Rescue teams worked early on Tuesday to release people trapped in the rubble of buildings in southern Turkey as the death toll in the country from a devastating earthquake a day earlier rose to nearly 3,000.

The magnitude 7.8 quake hit Turkey and neighbouring Syria early on Monday, 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.

AFAD head Yunus Sezer said that 2,921 people had died in Turkey as aftershocks continued to shake the region. Another earthquake of 5.6 magnitude struck central Turkey on Tuesday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.

Freezing winter weather hampered search efforts for survivors through the night. A woman’s voice was heard calling for help under a pile of rubble in the southern province of Hatay. Nearby, the body of a small child lay lifeless.

Weeping in the rain, a resident who gave his name as Deniz wrung his hands in despair.

“They’re making noises but nobody is coming,” he said. “We’re devastated, we’re devastated. My God … They’re calling out. They’re saying, ‘Save us,’ but we can’t save them. How are we going to save them? There has been nobody since the morning.”

Temperatures fell close to freezing overnight, worsening conditions for people trapped under rubble or left homeless.

In Kahramanmaras, north of Hatay, entire families gathered around fires and wrapped themselves in blankets to stay warm.

“We barely made it out of the house,” said Neset Guler, huddled around the fire with his four children. “Our situation is a disaster. We are hungry, we are thirsty. It’s miserable.”

The earthquake, which was followed by a series of aftershocks, was the biggest recorded worldwide by the U.S. Geological Survey since a tremor in the remote South Atlantic in August 2021.

It was the deadliest earthquake in Turkey since a quake of similar magnitude in 1999 that killed more than 17,000. Nearly 16,000 were reported injured in Monday’s quake.

At least 1,444 people were killed in Syria and about 3,500 injured, according to figures from the Damascus government and rescue workers in the northwestern region controlled by insurgents.

Poor internet connections and damaged roads between some of the worst-hit cities in Turkey’s south, homes to millions of people, hindered efforts to assess and address the impact.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, preparing for a tough election in May, called the quake a historic disaster and said authorities were doing all they could.

“Everyone is putting their heart and soul into efforts although the winter season, cold weather and the earthquake happening during the night makes things more difficult,” he said. He said 45 countries had offered to help the search and rescue efforts.

In the Turkish city of Iskenderun, rescuers climbed an enormous pile of debris that was once part of a state hospital’s intensive care unit in search of survivors. Health workers did what they could to tend to the new rush of injured patients.

“We have a patient who was taken into surgery but we don’t know what happened,” said Tulin, a woman in her 30s, standing outside the hospital, wiping away tears and praying.

In Syria, the effects of the quake were compounded by the destruction of more than 11 years of civil war.

A top U.N. humanitarian official said fuel shortages and the harsh winter weather were also creating obstacles to its response.

“The infrastructure is damaged, the roads that we used to use for humanitarian work are damaged, we have to be creative in how to get to the people … but we are working hard,” U.N. resident coordinator El-Mostafa Benlamlih told Reuters in an interview via video link from Damascus.

In the government-controlled city of Aleppo, footage on Twitter showed two neighbouring buildings collapsing one after the other, filling streets with billowing dust.

Two residents of the city, which has been heavily damaged in the war, said the buildings had fallen in the hours after the quake, which was felt as far away as Cyprus and Lebanon.

Raed al-Saleh of the Syrian White Helmets, a rescue service in rebel-held territory known for pulling people from the ruins of buildings destroyed by air strikes, said they were in “a race against time to save the lives of those under the rubble.”

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The Mexican government said on Monday it is opposed to a possible restart of the U.S. immigration policy known as “Remain in Mexico” which required asylum seekers to wait for U.S. hearings in Mexico.

President Joe Biden has sought to end the program, which had been introduced by the Trump administration and is currently suspended.

But U.S. states such as Texas and Missouri filed a lawsuit to keep the program active and in December a U.S. judge paused Biden’s attempt, saying the Department of Homeland Security had failed to adequately explain why the policy was ineffective and should be scrapped.

Mexico’s foreign ministry did not state its reasons for its opposition. Activists argue the policy, officially called Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), leaves migrants in dangerous border cities where they face threats of kidnapping and extortion.

If the Mexican government remains firm in its opposition, U.S. officials would likely have to consider whether asylum seekers can stay in the United States while their claims are evaluated or make other arrangements to remove them from the country.

Some 74,000 migrants went through Mexico under the program when former President Donald Trump was in power, the foreign ministry said. Under Biden, that number is just 7,500.

Marsha Espinosa, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement to Reuters on Monday that the Biden Administration will keep trying to terminate MPP through the courts.

“Our ability to implement MPP pursuant to court order has always been contingent on the government of Mexico’s willingness to accept returns under MPP,” added Espinosa.

The Biden administration has sought alternatives to reduce the influx of migrants to the U.S. southern border, including a program allowing some Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans to enter through an appointment system.

According to U.S. officials, the program has seen some success as the number of migrants from those countries caught crossing the border dropped off sharply from December to January.

Human rights organizations have pushed for other nationalities to be included.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) on Monday called on President Joe Biden to find “common ground” with Republicans to find a “responsible” debt limit increase that avoids a default or cuts to Medicare and social security.

