Informing, engaging & connecting the people of the world. MARCH 3, 2020

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The first possible vaccine against coronavirus is on its way to human testing. Just six weeks elapsed between when Chinese scientists released the sequence of the virus and when biotech company Moderna shipped its vaccine to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease to begin testing.

ON THIS DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY On March 3, 1931, President Herbert Hoover signs a congressional act making “The Star-Spangled Banner” the national anthem of the United States. Set to the tune “To Anacreon in Heaven,” a popular English song, Francis Scott Key’s now famous lyrics were written in 1814 to commemorate the bombardment of Fort McHenry in the state of Maryland by British troops during the War of 1812. Key was most inspired by seeing the American flag still flying over the fort despite the massive shelling.

Iran’s Islamist rulers faced a litany of complaints about their handling of the nation’s deadly coronavirus outbreak from disgruntled citizens who called in to a VOA Persian TV program.

China is threatening to retaliate against the United States over its decision to limit the number of state media personnel allowed to work in the U.S.

If polling is right, Senator Bernie Sanders could score big wins on Super Tuesday in many of the 14 states up for grabs, including California and Texas, America’s most populous and delegate-rich states.

Syrian Kurdish officials seem firm on moving ahead with their plans to put captured Islamic State foreign fighters on trial in Syria, despite little international support.