A Ukraine International Airlines flight crashed Southern Tehran early hours on Wednesday, which resulted on the demise of all 176 passengers including the nine-crew members, Iranian local authorities said.

Iran struck back at the United States for the killing of a top Iranian general early Wednesday, firing a series of surface-to-surface missiles at two Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops and warning the United States and its allies in the region not to retaliate. U.S. officials confirmed the strikes, though Iran only initially acknowledged targeting one base. There was no immediate word on injuries.

Protests were held across India yesterday after masked assailants wielding batons and iron rods went on a rampage at a top Delhi university, leaving more than two dozen injured. Controversy over Sunday’s violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) comes as a new challenge to the government as it confronts major nationwide protests against a new citizenship bill that critics say is anti-Muslim. Meanwhile, New Delhi police are investigating how masked men burst into a leading university and attacked student protesters with sticks and rods, an officer said yesterday.

The United Arab Emirates yesterday introduced a multiple-entry visa scheme valid for five years for all nationalities, with the aim of turning the Gulf state into a tourism hub. “#UAE Cabinet chaired by @HHShkMohd, approves new amendment for tourist visas in #UAE,” the government of Dubai Media Office tweeted, referring to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE prime minister and ruler of Dubai.

Around 10,000 Filipino household service workers bound for Kuwait during the first quarter of 2020 are now shifting their destinations after the Jan 3 ban implemented by the Philippines Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). Effective 5 pm of Jan 3, 2020, Filipinos seeking employment in Kuwait are no longer allowed to process their documents, said administrator Bernard Olalia during a radio program (Global Pinoy) in Manila.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the military to prepare to deploy its aircraft and ships “at any moment’s notice” to evacuate thousands of Filipino workers in Iraq and Iran should violence break out, reflecting Asia’s growing fears for its citizens in the increasingly volatile Middle East.

Former deputy chief of the military operations and plans, retired Major-General Khaled Al-Rudaini said the situation in the region is red-hot and expects the Iranian regime to respond within 15 days through its proxies in the region, especially Syria, Iraq and the Gulf, reports Al-Anba daily.

Over one hundred thousand protesters, many carrying the Indian tricolor flag, took part in a peaceful march in the southern city of Hyderabad yesterday, chanting slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new citizenship law.

Donald Trump’s order to kill a top Iranian commander has laid bare Washington’s stark political divide, with Republicans rallying behind the president and Democrats warning that Friday’s attack could trigger a devastating military confrontation.

Paratroopers with the 82nd Airborne arrive at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait on Jan. 2, 2020.