mission and taking all necessary measures to achieve this.”
- In ending this report, we would like to still focus on the Middle Eastern region as US President Trump is preparing to unveil a Middle East Peace Plan. According to the Westernjournal, President Trump will be revealing this plan as two Israeli leaders will be expected to be invited to the white house this week. This deal, which the article claimed Trump has “billed” it as the “deal of the century,” aims to give Israel total sovereignty in Jerusalem and to allow the annexation of the West Bank settlements. These reports were announced on Israeli TV and were dismissed by President Trump, as the timesofisrael states: ”US President Donald Trump subsequently dismissed as “purely speculative” reports on the details of the plan and the timing of its release.”

Source(s):

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-01-26/aircraft-slams-into-hillside-explodes-in-flames-near-calabasas

https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/24/21080812/space-force-new-logo-donald-trump-reveal-design-star-trek

https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/First-Israelis-approved-to-visit-Saudi-Arabia-615404

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/26/politics/rocket-hits-us-embassy-compound-baghdad/index.html

https://www.westernjournal.com/trump-preparing-reveal-deal-century-middle-east-peace-plan/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-plan-said-to-give-israel-sovereignty-throughout-jerusalem-all-settlements/

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