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Hope Fading As Deaths In Turkey, Syria Quake Pass 11,000

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GAZIANTEP, Turkey — Rescue teams in Turkey and Syria looked for signs of life in the rubble of thousands of buildings destroyed by the world’s deadliest earthquake in more than a decade on Wednesday, when the chances of finding survivors were getting slimmer. The confirmed death toll has surpassed 11,000 people.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan paid a visit to the particularly hard-hit Hatay province, where over 3,300 people were killed, and entire neighborhoods were destroyed. Residents have criticized the government’s response, claiming that rescuers arrived too slowly.

Erdogan, who faces a tough reelection battle in May, acknowledged “shortcomings” in responding to Monday’s 7.8 magnitude earthquake but blamed it on winter weather. The earthquake damaged the runway at Hatay Airport, further complicating the response.

“Preparing for such a disaster is impossible,” Erdogan said. “We will not abandon any of our citizens.” He also slammed critics, calling them “dishonorable people” who spread “lies and slander” about the government’s response.

Turkish authorities claim to be combating disinformation, and an internet monitoring group reported that access to Twitter was restricted, despite survivors using it to alert rescuers.

In Syria and Turkey, search teams from more than a dozen countries have joined thousands of local first responders. However, the scale of destruction caused by the earthquake and its powerful aftershocks was so massive and spread over such a large area — including a region isolated by Syria’s ongoing civil war — that many people were still waiting for help.

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People Rush To Save The Turkey People

Experts said that people who were stuck under the rubble or couldn’t get what they needed were running out of time to stay alive. At the same time, they stated that it was too soon to give up hope.

“The first 72 hours are critical,” according to Steven Godby, a natural hazards expert at Nottingham Trent University in England. “The average survival ratio within 24 hours is 74%, 22% after 72 hours, and 6% by the fifth day.”

Rescuers occasionally used excavators or picked carefully through debris. With thousands of buildings destroyed, it was unclear how many people were still trapped beneath the rubble.

According to Ozel Pikal, who saw eight bodies pulled from the ruins of a building in the Turkish city of Malatya, bodies were placed side by side on the ground and covered in blankets while rescuers waited for vehicles to pick them up.

Pikal, who assisted in the rescue efforts, believes at least some of the victims died as temperatures dropped to minus 6 degrees Celsius (21 Fahrenheit).

“There is no hope left in Malatya as of today,” Pikal said over the phone. “No one is emerging from the rubble alive.”

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A Horrible Hit For The ALready Impacted Syrian People

Road closures and damage in the area made it difficult to reach all areas needing assistance, he said, and there needed to be more rescuers where he was. Meanwhile, the cold weather hampered those who were present, including volunteers.

“Because of the cold, our hands can’t pick up anything,” Pikal explained. “Working machines are required.”

Syria’s civil war had already lasted more than a decade in the region. Millions of Syrians have been displaced, and millions have sought refuge in Turkey.

Turkey’s president announced that the country’s death toll had surpassed 9,000. According to the Syrian Health Ministry, the death toll in government-held areas has surpassed 1,200. According to the volunteer first responders known as the White Helmets, at least 1,400 people have died in the rebel-held northwest.

This brought the total to 11,600. Thousands more have been injured.

Rescue stories continued to give hope that some of those still trapped might be found alive. A crying newborn still connected to her deceased mother by the umbilical cord was rescued in Syria on Monday. Rescuers pulled a 3-year-old boy from the rubble in Turkey’s Kahramanmaras.

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The Actual Death Toll In Turkey Could Take Weeks

However, David Alexander, a professor of emergency planning and management at University College London, said that data from previous earthquakes indicated that the chances of survival were now slim, particularly for those who suffered serious injuries.

“Statistically, today is when we’ll stop finding people,” he predicted. “That doesn’t mean we should give up looking.”

Because of the sheer volume of rubble, Alexander warned that the final death toll could take weeks to determine.

The last earthquake that killed so many people was in 2015 when a magnitude 7.8 quake struck Nepal. A tsunami was triggered by an earthquake in Japan in 2011, killing nearly 20,000 people.

Many who survived the earthquake lost their homes and were forced to sleep in cars, in government shelters, or outside in some areas due to rain and snowfall.

“We don’t have a tent, a heating stove, or anything else. “Our children are in bad shape,” said Aysan Kurt, 27. “We did not die of hunger or the earthquake, but we will die of cold.”

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People Arrested For Looting

The disaster comes at a critical juncture for Erdogan, who is dealing with an economic downturn and high inflation. Perceptions that his administration mishandled the crisis could harm his standing. He stated that the government would give affected families 10,000 Turkish lire ($532) each.

