Headlines
Turkey/Syria Quake: 16000 Persons and Counting Confirmed Dead, Hope Dims for Survivors Under Rubbles
More than 16,000 people have been confirmed dead from the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday.
Turkey’s death toll has risen to 12,873 while the most recent figure from Syria stands at 3,162.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) had warned that the death toll may reach 20,000 as rescuers sift through the rubble of thousands of collapsed buildings amid freezing weather conditions, faced with the risk of aftershocks.
The earthquake which was felt in many neighbouring countries is one of the strongest to hit the region in more than 100 years.
Experts say the survival window for those trapped under the debris or otherwise unable to obtain basic necessities is closing rapidly.
More than 90 percent of earthquake survivors were rescued within the first three days and it is now just over 72 hours since the first earthquake struck.
“The first 72 hours are considered to be critical,” CBS news quoted Steven Godby, a natural hazards expert at Nottingham Trent University in England, to have said.
“The survival ratio on average within 24 hours is 74%, after 72 hours it is 22% and by the fifth day it is 6%.”
There has been outrage in Turkey over the government’s “slow response” to the disaster.
On Wednesday, President Recep Erdogan of Turkey admitted to “shortcomings”, saying the state initially “had some problems” at airports and on roads, but insisting the situation was now “under control”.
He had earlier announced a three-month state of emergency across the affected 10 provinces in Turkey to enable rapid search-and-rescue operations.
Meanwhile, analysts fear that Syria may be sidelined from receiving as much international help as Turkey.
The Syrian regime is shunned by most Western countries owing to its brutal suppression of an uprising in 2011.
What began as protests against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime quickly escalated into a full-scale war between Syria—backed by Russia and Iran—and anti-government rebel groups—backed by the United States, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and others in the region.
Syria has used the earthquake as a reason to call for sanctions against it to be lifted even as international bodies such as the WHO assured that aid would be delivered to the conflict zone.
TheCable
The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
