Month: February 2023

Rescue teams pulled three people alive from under collapsed buildings in Turkey on Friday, 11 days after earthquakes that have killed more than 45,000, left millions homeless and sparked a huge relief effort.  Mosques around the world performed absentee funeral prayers for the dead in Turkey and Syria, many of whom could not receive full burial rites given the immense damage from the disaster.   While many international rescue teams have left the vast quake zone, survivors were still emerging from under a multitude of flattened homes, defying all the odds.  Hakan Yasinoglu, in his 40s, was rescued in the southern …

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The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that killed tens of thousands across Turkey’s southeast has reignited fears of an even more catastrophic death toll if a long-feared one hits Istanbul. Seismologists warn that a massive earthquake is likely to strike Turkey’s biggest city — officially home to 16 million people but estimated to hold up to 20 million — by 2030. The city lies on the northern edge of one of Turkey’s main fault lines and is densely packed. A 7.6 magnitude earthquake with an epicenter on the city’s eastern outskirts killed more than 17,000 people in 1999. The number of Istanbulites …

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Russians who fear persecution due to their opposition to Moscow’s war on Ukraine continue to seek asylum in the U.S. after the White House announced its new policy in September. Many are coming through Mexico. Nina Vishneva reports on a mother and her three children who made that journey. Anna Rice narrates the story. …

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Nearly 50 lawmakers from both major political parties of the United States on Friday attended the start of Europe’s premier annual security conference to affirm bipartisan support for U.S. aid to Ukraine. Four delegations of Democratic and Republican leaders and members of the Senate and House converged as one of the largest groups of U.S. lawmakers to attend the Munich Security Conference since its inception in 1963, U.S. officials said. Hundreds of politicians, military officers and diplomats from around the world gathered in Munich a week before the anniversary of Russia’s invasion, with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urging allies to …

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Drawing a comparison between his nation’s war with Russia and the biblical story of David and Goliath, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Friday urged Western leaders gathered in Munich not to delay sending military aid, saying, “Goliath must lose.” Zelenskyy remotely addressed government leaders and military officials gathered for the Munich Security Conference, an annual forum for the international security community to gather and discuss the world’s conflicts. The three-day conference opened Friday, one week before the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian president urged the conference to speed up delivery of promised weapons. Comparing his nation to David, …

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Turkish rescuers pulled a teenage boy alive from the rubble of a collapsed building 260 hours after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck southeast Turkey and Syria, Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported Friday.   Fourteen-year-old Osman Halebiye was taken to a hospital in Antakya.   Later, two men, Mehmet Ali Sakiroglu, 26, and Mustafa Avci, 33, were rescued from the same building’s rubble, news agency DHA said.    After he was rescued, Avci saw his newborn baby on a cellphone call with his parents, according to Reuters.   The rescue efforts in Turkey have come amid criticism about unenforced building …

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Joint naval exercises including South Africa, Russia, and China get underway in waters off South Africa’s east coast Friday, despite U.S. concerns and Ukrainian condemnation. Critics say the 10-day military drills will do little to benefit South Africa and act as a propaganda boost for Moscow on the one-year anniversary of its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. While the West is upping its arms shipments to help Ukraine fend off Russia’s invasion, South Africa begins wargames today with Russian warships that proudly support the offensive.   Russia’s “Admiral Gorshkov,” which arrived in Cape Town this week, is marked with the Kremlin’s pro-war …

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