AFP UK

Bawku (Ghana) (AFP) – Standing near the dried river bed marking Ghana’s northern border, Alima can see her old hamlet, lying in Burkina Faso –- less than two kilometres (1.2 miles) away. But she says she will never go back after gun-toting jihadists killed two watchmen in her village last year. The number of families crossing the border reinforces what Ghana’s government already knew: Ghana along with Gulf of Guinea neighbours Benin, Togo and Ivory Coast are quickly becoming the new frontline in the Sahel jihadist war ravaging their northern neighbour.

Idlib (Syria) (AFP) – Syrian families take refuge in a makeshift displacement camp, run by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadist group in the city of Idlib, after their homes were destroyed in the deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Syria and neighbouring Turkey on Monday.

Salqīn (Syria) (AFP) – Water floods the village of al-Taloul near the town of Salqin in the countryside of the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, after a dam collapsed following the deadly earthquake.

Gaziantep (Turkey) (AFP) – Speaking in the southern city of Gaziantep, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says “the number of our citizens who lost their lives in the devastation caused by the earthquake has reached 14,014 in total”. Search and rescue operations are ongoing across the affected region as the combined death toll in Turkey and neighbouring Syria hits 17,100.

Beijing (AFP) – Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning condemns US President Joe Biden for his “extremely irresponsible” remarks in which he said his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping faced “enormous problems”. The comment comes days after the US shot down a Chinese balloon.

Brussels (AFP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets with Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament upon his arrival in Brussels, ahead of the EU summit meeting. Zelensky is in Brussels to rally EU leaders to step up support for his war-ravaged country on the third leg of his European tour.

Vélizy-Villacoublay (France) (AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fly together from Paris to a summit of EU heads of state and government in Brussels.

Sequilé (Colombia) (AFP) – Flower growers in Colombia are busy preparing exports for Valentine’s day, with varieties ranging from roses and carnations to chrysanthemums and hydrangeas.

Tokyo (AFP) – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida welcomes visiting Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as they attend a guard of honour ceremony held in Tokyo.

Melsbroek (Belgium) (AFP) – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron arrive at Melsbroek Air Base, northeast of Brussels, as Zelensky is expected to address EU parliament and attend a summit meeting. The Ukrainian leader greets Charles Michel, President of the European Council, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and Alexander De Croo, Prime Minister of Belgium.

Geneva (AFP) – The UN’s Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Otto Pedersen, underlines that the emergency response in Syria “must not be politicised” following “one of the most catastrophic earthquakes the region has seen in about a century”.

Besnaya (Syria) (AFP) – Syrian civilians volunteer help the White Helmets rescuers as they search for survivors under the rubble of collapsed buildings after a deadly earthquake shook the country and neighbouring Turkey, killing over 16,000. A leading UN official called for the facilitation of aid access to rebel-held areas in the northwest of Syria, warning that relief stocks will soon be depleted.