The leader of Turkey’s main opposition party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, blamed the devastation on Erdogan’s two-decade rule, saying he had not prepared the country for a disaster and accusing him of misusing funds.

Police said they had detained 18 people and identified more than 200 social media accounts suspected of “spreading fear and panic” in their efforts to combat disinformation related to the earthquake response.

According to NetBlocks, access to Twitter is restricted to multiple internet providers in Turkey. Trapped survivors used Twitter to alert rescuers and loved ones, while others used it to criticize the government’s response.

There has been no official response to the restrictions. The government has periodically restricted access to social media during national emergencies and terror attacks, citing national security.

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UN Has Sent Help To Turkey

Aid efforts in Syria have been hampered by the ongoing conflict and the isolation of the rebel-held border region, surrounded by Russia-backed government forces. Syria is an international pariah due to Western sanctions related to the war.

The European Union announced on Wednesday that Syria had requested humanitarian assistance to assist earthquake victims. An E.U. representative insisted that the bloc’s sanctions against the Syrian government had no bearing on its ability to assist.

Muhannad Hadi, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Syria, said Wednesday that due to damaged roads, there still needs to be access to the Bab al-Hawa border crossing into rebel-held Syria, the only terminal where U.N. aid can be delivered.

Using other crossings or sending aid across conflict lines from Damascus necessitates “multiple levels of coordination between different parties, security, humanitarian, and non-governmental organizations,” he said. “This is not a simple operation.”

Critics have accused the Syrian government of deliberately slowing the process to cut off support to rebel-held areas.

Turkey is situated on major fault lines and is frequently jolted by earthquakes. In 1999, similar powerful earthquakes struck northwest Turkey, killing 18,000 people.

SOURCE – (AP)

 

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Deadly Attack On Moscow Concert Hall Shakes Russian Capital And Sows Doubts About Security

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Shocked Russians brought flowers and teddy bears to the Crocus City music hall on Moscow’s outskirts on Saturday to pay their condolences to more than 100 victims killed in a gruesome Islamic State attack.

Mourners put flowers on fences and piled them on the ground near the music hall, where gunmen opened fire on a crowd and detonated explosives, causing a massive fire. Despite the anguish, firefighters removed victims from the rubble and fought to extinguish the flames.

Candles and flowers were set in commemoration of the deceased and wounded at landmarks throughout Russia, as well as Russian embassies abroad, according to social media videos.

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Deadly Attack On Moscow Concert Hall Shakes Russian Capital And Sows Doubts About Security

The incident came only days after Russian President Vladimir Putin solidified his hold on power by winning a record-breaking fifth term by ruthlessly repressing opposition voices during a highly orchestrated election. The attack was Russia’s bloodiest in years, leaving the performance venue in ruins.

The incident broke nerves in Moscow and brought back memories of similar strikes during Putin’s first few years in office. Although the Islamic State claimed credit, Putin directed the finger of blame at Ukraine, where Russia is fighting a war that has already entered its third year. He provided no evidence for his statements.

As the death toll rose and Putin ordered increased security across the country, several Russians had questions.

“There are cameras everywhere that can track opposition supporters traveling to rallies and are also stopped in the metro. But basic security did not work in a public event,” Ekaterina remarked in Moscow, referring to the election-related crackdown. Like several other Russians who spoke with The Associated Press, she declined to provide her surname due to security concerns.

“Does it mean that cameras are targeted on people who carry a book … but you can carry a bomb or a Kalashnikov, and that will be OK?” She inquired, pointing to social media footage of the assailants in the music hall using automatic rifles.

Russian official television focused on foreign leaders’ condolences and the outpouring of sadness in Russia. It featured photographs of the suspects and officials visiting hospitals and managing the cleanup process.

“I woke up this morning and decided I had to come here,” a man named Mikhail told the Associated Press outside the concert hall. “There is no word for such scum … what they did is a terrible thing.”

“I couldn’t stop crying,” Elvira said, adding that she awakened Saturday feeling “so depressed” about the swiftly mounting death toll.

moscow

Deadly Attack On Moscow Concert Hall Shakes Russian Capital And Sows Doubts About Security

Russian news agencies depicted people lining up to donate blood. They reported that more than 3,000 people had donated to the tragedy victims.

Despite extensive coverage, official television omitted vital information on the attack, prompting some pro-Western Russians to go elsewhere for information.

“It’s ridiculous because it happened in my city, and I was asking friends who live abroad,” she added.

