Taipei (AFP) – The chairman of the US House of Representatives committee on China said Thursday that support in his country’s legislature for Taiwan was “extremely strong”. “I actually think support for Taiwan in the United States Congress… I see growing and extremely strong support for Taiwan,” said Mike Gallagher, who is heading a five-member delegation on a visit to the self-ruled island.
Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Deprived of visiting rights after the October 7 Hamas attack, families of Palestinian detainees in Israel are trying to reach their loved ones by radio as prisons cut off communications during the Israel-Hamas war. The October 7 attack, which sparked the war, resulted in the deaths of around 1,160 people in Israel. In Israel’s retaliatory military offensive, at least 29,313 people, mostly women and children, have been killed.
Patiala (India) (AFP) – Angry farmers in Punjab launch firecrackers towards Indian police, who attempt disperse them with tear gas, as thousands of protesting farmers make a fresh attempt to reach the capital New Delhi after failing to reach a deal with the government on demands for higher crop prices.
Rafah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – People gather around the bodies of Gazans killed in Israeli strikes, bidding farewell to their loved ones at the Najjar hospital in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Heavy fighting rocked besieged Gaza on Wednesday as aid agencies warned of looming famine, a day after a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire was blocked by a US veto.
Shanghai (AFP) – Jewellers in China are considering a new and fast-growing consumer base — younger people, who are increasingly keen to buy gold, seeing it as a safe investment in uncertain economic times. Experts say millennials and Gen Z are “becoming a huge driving force” in the rising popularity of gold.
Pristina (AFP) – Fevzi Aliu, a chicken farmer in Kosovo capital Pristina, counts among the animals under his care several specimens of a unique local species. Known as ‘Kosovo Longcrowers’, these largely black-feathered roosters can issue their hoarse crow for almost 90 seconds without stopping. “This cockerel is my favourite,” says Fevzi Aliu, pointing to Arab, one of his ‘Kosovo singers.’
London (AFP) – Stella Assange says attempts to extradite her husband, jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, to the US to face espionage charges over the publication of secret military and diplomatic files are a criminalisation of journalism and the truth. “They want impunity, they don’t want to be scrutinised and journalism stands in the way,” she tells supporters outside the UK court where Assange’s lawyers are making a last-ditch bid to fight the extradition.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky proposes a meeting with the Polish government to solve the border blockade, which he says is threatening the supply of weapons to Kyiv’s army at the front. “I have instructed my government to be on the border between our countries as soon as possible, by February 24,” he says.
Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrives at the Foreign Ministers G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro. IMAGES
Luang Prabang (Laos) (AFP) – The $3 billion Luang Prabang hydroelectric dam on the Mekong river, backed by a Thai-led consortium, is one of seven new mainstream dams that Laos plans to build to capitalise on its huge hydro potential.
Dharamshāla (India) (AFP) – As Tibetans mark 65 years since fleeing into exile after an uprising against Chinese rule, the diaspora’s elected leader says Beijing is crushing his people, but insists that hope of resolution remains.
London (AFP) – “It’s about the right to be able to speak freely without being put in prison,” says Julian Assange’s wife Stella outside the London High Court where a hearing for his final appeal against extradition to the United States is underway. The hearing opened in the absence of the 52-year-old WikiLeaks founder who “is not feeling well”, according to his lawyer Edward Fitzgerald. Assange is facing trial in the United States for publishing secret military and diplomatic files.
