Informing, engaging & connecting the people of the world. FEBRUARY 20, 2020

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Six U.S. Democratic presidential candidates squared off in a contentious debate late Wednesday, with billionaire former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg the target of sharp attacks from his challengers in his first appearance on the debate stage.

ON THIS DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY On February 20, 1872, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the largest art museum in the United States, opens in New York City. The museum has a permanent collection of over 2 million works, covering classical art, works of European masters as well as extensive holdings of Asian, African and Islamic art. Additionally, the “Met” has collections of musical instruments, costumes, weapons and armor. Today, the Met is the fifth most visited museum in the world.

Top American officials are warning that the ability to protect intellectual property is under a grave threat if a Chinese-backed candidate becomes the new director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization, a self-funding agency of the United Nations that handles patents, trademarks and industrial designs.

VIDEO: America’s foothold in Asia and the Pacific may be slipping after the Philippine government threatened to end a decades-long security pact between the two countries. Plugged In with Greta Van Susteren discusses the U.S.-Philippine relations with VOA reporters and Vice President and Director of the East-West Center in Washington, Dr. Satu Limaye.

South Korea confirmed its first death from the coronavirus, local media reported Thursday, as the number of infections in the country tripled within two days.

Less than a day after Russian warplanes continued their bombing campaign in northwest Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his party’s parliamentary group in Ankara Wednesday that he is “is determined to transform Idlib into a safe place at any cost for the sake of both Turkey and the region’s people.”