Russia is no stranger to massive strikes with huge casualty rates.

During the early 2000s and 2010s, several suicide bombings and attacks occurred in Moscow, including the 2002 Nord Ost theatre siege, in which 132 hostages and 40 Chechen hostage takers died as a result of a botched Russian rescue operation.

Islamist separatists from the North Caucasus carried out the majority of the attacks, but they have decreased significantly in recent years. The relative lack of such bloodshed has lulled Russians into complacency, even as the country’s army fights in Ukraine.

“I am afraid that we may return to the times of the Chechen wars,” Mikhail Batsyn, a downtown Moscow resident, said, alluding to the apartment bombs that occurred at the time. “I would really want for that to not happen and for this act of terror to remain a rare event.”

The fact that officials were unable to stop the attackers from rampaging into the music hall, which supposedly had security precautions in place, alarmed many Russian citizens.

Russians discussed what preparations they would take in the coming days on a social media chat group for a neighbourhood south of the concert hall and retail mall. Several others suggested that they temporarily avoid shopping malls and other congested areas.

“I don’t want to go anywhere with a lot of people anymore,” Ekaterina explained, adding that she had cancelled her plans to attend the theatre on Saturday.

moscow

Deadly Attack On Moscow Concert Hall Shakes Russian Capital And Sows Doubts About Security

Putin condemned the incident as “a bloody, barbaric terrorist act” and urged “our comrades at the front and all citizens in the country” to band together in its aftermath.

In a countrywide address, Putin said that Ukrainian authorities attempted to open a “window” for the suspects to flee across the border.

“Some of my friends believe in Ukrainian interference, but I can’t imagine that it’s true,” Elvira and several other Russians told AP.

Instead, they questioned why Russian securityet to bees had not stopped the attack.

“Why is it that they say there were warnings from foreign security services, but our services were completely indifferent?” remarked Olga, a woman in Moscow, referring to accusations that Western nations informed Russian officials of an impending attack. “How can this happen in 2024?”

SOURCE – (AP)

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Kate, Princess Of Wales, Says She Has Cancer And Is Undergoing Chemotherapy

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LONDON — Kate, the Princess of Wales, has cancer and is having chemotherapy, she announced Friday, ending weeks of uncertainty about her health and whereabouts.

Her condition was revealed in a video message made on Wednesday and broadcast Friday, following months of speculation on social media since her hospitalization in January for unexplained abdominal surgery.

kate

Kate, Princess Of Wales, Says She Has Cancer And Is Undergoing Chemotherapy

Kate requested “time, space, and privacy” while being treated for an unidentified type of cancer that was discovered following her operation.

“I am fine,” she said. “I am getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal.”

Kate, 42, had not been seen in public since Christmas until this week, when a video emerged of her and her husband, Prince William, the heir to the throne, walking from a farm shop near their Windsor residence.

Kensington Palace has provided little information on Kate’s ailment other than the fact that it was not cancer-related, that the surgery was successful and that she would be out of the public eye until April. Kate explained that her ailment was assumed to be non-cancerous until examinations revealed the diagnosis.

“This of course, came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family,” she said.

The news comes as a surprise to the royal family following the admission last month that King Charles III was being treated for an undisclosed type of cancer detected during a treatment for a benign enlarged prostate.

In a statement, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Kate “has shown tremendous bravery.” He continued, “In recent weeks, she has come under intense scrutiny and has received unfair treatment from some sections of the media around the world and on social media.”

Keir Starmer, the leader of the major opposition Labour Party, also wished the princess well during this “distressing time.”

Charles, 75, has retired from public life while undergoing cancer treatment, but he has been shown in numerous images meeting with government officials and dignitaries and even attending church.

kate

Kate, Princess Of Wales, Says She Has Cancer And Is Undergoing Chemotherapy

On the other hand, Kate had disappeared, resulting in weeks of curiosity and gossip. Attempts to quell concerns by posting a photo of her on Mother’s Day in the United Kingdom accompanied by her three cheerful children failed when The Associated Press and other news organizations retracted the photograph because it had been modified.

The next day, Kate said she enjoyed “experimenting with editing” and apologizing for “any confusion” caused by the photo. But this did little to dampen the conjecture.

Even the footage published by The Sun and TMZ that claimed to show Kate and William shopping triggered a new round of rumours, with some armchair sleuths reluctant to believe Kate was even in the video.

Earlier this week, a British privacy authority said it was looking into allegations that personnel at the luxury London hospital where she was treated attempted to snoop on her medical records while she was undergoing stomach surgery.

