While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, March 3
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had a brief encounter on the sidelines of the G-20 foreign ministers meeting.
PHOTOS: AFP
Blinken, Lavrov speak amid war of words over Ukraine at G-20
The United States and its European allies sparred with Russia over the war in Ukraine at a meeting of G-20 foreign ministers in New Delhi on Thursday, with the rival sides each accusing the other of destabilising the world.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had a brief encounter on the sidelines of the meeting.
During their exchange, Mr Blinken urged Russia to reverse its decision on the New Start nuclear treaty, a senior US official said.
Mr Blinken also told Mr Lavrov that Washington was prepared to support Ukraine to defend itself for as long as it takes, the official said. The two spoke for less than 10 minutes, they said.
Anger, sorrow in Greece as train crash death toll rises to 57
Anger and sorrow grew in Greece on Thursday over a devastating train crash that killed dozens of passengers along with crew members near the central city of Larissa in the country’s worst rail disaster.
Carriages were thrown off the tracks, crushed and engulfed in flames when a high-speed passenger train with more than 350 people on board collided head-on with a freight train on Tuesday. They were on the same track.
As more bodies were recovered on Thursday, the number of dead rose to 57, among them university students returning home after a long holiday weekend. Scores were injured.
Massive fire hits Hong Kong high-rise construction site
A construction site for a Hong Kong high-rise was engulfed in flames late on Thursday, with firefighters on the scene battling the blaze, city authorities said.
Officials said the fire broke out at 11.11pm in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui, a busy shopping and tourist district on the city’s harbourfront.
Two people were reported injured and taken to hospital, according to the BBC. Hong Kong media said they were hit by falling debris.
Russian politician to face court for Putin speech noodle video
A Russian regional politician will appear in court next week to face accusations that he discredited the armed forces by posting a video of himself listening to President Vladimir Putin’s state of the nation speech with spaghetti draped over his ear.
The video referred to the Russian saying that when noodles have been hung on someone’s ear, that person has been strung along or deceived.
Mr Mikhail Abdalkin, a Communist party lawmaker in the Samara regional parliament, said on social media on Thursday that the Novokuybyshev city court would hear his case on March 7. His party had already previously reprimanded him.
‘Messi, we’re waiting for you’: Threat left after attack on business
Two people on motorcycles shot at a supermarket belonging to the family of Antonela Roccuzzo, wife of Lionel Messi, in Rosario, in Argentina’s Santa Fe province early on Thursday morning, local media and the city’s mayor reported.
A threatening hand-written message for 35-year-old Messi, Argentina’s captain and seven-times World Player of the Year, was also left on the shop door.
“Messi, we are waiting for you, (Pablo) Javkin (the mayor) is also a narco, he is not going to take care of you,” it read.
