Additional update at 08:15 GMT / 16:15 Hong Kong, Feb 6, 2023

An earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck southern Turkey, damaging dozens of buildings and killing hundreds of people. Officials put the initial death toll at 300 but expect that figure to rise. More deaths were reported in Syria. The earthquake’s epicentre was near Gaziantep; nine other cities were also affected. Tremors were also felt in Cyprus and Lebanon. The region is one of the world’s most active earthquake zones.

The trial began in Hong Kong of a swathe of opposition politicians and pro-democracy campaigners. Forty-seven people, including prominent activists such as Joshua Wong, have been charged with organising a primary contest to determine candidates for legislative elections in 2020. It is the largest case yet brought under the territory’s draconian national-security law. The arrests effectively wiped out all opposition voices in Hong Kong’s legislative assembly.