A nine-year-old girl was rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building in Gaziantep, Turkey, footage released on Tuesday, February 7, shows.Video released by Turkey’s Gendarmerie General Command shows rescuers pulling the young girl to safety in Gaziantep in the country’s southeast.The death toll from a powerful 7.8-magnitude quake and numerous aftershocks was nearing 5,000 in Turkey and Syria by Tuesday morning. Credit: @jandarma via Storyful
STORY: BP reported record profits on Tuesday (February 7). The UK oil giant saw annual earnings of $28 billion in 2022. It was boosted by the surge in energy prices since the start of conflict in Ukraine. In a sign of confidence it’s now boosting its dividend to shareholders by 10%. The firm also plans to buy back billions more shares. However, the final quarter of the year did see some headwinds. BP was hit by weaker revenues from gas trading, after an “exceptional” result in the previous quarter. It also faced lower oil and gas prices, and higher costs for maintaining its refineries. Even so, BP’s results follow equally record-breaking figures from rivals Exxon Mobil and Shell. And that seems sure to spur calls for more windfall taxes on the sector. The company also adjusted its plans for a green energy transition. It now expects to produce 2 million barrels of oil per day by 2030 - that’s down on 2019 levels, but a smaller cut than previously planned. BP will also increase spending on its oil and gas business by $1 billion per year. Shares in the firm were up over 3.5% in early trade following the record results.
Numerous BNP Paribas ATMs in some 30 towns and cities across France were rendered unusable by Extinction Rebellion activists in a protest against what they said was the bank’s funding of the fossil-fuel industry.Extinction Rebellion’s protest against the “dirty bank”, as they called it, saw them daubing ATMs with what one reporter said was a mixture of clay, paint and glue.Video here, recorded in Paris, also shows activists satirizing the bank’s motto, “The bank of a changing world” by putting up flyers reading “The bank of a dying world.”One activist spoke to camera, saying that 30 to 40 ATMs were targeted in the capital alone. The group accused BNP Paribas of financing fuel companies, and refusing to reveal its carbon print. The speaker described the materials used to daub the machines as “completely compostable and washable.”BNP Paribas says its aim is to reduce funding for oil extraction and production by more than 80 percent by 2030.The protest came ahead of BNP Paribas’s annual results. They showed net revenues up 9 percent, and net income up 7.5 percent at over €10 billion. Credit: Anonymous via Storyful
STORY: U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters on Monday (February 6) that it was always his view that the balloon needed to be shot down and brushed off a question about whether the incident would weaken U.S.-China relations.The appearance of the Chinese balloon caused a political uproar in the United States and prompted the top U.S. diplomat, Antony Blinken, to cancel a February 5-6 trip to Beijing that both countries hoped would steady their rocky relations.Thompson is a fellow at the university's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
Lightning flashed in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on the night of Monday, February 6, as the National Weather Service (NWS) forecast rain and “above normal temperatures”.Video by local resident Tony Greene shows several flashes of lightning.The NWS said a wintry mix was expected across much of the area through the night on Monday, creating slippery road conditions. Credit: @GreenBayGobbler/Tony Greene via Storyful
Rescuers worked into the early hours of February 7 in Syria, as the death toll from a powerful earthquake across the border in Turkey passed 800.The Syria Civil Defence said rescue efforts were continuing “amid great difficulties” and predicted the death toll would rise significantly as hundreds were trapped under rubble, according to a machine translation.This video showing a child being pulled from the rubble of a destroyed building was described as recorded in Sarmada, in Idlib governate. The Syria Civil Defence said a boy and his mother were rescued after spending more than 20 hours under rubble.By Tuesday morning, the death toll from the earthquake and its aftershocks had climbed to over 3,300 in Turkey. Credit: Syria Civil Defence via Storyful
Rescuers in Syria continued to search through rubble on February 7, as the death toll from a powerful earthquake and multiple aftershocks neared 5,000 in Syria and Turkey.Footage released by the Syria Civil Defence shows a child being found in the rubble of a collapsed building. The group said the video was filmed in Jindires, Aleppo. Credit: Syria Civil Defence via Storyful
