A terrorist attack in the center of Baghdad

1 The USA

Joe Biden took office as the 46th US president. The inauguration ceremony took place on Wednesday, on Capitol. On the first day in office, Joe Biden signed 15 decrees — the White House press-secretary, Jen Psaki, reported during the first briefing of Joe Biden’s new administration to the journalists. Joe Biden signed an order to return the USA to the World Health Organization. The USA are also returning to their commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement. The state of emergency on the US-Mexican border and the federal funding for the construction of fences on the border with Mexico were canceled. The ban on entry for the citizens of a number of Muslim countries to the USA was lifted. Joe Biden introduced a 100-day mask-wearing regime, and made it mandatory to wear masks inside government agencies. Joe Biden also signed an order that declares his inauguration day, 20th of January, as a ’national unity day’.

2 Iraq

The death toll of the double terrorist attack on this Thursday, in central Baghdad, went up to 28 people. At least 73 people were injured — the ’Al Arabiya’ TV reported. 2 explosions took place on the At-Tayaran square, where the local market is located. An Iraqi army spokesman stated that «the terrorist attack was carried out by 2 suicide bombers who blew up while being pursued by the security personnel». For the security reasons, the Iraqi military blocked all the roads leading to the Baghdad’s «Green Zone».

3 Nagorno-Karabakh

The chief of the Russian engineering troops, Lieutenant-General Yuri Stavitsky, stated during an interview to the newspaper ’Rossiyskaya Gazeta’ that during the demining of the city of Stepanakert, the Russian sappers found ’M-85’ cluster submunitions, prohibited by the international law. It was reported that in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, the Russian sappers find many abandoned and unexploded shells. They also have difficulties in examining of damaged gas pipe-lines. «Along the roads, leading to the gas pipe-pipes, the sappers found booby traps with ’F-1’ fragmentation grenades. There are many unexploded shells, as well as unpacked shells» — Yuri Stavitsky reported.

4 Egypt — Libya

The ’France-Presse’ reported while citing the Egyptian Foreign Ministry that on Wednesday, the participants of the inter-Libyan political dialogue agreed to hold a constitutional referendum in 2021. «Egypt welcomes the agreement that was reached by the Libyan parties in Hurghada. Egypt appreciates the efforts that led to an agreement to hold a referendum on the draft constitution before the Libyan elections, planned on 24th December» — the ’France-Presse’ quoted the Egyptian Foreign Ministry where the negotiations took place.

5 Spain

The death toll from a strong explosion that took place in central Madrid on Wednesday went up to 4 people. Among them was a priest — the Archdiocese of Madrid reported on Thursday. The explosion took place in a 7-story building on Toledo Street. The upper floors of the building were destroyed by the explosion. The explosion took place in a building where the local priests live — it belongs to the Archdiocese of Madrid. According to the preliminary data — a gas leak was the cause of the explosion.

6 Kyrgyzstan

The press service of the interim president of Kyrgyzstan, Talant Mamytov, reported that the government of Kyrgyzstan, led by Sadyr Zhaparov, resigned due to the official publication of the results of the presidential elections, which took place on 10th of January. The report stated that the interim president of Kyrgyzstan, Talant Mamytov, signed a decree «On the termination of the powers of the prime minister of Kyrgyzstan and the government of Kyrgyzstan». The document stated that the current government is also considered to be resigned. Members of the government will fulfill their duties until the formation of the new government of Kyrgyzstan. The interim first deputy prime minister, Artem Novikov, will serve as the prime minister. Constantine Reztsov, specially for ANNA NEWS.