Voice News Agency

Iran-US relations sore as new sanctions put on Iran   Iran warned Tuesday that new U.S. sanctions targeting its supreme leader and other top officials meant "closing the doors of diplomacy" between Tehran and Washington amid heightened tensions, even as the country's president derided the White House as being "afflicted by mental retardation." Iranian President Hassan Rouhani  President Hassan Rouhani went on to call the sanctions against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "outrageous and idiotic," especially since the 80-year-old Shiite cleric has no plans to travel to the United States. Yet the sharp response from Tehran shows the pressure that the nation's Shiite theocracy and its 80 million people feel over the maximalist campaign of sanctions by the Trump administration. From Israel, President Donald Trump's National Security Adviser John Bolton said Iran could walk through an "open door" to talks with America, tho...

At least two people have dead and more than twenty five left with serious injuries after Al-Qaida-linked network Al-Shabab implemented heavy attacks in Somalia over the weekends, the group claims responsibility on the incidence. Speaking to reporters on Mogadishu, General Bashir Abdi Mohamed, police chief, told reporters in Mogadishu. He said the first car bomb went off near a security checkpoint for the presidential palace and w bombing site on Saturday in Somalia  as responsible for nine deaths. “The second car bomb killed the driver and his accomplice near a checkpoint on the road to the heavily fortified airport”, he said. Al-Shabab, which often targets the capital, said the blasts were meant to strike the first line of security checkpoints for the airport and palace. The airport is home to a number of diplomatic offices. The palace is a frequent al-Shabab target

Floods kill 3 people; displace over 3000  in South Sudan  Aweil state Three people have been killed after floods washed South Sudan’s Aweil state last week. More than 3,000 displaced persons receive assistance from humanitarian organization and from the government. Tong Akeen Ngor, Aweil state governor said it is a collective to ensure that the victims are sustained and new plans are taken to avoid such incidence in the future. State doctors confirmed that one child got drowned and the other two bodies were not admitted at the Aweil state hospital. The doctors have also said water diseases are among dire conditions facing the deprived. Farmers union said their work is affected by the floods as major cultivated spaces cleaned by the water, worrying that it takes them another period to get prepared!   Lual Lual, a residence chief, described floods as blessings for the New Year, saying no one knows what God will bring after this disaster.   M...