Informing, engaging & connecting the people of the world. JANUARY 29, 2020

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VIDEO: The latest polls show Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders surging in the Democratic primary race, both nationally and in Iowa, where the first caucus of the 2020 campaign kicks off Monday. Sanders is among several top Democratic contenders competing for support in Iowa, and the outcome is seen as crucial in what could be a long battle for the nomination.

ON THIS DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY On Jan. 29, 1845, the New York Evening Mirror publishes Edgar Allen Poe’s poem “The Raven.” The poem, which begins with the famous line “Once upon a midnight dreary,” depicts a man’s descent into madness over the loss of a lover. While the poem made Poe famous, it did not help him out of the financial problems that haunted him his whole life. Poe died at the age of 40 in 1849.

In India, it is quite an achievement to graduate from medical school, given that many students come from modest socio-economic backgrounds. It’s an even higher hurdle for foreign medical graduates to turn that degree into a license to practice medicine in the U.S.

A commando operation in a northwestern region has freed 62 security personnel held in a Taliban prison, officials in Afghanistan said Wednesday. The insurgent group also said it has killed at least 18 Afghan security forces.

VIDEO: An expert in China warns that the new strain of virus originating from the Chinese city of Wuhan could be gaining strength and increasing its ability to move from one person to another. The coronavirus that is causing respiratory problems similar to pneumonia has sickened close to 3,000 people worldwide and killed at least 56 in China, prompting governments to come up with measures to protect their citizens.

Next week’s Iowa caucuses are coming to Tbilisi, the capital of the country of Georgia. For the first time, Iowa’s Democratic Party designated Tbilisi as well as Paris, France, and Glasgow, Scotland, as international satellite caucus sites where Iowa Democrats can choose who they want as their party’s presidential nominee.