Free Republic

Thousands of people have offered to adopt the baby girl who was born under the rubble of a collapsed building in north-west Syria, following Monday's earthquake. When she was rescued, baby Aya - meaning miracle in Arabic - was still connected to her mother by her umbilical cord. Her mother, father and all four of her siblings died after the quake hit the town of Jindayris. Aya is now in hospital. "She arrived on Monday in such a bad state, she had bumps, bruises, she was cold and barely breathing," said Hani Marouf, the paediatrician looking after her. She is...

ДСНС України - State Emergency Service of Ukraine ·Interregional rapid response center of the state emergency service of Ukraine VIDEO: https://www.facebook.com/100023084913232/videos/708688400727358/ A group of rescuers of the SSNS who went to Turkey by land received support from Moldovan colleagues ▪️ It's not even about helping in the border crossing to get to the destination faster. This is about humanity. And this, as we have repeatedly proven, is the driving force of rescuers. ▪️ As we became aware, the Moldovan side not only provided the escort of the column, but also treated our rescuers to lunch and cakes. ▪️Next part of...

Her mother went into labour soon after the disaster and gave birth before she died, a relative said. Her father, four siblings and an aunt were also killed. Dramatic footage showed a man carrying the baby, covered in dust, after she was pulled from debris in Jindayris. A doctor at a hospital in nearby Afrin said she was now in a stable condition. The building in which her family lived was one of about 50 reportedly destroyed by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Jindayris, an opposition-held town in Idlib province that is close to the Turkish border. The baby's uncle, Khalil...

Turkey has been hit by a second massive earthquake, hours after an earlier catastrophic quake devastated the region and killed more than 1,700 people. The 7.8-magnitude night-time tremor, followed hours later by a slightly smaller one, wiped out entire sections of major Turkish cities in a region filled with millions of people who have fled the civil war in Syria and other conflicts. The later 7.5 magnitude quake struck at 1.24pm (1024 GMT) two-and-a-half miles southeast of the town of Ekinozu and around 60 miles north of the first quake that has wrought devastation across Turkey and Syria. Hundreds are...

Turkey's opposition vowed on Monday to crimp the president's powers and broadly expand democratic rights if they seize power in May 14 presidential and parliamentary polls. The six parties that are united against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also pledged to agree on February 13 to a joint candidate for the crucial vote -- widely seen as Turkey's most consequential in generations.