STORY: As dawn broke over the Syrian city of Aleppo on Tuesday....... a desperate search was on for survivors of a devastating earthquake.The magnitude 7.8 quake struck Turkey and Syria in the early hours of Monday........ causing entire apartment blocks to crumble to dust and crushing families to death as they slept.The death toll is in the thousands and is expected to rise further as hundreds remain trapped.In the southern Turkish province of Hatay,a man said he could hear the voice of a woman screaming for help under the rubble.The body of a man laid lifeless beside him.Nearby, another local resident, who gave his name as Deniz, was in despair as he says his family are trapped but nobody is coming to help.Rescue efforts have been hampered by freezing temperatures.North of Hatay, entire families gather around fires and wrap themselves in blankets to stay warm.Thousands of people have been left homeless or injured after the disaster.Drone footage of the region showed the sheer level of destruction caused.In Syria, a similar level of devastation has been compounded by more than 11 years of civil war.Even before the earthquake struck, more than 4 million people in the northwest of the country were living in camps and depended on cross-border aid.Help from abroad is slowly beginning to arrive,with teams from Serbia, Germany, Romania and Spain landing in southern Turkey on Tuesday.They brought with them rescue equipment including dogs to assist the search for survivors.More has been pledged.Monday's earthquake was the biggest recorded worldwide by the U.S. Geological Survey...since a tremor in the remote South Atlantic in August 2021.
STORY: Drone footage captured by Reuters gave a bird's-eye view of Hatay's landscape littered with mounds of rubble from collapsed buildings, while others stood precariously on an angle with long cracks and fissures slashing across their facades.Rescue teams worked early on Tuesday to reach people trapped in the rubble of buildings in southern Turkey as the death toll in the country from Monday's (February 6) earthquake continued to rise. The magnitude 7.8 quake hit Turkey and northwest Syria, toppling entire apartment blocks, wrecking hospitals, and leaving thousands more people injured or homeless.Nearly 8,000 people have been rescued from 4,758 buildings destroyed in the tremors a day earlier, Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said in its latest statement.
STORY: Hashtags and influencers are changing New York Fashion WeekBig brands and emerging labels will be looking to entice trend-followersand perhaps spark some viral moments like this one in Octoberwhen Parisian brand Coperni spray painted a dress onto model Bella Hadid [Frances Solá-Santiago / Fashion writer / Refinery29]“I think a lot of designers are really realizing that Gen Z and Tik Tok is very prone to, to weird items and that the weirder, the better. For example, Coperni put out a glass handbag that Doja Cat carried to the Grammys last year, and so and that went completely viral and glass handbag started trending worldwide. So, I think those kind of really weird, wacky moments that used to be reserved for couture or for more avant garde collections. I mean, this is nothing new, you know, a lot of designers have done a lot of theatrics over the decades, but I think we're starting to see it because of the power of TikTok and social media just explode worldwide. So, definitely designers are recognizing that there is importance and not just putting runways, you know, models down a runway, but really trying to do something bigger.”More than 70 brands will be showcasing their autumn/winter 2023 designs around New YorkSolá-Santiago said she expected to see a Y2K revival and the continued resurgence of night life attire as well as designers looking to social media trends for inspiration“There's a lot of niche Tik-Tok esthetics that are really emerging like #Cottagecore #Regencycore, #Balletcore. They all have kind of a core at the end, but basically it's just these micro trends because the trend cycle is really accelerating so fast because of Tik Tok hails, because of internet culture that it's basically, you know, packaged niche esthetics and looks that keep coming up month after month basically. So, we've been seeing a lot of those trends really make their way to the runways and inspiring designers”
STORY: Dancers from Salgueiro and Portela samba schools danced energetically to the beat of samba drummers with two weeks to go before the start of the carnival.Rehearsals and tests are carried out each year so the opening night runs like clockwork.Rio's Carnival 2023 will run from February 17 to February 25.
