Khamenei cancels Persian new year speech due to virus
AFP, Tehran
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has cancelled an annual speech marking the start of the Persian new year, his office announced Monday, as the country’s death toll from novel coronavirus mounts.
“The ceremony of the speech of the supreme leader, which takes place every year at the sacred mausoleum of Imam Reza… will not take place this year” and Khamenei will not travel to the city of Mashhad, the statement said.
Elon Musk dismisses astronomy concerns over Starlink network
AFP, Washington
SpaceX founder Elon Musk on Monday dismissed scientists’ concerns that his company’s Starlink constellation of internet satellites would obscure the view of the night sky, predicting the network “will not cause any impact whatsoever in astronomical discoveries.”
Musk is trying to seize control of the future internet space market and has already sent about 300 Starlink satellites into orbit – with plans to grow that number, potentially up to 42,000.
Iran liable in disappearance of retired FBI
agent: US judge
AP, Washington
A federal judge on Monday held Iran responsible for the kidnapping of former FBI agent Robert Levinson, entering a default judgement against the regime on the 13th anniversary of his disappearance.
The decision from U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly was a milestone moment in the family’s lawsuit against Tehran, which featured wrenching testimony in Washington’s federal court from each of Levinson’s seven children.
China quarantine hotel collapse toll jumps to 20
AFP, Beijing
The death toll from the collapse of a hotel used as a coronavirus quarantine facility in eastern China has risen to 20, authorities said Tuesday, with 10 others still feared trapped in the rubble.
Forty-one survivors pulled from the wreckage are injured, the Ministry of Emergency Management said at a press conference Tuesday.
