International
Tuquía declares three-month state of emergency
February 8th
The Turkish government has declared a three-month state of emergency in the ten provinces affected by Monday’s two powerful earthquakes, which have already killed at least 3,549 people and injured 22,000 in the country.
According to the latest casualty count, some 5,000 people have been killed and another 25,000 injured in the series of devastating tremors that have left thousands of buildings collapsed, where the search for survivors continues amid freezing temperatures.
In Turkey, the death toll stands at 3,549 while at least 1,500 people have been killed and more than 3,500 injured in Syria.
Some 50,000 people, including soldiers, are involved in rescue efforts and ten navy ships and 26 military aircraft are involved in evacuating the wounded.
In addition, dozens of countries have already begun to send hundreds of rescuers and experts in the search for survivors, although the cold and snow in the area, where there are also mountainous territories of difficult access, complicate the rescue tasks.
More than 8,000 people have been rescued in Turkey, according to government data, according to the official Anadolu agency.
In Hatay, some 170 kilometers south of where the first quake struck, rescuers managed to make contact with a family of four trapped in the rubble.
“We will get them out alive. We are here for that,” a member of the rescue teams was heard saying during a broadcast on broadcaster CNNTürk.
In Diyarbakir, some 350 kilometers east of the province where the first tremor had its epicenter, a woman was rescued after being trapped in the rubble of her home for 31 hours and taken to a hospital to the applause of emergency crews.
A 30-year-old man was rescued early this morning from a ten-story building that collapsed in Osmaniye province, about 135 kilometers from where the epicenter of the first 7.6 magnitude earthquake was recorded at 4:17 a.m. (01:17 GMT) Monday.
Twelve bodies have already been recovered from the same building, which contained 40 apartments.
A fourteen-year-old boy was found alive in Kahramanmaras province, where the first tremor struck.
“I’m hungry” was the first thing he told rescue teams, local media report.
First planes with international aid arrive in Damascus
In Syria, the official news agency SANA, with sources from the Ministry of Health, reported early this morning that the death toll in areas controlled by the government of President Bashar al-Assad. has risen to 769, while the number of wounded has risen to 1,448.
The most affected provinces are Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, the outskirts of Idlib and Tartus.
On the other hand, the White Helmets, a group of rescuers operating in opposition-held areas of Syria, said in its latest update that there are 740 dead and 2,100 wounded in the northwestern province of Idlib, the last opposition stronghold in the country, and in other parts of neighboring Aleppo that are also escaping Damascus’ control.
These opposition areas are bordering Turkey and are closer to the epicenter, so the difference in the balance could be due to their lower capacity to coordinate the count in the absence of a single government authority in charge of rescue operations.
The first planes carrying supplies and specialized personnel to assist in earthquake rescue efforts arrived today in Damascus government-held areas of Syria from Iraq, Iran, Algeria and Russia, according to the official Syrian news agency SANA.
Syria’s permanent representative to the UN, Bassam Sabbagh, has assured that the Syrian government is “ready” to coordinate assistance to “the entire territory” of the country.
However, to the areas dominated by the opposition this aid is not expected to arrive.The White Helmets, have warned on Tuesday that “time is running out” for the “hundreds” of people who remain trapped.
This organization has appealed to the international community through its Twitter account, to provide material support and aid.”
Only 7 days to rescue survivors
According to a representative of the UN Humanitarian Aid Office, the first to act in cases of disaster, there is only a seven-day window to rescue people who have been buried under the rubble.
This estimate is the result of countless rescue operations around the world, although there may always be exceptions and the victims may have to endure a little more time, as the spokesman of that entity, Jens Laerke, commented when making a first assessment of the human cost of the tragedy.
To rescue the victims, the UN has mobilized disaster assessment and search and rescue teams, made up of the world’s best specialists in these tasks, who are traveling to Turkey.
“The big challenge right now is access by land (for these personnel and their teams) as many roads in the region have been destroyed by the earthquakes,” said Laerke.
Another difficulty is the lack of vehicles to transport the international experts, in response to which local authorities are mobilizing trucks from other provinces in Turkey.
Up to 145 tremors
The first major earthquake was recorded at 4.17 a.m. (01.17 GMT) and had a magnitude of 7.7, according to the Turkish emergency service Afad, with epicenter in Pazarcik in the Turkish province of Kahramanmaras.
As many as 145 more tremors followed, one of them of magnitude 7.6 at 10.24 GMT.
“Due to the fact that debris removal work is continuing in many buildings in the earthquake zone, we do not know how much the number of dead and injured will be,” acknowledged in his first statements the Turkish president, who has decreed seven days of national mourning throughout the country.
The earthquake was also strongly felt in Lebanon, including Beirut.
One of the symbols of the enormous destruction was the historic Roman castle of Gaziantep, which had stood for more than 1,700 years and was flattened by the quake.
The historic citadel of Aleppo in Syria, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was also damaged.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
International
Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
he Vatican’s post offices and select collector shops began selling special edition stamps this week to mark the period between the death of Pope Francis and the election of his successor.
Known as “Sede Vacante” stamps, they feature an image used on official Vatican documents during the interregnum between popes — two crossed keys without the papal tiara. These stamps went on sale Monday and will remain valid for postal use only until the new pontiff appears at the window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
Until then, they can be used to send letters, postcards, and parcels. “Once the new pope is elected, the stamps lose their postal validity, but their collectible value rises,” said Francesco Santarossa, who runs a collectors’ shop across from St. Peter’s Square.
The Vatican has issued the stamps in four denominations: €1.25, €1.30, €2.45, and €3.20. Each is inscribed with “Città del Vaticano” and “Sede Vacante MMXXV” — Latin for “Vacant See 2025.”
International
Conclave to choose pope Francis’ successor could begin in early may
The conclave, which in the coming weeks must choose the successor to Pope Francis, will strictly follow a precise protocol refined over centuries.
The 135 cardinal electors, all under the age of 80, will cast their votes four times a day — except on the first day — until one candidate secures a two-thirds majority. The result will be announced to the world through the burning of the ballots with a chemical that produces the eagerly awaited white smoke, accompanied by the traditional cry of “Habemus Papam.”
The start date for the conclave could be announced today, as the cardinals are set to hold their fifth meeting since the pope’s passing. Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich suggested it could begin on May 5 or 6, following the traditional nine days of mourning. According to German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the conclave could last only “a few days.”
Although the late Argentine pontiff appointed the majority of the cardinal electors, this does not necessarily ensure the selection of a like-minded successor. Francis’ leadership style differed significantly from that of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, a German theologian who was less fond of large public gatherings. It also marked a contrast with the popular Polish pope, John Paul II.
The Argentine Jesuit’s reformist papacy drew strong criticism from more conservative sectors of the Church, who are hoping for a doctrinally focused shift. His tenure was marked by efforts to combat clerical sexual abuse, elevate the role of women and laypeople, and advocate for the poor and migrants, among other causes.
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Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
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