Rescuers in Syria continued to search through rubble into the night on February 6-7, as the death toll from a powerful earthquake and multiple aftershocks neared 5,000 in Syria and Turkey.Footage released by the Syria Civil Defence shows a team working to recover people. The group said the video was filmed in Azmarin in the Idlib region in the northwest. Credit: Syria Civil Defence via Storyful
STORY: LA Lakers superstar LeBron James is on the cusp of breaking one of the NBA’s most hallowed records – to become the league’s all-time highest scorer. He is just 36 points away from the record held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who retired in 1989 with 38,387 points.He’s already eclipsed career point highs for other basketball greats Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Karl Malone. Given James averages 30 points per game for the season, it’s certain he’ll pass the milestone in upcoming games against the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Milwaukee Bucks. Fans eagerly anticipating the historic moment have snapped up courtside tickets at a premium. According to retailer TickPick, tickets for Tuesday’s contest against OKC, could set fans back as much as $48,000. And Thursday’s game against the Bucks - close to $69,000. Lakers Coach Darvin Ham: “It's a historical moment. I'm sure the atmosphere will be electric. I think everyone will be on the edge of their seats and everyone wants to... you know, the hottest ticket in town to be there and to be able to say they witnessed it first hand and it's good for the Lakers, it's good for the NBA, and you know, obviously, a hell of an accomplishment by Lebron.” At 38-years-old and now in his 20th season James these days is praised by fans and others in the league for his longevity.As a teenager, he was the Cavaliers’ first overall pick in the 2003 Draft. In the two decades since, he’s won four titles with three different franchises, being selected to 19 All-Star games last month, as well as being a perennial MVP candidate. Even though NBA history is set to be made this week, LeBron’s teammate Austin Reaves says at the end of the day, he’s chasing wins, not a record. “I think, for the most part, he wants to just win games. So, if it happens tomorrow or if it happens the next game, as long as we are winning, I think that's the main thing that we are all worried about." It's been a disappointing season for the Lakers so far, they rank a lowly 13th among 15 teams in the Western Conference standings, but just four games off the number four seed.
STORY: Location: Sanaa, Yemen This Yemeni woman makes incense in her kitchen to provide for her family To make the incense or ‘Bakhoor’, Wafa al-Surabi mixes rock sugar and rosewater before adding other ingredients to the syrup mixture and pouring the blend into bowls [Wafa al-Surabi, Incense maker] “The essential ingredients in making incense are rock sugar and rose water. That's my preference. Other ingredients are ground oud and oud chips. Of course, I make sure that I only use the excellent-quality raw material because I make high-quality incense and perfumes.” As a widow and mother of six, al-Surabi is one of many women struggling to make ends meet in Yemen Date: February 1, 2023 as food, water, and fuel are unaffordable for many due to inflation Al-Surabi also trains other women to help them join the market [Salah al-Zuraiqi, Owner of fragrance ingredients shop] “Most of my customers are women. It is not for personal use, but to make a living. As a result of the country's situation and the blockade, they are resorting to this type of work to make a living.”
STORY: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his counterpart Chris Hipkins said they discussed climate change, security, migration and the economy at their meeting in Canberra on Tuesday, the first since Jacinda Ardern resigned as leader in January.Albanese said he was pleased by the "productive" video meeting between Trade Minister Don Farrell and his Chinese counterpart on Monday, where it was agreed that Farrell would soon travel to Beijing."Our position on China is clear that we will cooperate where we can, will disagree where we must and will engage in our national interests. "Hipkins said China was "an incredibly important partner" for New Zealand."That doesn't mean there aren't going to be areas where we disagree from time to time and we'll continue to voice our disagreements with China," he added.Both countries also pledged to provide humanitarian aid earthquake-stricken regions in Turkey and Syria. Albanese said Australia will provide an “initial” A$10 million ($6.9 million) in humanitarian effort and New Zealand’s Chris Hipkins said New Zealand will provide NZ$1.5 million ($948,000) in aid.
STORY: February is one of the darkest months of the year but during the 23-day Light Festival, people in Copenhagen will be able to enjoy some much needed light.This is the sixth year the festival is taking place and more than 35 light installations will be seen around the Danish capital, mostly concentrated in the city center.Walking, cycling and running routes of varying length have been planned to take visitors straight to the installations.Organizers have also developed an app to show where all the installations are located.
