Nicosia (AFP) – “My highest concern is the end of the Turkish occupation”, says newly elected Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides during his inauguration ceremony in the capital Nicosia. Former foreign minister Christodoulides was on Sunday elected president of the Republic of Cyprus, becoming at 49 the youngest leader of the divided Mediterranean island nation.
Antakya (Turkey) (AFP) – In the city of Antakya, where rescue teams are still trying to find survivors in the rubble following a 7.8-magnitude earthquake, shopkeepers are coming together to protect their shops from looting that has become rife in the area. A man suspected of looting is chased and beaten by several shopkeepers, and one resident describes the situation as a “nightmare”.
Siem Reap (Cambodia) (AFP) – In a bid to protect the UNESCO world heritage site of Angkor Wat, the Cambodian government is relocating 10,000 families living within the famous temple complex. Many of those facing eviction are worried about their future.
Jindayris (Syria) (AFP) – Rescuers pulled Musa Hmeidi, a six-year-old Syrian boy, alive from the rubble in the rebel-held northwestern town of Jandairis on Friday, four days after a devastating earthquake killed more than 23,000 people in Syria and neighbouring Turkey.
New York (AFP) – A jersey worn by US basketball legend Kobe Bryant — who died three years ago in a tragic helicopter accident — sold at auction for $5.8 million on Thursday.
Yekaterinburg (Russia) (AFP) – Some 2,000 kilometres from the frontline in Ukraine, in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, a group of women clad in camouflage fatigues practise firing their Soviet-designed Kalashnikovs. They are part of the ‘Women’s Guard of the Urals’ – volunteers who have signed up for military training amid fears that the fight could come back home.
Jableh (Syria) (AFP) – Four days after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Syria and southeastern Syria, the hopes of rescuers searching for survivors dim as the death toll rises to more than 20,000.
Hatay (Turkey) (AFP) – In the yard of a hospital in Hatay, a city severely hit by the earthquake which struck Turkey and neighbouring Syria in the early hours of Monday, hundreds of bodies of the quake’s victims pulled out of the ruins lie massed on the ground. Grieving relatives come to the site each day to check each one in the hope — and fear — of finding a familiar face.
Brussels (AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron warns that even if Ukraine’s European allies decide to send Kyiv fighter jets they could not be sent in “the coming weeks”. “I’m not ruling anything out … but that doesn’t correspond to today’s requirements,” Macron says after an EU summit in Brussels attended by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Adiyaman (Turkey) (AFP) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan admits that rescue efforts from this week’s earthquake were “very difficult” as the “devastating effect of the earthquake spread to 10 provinces and an area of 500 kilometres”. Anger has mounted over the government’s handling of the quake, the largest Turkey has seen since 1939, when 33,000 people died in the eastern Erzincan province.
Tokyo (AFP) – The Japanese capital is blanketed with snow on Friday as an icy low pressure system hits the country’s central Honshu island. No more heavy snow is forecast for the weekend – Japan’s weather agency downgraded the snow alert on Friday afternoon.
Seoul (AFP) – South Korea’s iced Americano fans are dedicated to drinking it all year round. The humble coffee, with shots of espresso served over ice and topped up with water, is outselling its hot counterpart even during the depths of winter.