The former Kate Middleton, who married William in a fairy-tale wedding in 2011, has increased the popularity and attraction of the British monarchy globally more than any other royal since Princess Diana.

kate

Kate, Princess Of Wales, Says She Has Cancer And Is Undergoing Chemotherapy

The princess is the oldest of three children raised in a wealthy area in Berkshire, west of London. The Middletons had no aristocratic heritage, and the British press frequently referred to Kate as a “commoner” marrying into royalty.

The Princess attended the prestigious girls’ school Marlborough College before enrolling at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where she met William about 2001. Their relationship began as friends and housemates, but it became public after they were seen together on a skiing holiday in Switzerland in 2004.

The Princess graduated in 2005 with a degree in art history and a blossoming romance with the prince.

SOURCE – (AP)

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Russia Fires 31 Missiles At Kyiv In The First Attack In Weeks But Ukraine Intercepts Them All

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Russia Fires 31 Missiles At Kyiv

Kyiv, Ukraine — Russia launched 31 ballistic and cruise missiles at Kyiv before dawn Thursday, marking the first attack on the Ukrainian capital in six weeks, according to officials. All approaching missiles were shot down by air defences, but falling wreckage injured 13 persons, including a child, according to reports.

Loud explosions as missiles arrived from various directions at roughly the same time at 5 a.m. in Kyiv, according to Serhii Popko, head of the city administration.

Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched two ballistic missiles and 29 cruise missiles at the city.

Kyiv’s air defences outperform those of the majority of the country. The missile interception rate is typically high, making Russian attacks on the city substantially less successful than in the early stages of the war. Nonetheless, Ukrainian authorities warn that they will require significantly more Western armaments to triumph against Russia’s invasion.

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Russia Fires 31 Missiles At Kyiv In The First Attack In Weeks But Ukraine Intercepts Them All

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised on Wednesday to “respond in kind” to recent Ukrainian aerial attacks on Russia’s Belgorod region near the Ukrainian border.

At a Kremlin event, Putin stated that Russia “can respond in the same way regarding civilian infrastructure and all other such objects that the enemy attacks.” We have our own opinions and ideas on this topic. We shall adhere to the guidelines we have established.”

An 11-year-old kid and a 38-year-old man were hospitalized in Kyiv, according to city officials. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said eight other persons received minor injuries.

The Ukrainian Emergency Service reported that approximately 80 individuals had been evacuated from their homes.

Falling wreckage from intercepted missiles destroyed at least one apartment complex burned parked automobiles and left craters in streets and a small park. Some streets were covered with debris, including glass from broken windows.

Survivors, some in tears and visibly terrified as emergency personnel treated them on the street, described tight escapes.

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Russia fires 31 missiles at Kyiv in the first attack in weeks but Ukraine intercepts them all

Russia Fires 31 Missiles At Kyiv In The First Attack In Weeks But Ukraine Intercepts Them All

Raisa Kozenko, 71, whose apartment’s doors and windows were destroyed in the blast, claimed her son ran out of bed just in time.

“He was covered in blood, in the rubble,” she continued, quivering with terror. “And all I can say is … the apartment is completely destroyed.”

Mariia Margulis, 31, said her decision to remain in the corridor during the attack saved her family.

“The blast wave blew out all the windows on the side where everything happened,” she said. “My mom was supposed to sleep in that room, but I asked her to move to the corridor in time, which saved us.”

President Joe Biden’s top foreign policy adviser, Jake Sullivan, visited Kyiv just hours before the attack.

Five people were injured in the latest attack on Belgorod, which destroyed homes and the local sports arena, according to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced it had intercepted ten rockets over the region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has requested the country’s Western partners to deliver more air defence systems so that they can be distributed around the country, where missile strikes have become more prevalent.

“Every day, every night, such… terror happens,” he wrote on Telegram following Thursday’s attack on Kyiv. “World unity is capable to stop it by helping us with more air defense systems.”

According to Zelenskyy, Russia lacks missiles capable of evading Patriot and other modern air defence weaponry manufactured in the United States.

russia

Russia Fires 31 Missiles At Kyiv In The First Attack In Weeks But Ukraine Intercepts Them All

At a summit in Brussels on Thursday, European Union leaders discussed new methods to enhance Ukraine’s armaments and ammunition manufacturing.

Russia has mostly focused its attention on other Ukrainian cities, hitting them with drones and ballistic missiles.

On Wednesday, Russian ballistic missiles killed five people and injured nine in the eastern Kharkiv region, while an attack on southern Odesa last week killed 21.

SOURCE – (AP)

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