While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Feb 21
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People react after an earthquake in Antakya in Hatay province, Turkey, on Feb 20, 2023.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Fresh earthquake hits Turkey-Syria border two weeks after disaster
Another earthquake struck the border region of Turkey and Syria on Monday, just two weeks after the area was devastated by a larger quake that killed more than 47,000 people and damaged or destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes.
Monday’s quake, this time with a magnitude of 6.4, was centred near the southern Turkish city of Antakya and was felt in Syria, Egypt and Lebanon.
It struck at a depth of 10 km, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.
Biden arrives in Poland after surprise Ukraine visit
US President Joe Biden arrived in Poland by train on Monday, television footage showed, following a surprise trip to Ukraine.
Earlier in the day Biden walked around the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on an unannounced visit, promising to stand with Ukraine as long as it takes, on a trip timed to upstage the Kremlin ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
Reuters reporters at the railway station in the southern Polish town of Przemysl saw rows of vehicles, some with US number plates, awaiting the arrival of Biden’s train, which pulled in at around 1945 GMT.
UK foreign minister discusses Xinjiang with Chinese counterpart
British foreign minister James Cleverly said on Monday he had spoken with Chinese counterpart Qin Gang and raised alleged human rights abuses in China’s western region of Xinjiang.
“I raised China’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang & the need for peace in the Taiwan Strait,” Cleverly said in a Twitter post. “We also agreed to work together to resolve issues on climate and trade.”
Qin, who was appointed as foreign minister in December, told Cleverly that China poses no challenge or threat to Britain, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
UK tea firms face sex abuse claims in Kenya: BBC
Two UK tea manufacturers on Monday faced accusations of sexual abuse on tea plantations in Kenya, according to an undercover investigation by the BBC.
Journalists spoke to 100 women working on plantations producing tea for world-famous brands, for a joint BBC Africa Eye/Panorama television documentary.
“More than 70 women on Kenyan tea farms, owned for years by two British companies, told the BBC they had been sexually abused by their supervisors,” the broadcaster said on its website.
Athletics: UK, 30 others vow support for ban on Russian, Belarusian athletes
More than 30 countries, including the United States, Britain and France, on Monday pledged their support for banning Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing in international sporting events, a British government statement said.
The statement follows recent proposals from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which suggest a pathway is being explored to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to competition, including the 2024 Olympic Games in France, the government added.
The IOC has said a boycott will violate the Olympic Charter and that its inclusion of Russians and Belarusians is based on a UN resolution against discrimination within the Olympic movement.
