VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

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Israeli fighter jets have come dangerously close to an Iranian passenger plane in Syrian airspace, Iran's Irib state news agency reports. It says the pilot of the Mahan Air aircraft had to quickly change altitude, which resulted in injuries among several passengers. Video posted by Irib shows one jet from the window of the plane and a passenger who had blood on his face. Irib later quoted sources as saying the fighter jets could be American. The Mahar Air aircraft en route from Tehran to Beirut later landed safely, an airport source in the Lebanese capital told Reuters news agency. It was not immediately known how many passengers and crew were on board the plane. Neither Israel nor the US have commented on the reported incident//Reuters/BBC

photo : reuters

The head of the World Health Organization said on Thursday (Jul 23) that reported comments by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo questioning his independence were untrue and would not distract the organisation from its work in fighting the coronavirus. Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has come under criticism, especially from US President Donald Trump and Pompeo, who have accused him of being pro-China. Tedros said in response to a question at a Geneva briefing about remarks by Pompeo reported in London on Tuesday. He said that our sole focus - and the focus of the entire organisation - is on saving lives. A WHO advance team has been in China for nearly two weeks, organising a WHO-led international mission to investigate the origins of the virus. Scientists believe it emerged in a food market in the central city of Wuhan late last year//Reuters

photo : idahopress

Australia’s hard-hit Victoria state reported a record 484 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday (22/7) and health authorities warned that numbers could continue to rise. As quoted by APNews.com ( 23/7) with Australia’s second-largest city, Melbourne, now in lockdown for two weeks, authorities had hoped the infection rate would begin to plateau. Chief Health Officer, Brett Sutton stated that certainly his side is at a really challenging phase of this pandemic. Sutton added that his side can’t necessarily expect numbers to go down. He thinks that it will be an even greater challenge in days ahead. That means that the authority is going to look at 500-600 cases per day//APNews

photo : onmanorama

The global tally of people infected with the coronavirus neared 15 million people Wednesday (22/7), while in the worst-hit pandemic hot spot of the United States, President Donald Trump warned the pandemic would “get worse before it gets better”. As quoted by APNews.com (22/7) with COVID-19 set to pass another shocking milestone, President Trump delivered his first virus briefing after a three-month hiatus, offering a shifted message Tuesday, including professing a newfound respect for the protective face masks he has seldom worn. It came as polls have shown Trump lagging behind Democratic rival Joe Biden ahead of November’s election and as the count of virus fatalities in the U.S. passes 140,000//APNews