A goanna was filmed getting the better of a highly venomous brown snake out the front of a home in White Peak, Western Australia, on Sunday, February 5.Video recorded by Richard McLellan shows the sand goanna grab the snake by its head and slam it to the ground.McLennan is a working ecologist and told Storyful that this was a very rare interaction.“Both [reptiles] are relatively common species in this part of Australia, but this interaction has rarely been seen, and probably never before filmed. [Brown snake’s] venom is a very potent neurotoxin, life-threatening to humans and to lizards like this [Goanna]. The fight could easily have gone the other way.” McLennan said.McLennan told Storyful that the goanna eventually killed and ate the snake.“The [goanna ] won in this instance, and immediately swallowed the snake whole –– headfirst down into its stomach. Both animals are juveniles, and it was a wonder to see the lizard manage to swallow the whole snake in one long effort.”“This all unfolded just as my wife and I were getting a cup of coffee after sitting just where the action took place a couple of minutes earlier.” Credit: Richard McLellan via Storyful
The death toll from a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake and its aftershocks in Turkey climbed to 2,921 on Tuesday morning, February 7, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported, citing the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority.This footage shows multiple flattened buildings along a highway in Iskenderun on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast after a powerful earthquake on Monday.More than 15,800 people were injured in Turkey, Anadolu said, as rescue operations continued in affected areas.Syrian health authorities said 764 people had been killed and 1448 injured, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths to 3,685. Credit: emreyukselarte via Storyful
STORY: Officials said another five people are missing after the landslide struck near the town of Secocha, located in Camana province, following last week's heavy rainfall in the area.Local media have reported higher death tolls, figures Reuters was not immediately able to confirm.Peru's national emergency center COEN said search and rescue efforts are ongoing.The defense ministry said on Twitter it is assisting in the efforts by providing helicopters, tents, water tanks, sandbags and disaster relief personnel.The deadly landslide follows nearly two months of anti-government protests in the South American country, largely centered in Peru's Andean south, after the Dec. 7 removal of former President Pedro Castillo.The protests have left dozens dead while injuring hundreds.
The Czech Republic sent a team of specially-trained firefighters to assist rescue efforts in Turkey on Monday, February 6, following a catastrophic 7.8-magnitude earthquake that left thousands dead and injured.Footage released by the Fire Rescue Service Of The Czech Republic shows firefighters boarding a plane. Citing officials, Czech media reported the team would depart from Prague and begin work as early as Tuesday morning.More than 3,700 people were killed in Turkey and Syria following the earthquake and aftershocks, Reuters reported, citing authorities in both countries. Credit: Fire Rescue Service Of The Czech Republic via Storyful
STORY: Hatay resident Cennet Inal said some of her relatives had died and others were still trapped under rubble."There are aftershocks. It's uncertain what will happen to us," she said.In Kahramanmaras, another resident said children were becoming hungry following the magnitude 7.8 earthquake.The huge earthquake killed thousands of people across a swathe of Turkey and northwest Syria on Monday, with freezing winter weather adding to the plight of the thousands left injured or homeless and hampering efforts to find survivors.
