Hope your holidays were amazing.

I'm Carl Azuz, and one new place you can find CNN 10 throughout this new year is on YouTube.

You can subscribe to our official channel at youtube dot com slash CNN 10

All right, first topic this Monday, January 6th.

There's an international standoff happening right now between the United States and Iran, and no one knows what's going to happen next.

Military action between the two countries has been taking place in Iraq, which forms part of Iran's western border.

Militias that are supported by Iran have conducted a number of recent attacks on military bases in Iraq.

One of these assaults killed an American civilian contractor and wounded several members of the U.S. and Iraqi militaries on December 27th.

In response, the U.S. launched air strikes against the Iran supported militias, and on December 31st hundreds of protestors tried to storm the U.S. Embassy compound in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

They smashed windows and burned some areas, but no one was reported to be killed or seriously injured.

U.S. officials said this attack was made by supporters and members of a group trained by Iran.

And on January 3rd, the U.S. launched an air strike that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani along with several other people at Baghdad International Airport.

Soleimani was considered to be Iran's most influential military leader.

The U.S. blamed him for hundreds of deaths of Americans and U.S. allies, and President Donald Trump says he ordered the air strike against Soleimani because the Iranian commander was planning imminent and sinister attacks on Americans.

But critics have said Soleimani's death could further destabilize the Middle East, and Iran called the air strike an act of terrorism and promised to get revenge directly on American military sites.

Back-and-forth threats between the two countries have been made over the past few days.

And while U.S. lawmakers have been debating whether Congress should have been notified about the attack against Soleimani, some leaders of other countries have been calling for calm in the Middle East and making preparations in case there isn't.

Part of how Iran has risen to some degree of ascendance in the Middle East is its use of proxies - It's used of asymmetrical warfare.

Essentially not always being deliberately obviously to blame for acts that are carried out on its behalf.

For example, asymmetrical warfare, you could call that the Iranian attack on Saudi oil fields in 2019.

They said that the Houthis, their allies in Yemen, were behind it, but the U.S. said it was Iranian technology fired from Iran.

But still Iran was able to deny involvement.

They want to pin the blame on Iran in order to achieve something, and that is why I'm saying this is agitation for war.

Qasem Soleimani was really the master of that.

He was the man who occasionally appeared in social media, on the front line, and battlefields directing pro-Iranian militia to attack ISIS.

The same militia, too, that have assisted Iran's ally in Syria, the massacres.

The same militia, too, that have apparently also been Yemen assisting Iran's allies there, the Houthis.

Iran's grip has been successful because it had so many people relying on its aid, fighting on its behalf, confronting its adversaries without Iran necessarily having to put their flag in the dust themselves.

That has contributed to its, frankly, outsized reach across the Middle East and made so many of U.S. allies disproportionately fearful frankly for a country of its size and economy.

10 Second Trivia.

Which of these nations is composed of six states and two territories?

Australia, India, Malaysia, or Mexico.

Though all of these nations have states, only Australia has exactly six of them in addition to its territories.

And four of those states have been effected by bushfires.

There are more than 200 of them burning in Australia, which is going through a drought and still has at least two hot summer months left before the season's over.

One of the blazes covered 23 square miles over the weekend.

That's bigger than the New York City borough of Manhattan.

In all, 23,000 square miles have burned.

That's more than 14 and a half million acres.

Twenty-four people have been killed this fire season, and even where the flames themselves can't be seen, an ominous red sky hangs over the countryside.

These aren't the worst fires Australia has ever had.

Those struck in 2009, killing 173 people and injuring hundreds more.

But what's happening now has led to the largest peacetime evacuation in Australian history.

An eerie glow hangs over Eden Harbor as residents walk through thick smoke in the middle of the day.

This is where they've come to seek refuge from what's now known as the Border Fire.

That's swept from Victoria into New South Wales wiping out townships in its wake.

One of more than 200 blazes burning across southeastern Australia.

Unless a roaring monsoon comes through, I don't think anythings going to stop it really... so, you know, but houses can be rebuilt.

You know that, preservation of life is the most important thing for everyone around here, so, that's what we're trying to do.

Police have told residents to leave Eden on the far south coast because they cannot protect them.

Communities on the outskirts have already lost homes, but some are refusing to go.

Last night we made the decision to bring the kids down here.

It was the safest spot for them.

Louise Warren and her family have decided to bunker down on her husband's fishing vessel and will ride out the fire front from sea if necessary.

Have you ever seen anything like this before?

Never in my life. Never.

Other families have moved onto tugboats while some are staying in their cars and caravans near the water.

We can't see the fire, but we can certainly smell it and feel it.

And even though it started raining these last couple of hours, this is not enough to put out the blaze.

The fire is burning several kilometers in that direction across the bay, but the fear is stronger winds will push it closer and threaten the township of Eden.

Up next, for more than 2,200 years, an underground army has been guarding the tomb of China's first emperor.

The warriors are made of terracotta, a type of fired clay.

Experts estimate that it took 700,000 people working for 30 years to create the historical treasure.

And though it was first discovered in the 1970s, excavations continue at the site in Central China where 200 more Terracotta Warriors have just been located, and they're not all the same.

According to the Smithsonian, all of the clay figures that have been unearthed so far have different features and hairstyles.

Archeologists have discovered another 200 Terracotta Warriors and ancient weapons at the tomb of China's first emperor.

It's the third excavation at the Mausoleum of emperor Qin Shi Huang who lived from 259 to 210 B.C.

The number one pit is the only one among the nine large scale pits that has been excavated.

It is shaped like a cross and is located in the center parts of the pits with two tomb passages each on the northern and southern sides, which signified the relatively senior military ranks of the warriors.

The newly found artifacts were arranged in a burial area, which was a sub-alternate tomb to the main mausoleum.

One of the most interesting finds is an ancient gold camel, which is believed to be the earliest one of its type found in China.

The gold camel is a highlight as it was only found in west Asia in ancient times.

And it is not something that belongs to the central plains of China.

So the discovery of the gold camel indicated early exchanges between China and West Asia.

The first evidence of this extraordinary 2,000-year-old clay army was discovered by farmers digging a well back in 1974.

The majority of the number one pit has not been excavated, measuring 230 meters by 62 meters with a depth of five meters.

Archeologists have estimated that there are more than 6,000 clay figurines and horses yet to be discovered.

Well, as it is our first show of 2020, we're going to leave you today with a look at how cities around the world rang in the New Year.

These celebrations went off with a bang.

People were having a blast.

You can clearly see that when it comes to pyrotechnics, "fire works," It "snaps" to attention, "crackles" with color, "pops" with pride, "sparks" new celebrations and act as an "Auld Lang Sign" of good times.

Even if staying up late leaves some people "genuweary," they were sure to have 2020 vision when the woke up the next day.

I'm Carl Azuz.

This is CNN 10.

If you're watching from our homepage, the link to our new YouTube channel should be right under the show date.

Hope to see you there tomorrow.