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07-02-2023 ANTAKYA: Overwhelmed rescuers struggled to save people trapped under the rubble as the death toll from a devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria approached 5,000 on Tuesday, with despair mounting and the scale of the disaster hampering relief efforts. In the Turkish city of Antakya near the Syrian border, …

07-02-2023 Bureau Report + Agencies DOHA/ KABUL: An envoy for Qatar’s foreign affairs minister visited the Afghan capital on Sunday and met the Taliban administration’s acting foreign minister, according to an Afghan foreign ministry statement. The visit comes after the Taliban administration placed restrictions on women’s education and NGO work, …

07-02-2023 Bureau Report SYDNEY: A 16-year-old killed by a shark while swimming in a Western Australia (WA) river has been identified as Stella Berry. The schoolgirl was pronounced dead after being pulled from the Swan River in Perth on Saturday. Stella was riding jet skis with friends when she jumped …

07-02-2023 LONDON: The head of private school Epsom College has been found dead along with her husband and seven-year-old daughter in a property on school grounds. Emma Pattison, 45, her husband George, 39, and their daughter Lettie were found dead at 01:10 GMT on Sunday. Officers from Surrey Police said …

07-02-2023 WELLINGTON: Co-hosts Australia and New Zealand have asked FIVA to “urgently clarify” reports that Saudi Arabia’s tourism authority is to be named as an official sponsor of the 2023 Women’s World Cup. A deal with Visit Saudi is set to be announced and has already been criticized by human …

07-02-2023 Bureau Report CANBERRA/ MELBOURNE: King Charles III will not feature on Australia’s new five dollar note, the country’s central bank has announced. The new design will pay tribute to “the culture and history” of Indigenous Australians, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) says. A portrait of the late Queen …

07-02-2023 RAMALLAH/ JERICHO: Israeli forces have shot dead at least five Palestinian men during a raid on Jericho in the eastern occupied West Bank. The large-scale raid took place in the early hours of Monday in the Aqabet Jabr refugee camp which has been under an Israeli siege, as described …

07-02-2023 Bureau Report + BBC NEW DELHI/ CHHATTISGARH: India is home to thousands of religious gurus, but a controversial new “godman” has been making headlines for the past fortnight. Supporters of Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, popularly known as Bageshwar Dham Sarkar, claim that he has divine powers and that he can …

07-02-2023 CITY OF VICTORIA: The trial for the largest national security case in Hong Kong has begun, with some 47 people accused of “subversion” for holding an unofficial primary election. They include some of the city’s most prominent pro-democracy figures, such as activists Joshua Wong and Benny Tai. Most of …

07-02-2023 BEIJING: The Chinese government has admitted a balloon spotted over Latin America on Friday is from China but claimed it is intended for civilian use. Foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the aircraft had deviated from its route, having been blown off course. A similar balloon was shot down …