STORY: The U.S. Coast Guard imposed a temporary security zone in the waters off South Carolina on Monday, as the military collected debris from a suspected Chinese spy balloon -- shot down by a U.S. fighter jet over the weekend.China called the shooting down of the balloon an "obvious overreaction" and urged the U.S. to show restraint over the episode. Outside the White House, President Joe Biden insisted on Monday that the incident had not weakened U.S.-China relations."No. We made it clear to China what we're going to do. They understand our position. We're not going to back off. We did the right thing. And there's not a question of weakening or strengthening. It's just reality."REPORTER: "Has it always been your view to shoot down a Chinese spy balloon or was it only because it became public?"BIDEN: "Oh no. It was always my position. Once it came over to the United States from Canada, I told the defense department I wanted to shoot it down as soon as it was appropriate. They concluded, they concluded we should not shoot it down over land. It was not a serious threat and we should wait until it got across the water."The balloon led U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a planned visit to China but, as of Monday, there was no update on when it might be rescheduled."We are... we haven't had conversations at this point about rescheduling the trip."The White House said lines of communication would stay open but that the ball was in China's court."It's up to China to figure out what kind of relationship they want."Meanwhile, Air Force General Glen VanHerck, who was responsible for bringing down the balloon, said previous spy ballons had flown undetected by the U.S. military in what he called an "awareness gap." The Pentagon said over the weekend that Chinese spy balloons had briefly flown over the United States at least three times during President Donald Trump's administration and one previously under President Joe Biden.VanHerck said the balloon shot down on Saturday was 200 feet tall with a payload underneath that weighed a couple thousand pounds. VanHerck did not rule out that there could have been explosives on the balloon, but said he did not have any evidence of it either. That risk, however, was a factor in his planning to shoot down the balloon over open water.
STORY: "I told myself this should be doomsday," said Hulusi Ibrahim as he waited outside the heap of rubble that was his home."My wife was trapped under me. I didn't hear from her for a very long time."He stayed with his wife even though she was not responding. Several hours later, he managed to find his way out of the rubble. With some minor cuts on his face, Ibrahim said he fears the worst."There is always hope but I stayed with her for three hours and spent another hour to get out. I didn't get any response from her for three hours. I don't know. I can't bring myself to say. But I don't have hope," he tearfully said.The magnitude 7.8 quake brought down whole apartment blocks in Turkish cities and piled more devastation on millions of Syrians displaced by years of war.It was the biggest recorded worldwide by the U.S. Geological Survey since a tremor in the remote South Atlantic in August 2021.
STORY: IHH said it dispatched a team of 1,100 search and rescue workers after a huge earthquake claimed thousands of lives across a swathe of Turkey and northwest Syria.More than 1,200 buildings were destroyed by the quake in Hatay province alone and where the city of Iskenderun is located.Turkey's Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said hundreds have been killed in Hatay, which borders Syria.
STORY: These turtle protectors used to be turtle poachers. Filipino fishermen are now at forefront of conservation on the beaches of the northern Philippine province of La Union.Armed with torches and pails, Jessie Cabagbag and his family hunt every night for sea turtle eggs.He can spot nesting sites easily, having learned from an early age how to track the reptiles and their eggs, which many residents in the town would typically eat or trade.“Because life was so difficult back then, the sea turtles were the easiest target for our daily meals because there weren’t that many fish to catch, so our folks would usually feed us the meat and eggs when we were young.”Now, Cabagbag’s egg-poaching days are over. He and fellow volunteers now use hunting skills to help marine turtle conservation efforts here in La Union, whose pristine beaches serve as nesting sites for the endangered olive ridley turtles. Once they spot a female turtle, they tag and release the animal, overseeing its safe return to the ocean. It's all done under the umbrella of nonprofit CURMA, which is leading the conservation programme here and conducting training for locals. “In 2009 there was a nest that emerged just here in front of the house. So it was the first time for us to see sea turtles and you know, we were very excited so researched about them, we wanted to find out what type of sea turtles they are, why they were here, and it was through the research that we found out that this is actually a nesting site for them, and at that time poaching was very rampant. And you know, when we found that out, then it was from being excited, and it was, we were kind of horrified. Fast forward to today, and it’s our 12th season and 98% of our patrollers are former poachers. So from poachers, now they are the protectors of the sea turtles.”While Cabagbag still relies on fishing as his primary means of livelihood, he also receives monetary perks from CURMA for finding sea turtles or eggs.He gets the equivalent of roughly $9.18 for finding a live sea turtle and $0.37 for each egg they collect.That's four times more than what they would usually get from selling it on the black market.Much of CURMA's funding comes from private donations as well as partnerships with local schools and companies. "I am overwhelmed with joy especially when I find the eggs myself. Whenever they release the new turtle hatchlings in our site I am truly proud. Even our neighbors, they appreciate what I do because it is not easy. I am happy that I get to contribute to the conservation of the sea turtles."