In a speech at the Capitol, McCarthy said both parties must agree to end “blank checks for runaway spending” and find a reasonable debt limit, arguing future generations deserve better than high debt and inflation.

“Washington fell for a financial fad,” McCarthy said. “That the national debt doesn’t matter.”

The press conference comes a day before Biden’s State of the Union address, during which the president is expected to discuss the clash over the debt ceiling. The two met last week to discuss the issue, and McCarthy said he is expecting a call from Biden to arrange another meeting.

The United States hit its limit of $31.4 trillion last month and is unable to borrow more money until a new ceiling is agreed upon. The Treasury Department has advised Congress to use special funding maneuvers to avoid a default until June.

McCarthy said Republicans will negotiate and seek common ground. He pointed to remarks by then-vice president Biden who negotiated a debt ceiling increase in 2011. “You can’t govern without negotiating,” Biden said at the time.

“As a senator, you voted against raising the debt ceiling, Mr. President,” McCarthy said, referring to a 2006 vote by Biden against a GOP bill to raise the limit.  “Surely we both agree that the national debt is too high.”

McCarthy noted that Democrats increased annual discretionary spending by $400 billion in the last four years. “They took our nation’s credit card, spent like crazy, and left us in deep debt,” he said.

The post McCarthy Demands Concessions From Biden to Find ‘Common Ground’ on Debt Ceiling appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

Ukraine’s military said its forces repelled an attack in the area of Blahodatne in the eastern part of the Donetsk region, while Russia’s Wagner private military group said it took control of the village.

* Russia accused the Ukrainian military of deliberately striking a hospital in a Russian-held area of eastern Ukraine on Saturday in what it said was a war crime that killed 14 people and wounded 24 patients and medical staff. There was no immediate response to the allegations from Ukraine. Reuters was not able to independently verify the report.

* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the situation at the front as “extremely acute“, especially in the eastern Donetsk region where Russia is stepping up an offensive.

* Tearful mourners in Kyiv commemorated a British volunteer aid worker, Andrew Bagshaw, killed while attempting a rescue mission from the eastern Ukrainian town of Soledar.

* Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to contacts with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz though has no phone call scheduled with him, a Kremlin spokesman said. Scholz, who last week approved providing Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukrainian forces, was quoted in a published interview as saying he would speak to Putin again but the onus was on the Russian leader to withdraw troops from Ukraine “to end this horrendous, senseless war…”

* Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov will hold a meeting with Lynne Tracy, the new U.S. ambassador, early next week, RIA news agency reported.

* Zelenskiy condemned the idea of neutrality in sports at a time when his country’s athletes fight and die in war, while their Russian counterparts might be allowed to compete.

* Russia said it will not hold annual talks with Japan on renewing a pact that allows Japanese fishermen to operate near disputed islands, saying Japan had taken anti-Russian measures.

* Expedited talks are under way among Ukraine and its allies about its requests for long-range missiles that it says are needed to prevent Russia from destroying its cities, a top aide to President Zelenskiy said.

* German arms-maker Rheinmetall is ready to greatly boost output of tank and artillery munitions to satisfy strong demand in Ukraine and the West, and may start producing HIMARS multiple rocket launchers in Germany, CEO Armin Papperger told Reuters.

* Ukraine has been promised 321 heavy tanks by several countries, its ambassador to France said.

* Poland will send an additional 60 tanks to Ukraine on top of 14 German-made Leopard 2 tanks it has pledged, the Polish prime minister said in an interview with Canadian television.

* Ukraine imposed sanctions on 182 Russian and Belarusian companies, and three individuals, in the latest of a series of steps by Zelenskiy to block their links to his country.

* On a trip to Turkey and the Middle East this week, the U.S. Treasury Department’s top sanctions official will warn countries and businesses that they could lose U.S. market access if they do business with entities subject to U.S. curbs as Washington cracks down on Russian attempts to evade sanctions.

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Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso on Monday accepted defeat in a referendum on allowing extradition for organized crime, among other reforms, but added he would continue to fight drug trafficking and keep working to improve social conditions.

The results from Sunday’s voting worsened the political difficulties of Lasso, who has struggled to contain rising insecurity, protests by indigenous groups that have hurt the economy, and widespread violence in prisons.

The extradition referendum, one of eight reforms on the ballot, would have allowed Ecuadorean suspects to be sent abroad for trial on drugs and weapons charges, among others. Lasso advocated the change as a way to cut crime, which his government has blamed on the trans-national narcotics trade.

Though the practice would be new for Ecuador, Latin American countries, including Colombia and Mexico, often accede to extradition requests from the United States and other nations.

But 51.45% of votes had opposed the measure, the electoral authority said after the contents of more than 96% of ballot boxes had been counted.

“I accept that the majority doesn’t agree that these (crime) issues would be resolved with the tools put up for consideration in the referendum,” Lasso said in a televised speech.

“But I believe that we Ecuadoreans should have a broad and serious debate, without dogmas or ideologies, about how to face the threat that drug trafficking and its links to sectors of politics represent today,” he added.

Lasso also called on all political sectors to forget quarrels and reach a great agreement for the country’s benefit.

A proposed reform to give the attorney general more autonomy to choose prosecutors was also rejected, by 56.61% of votes counted so far.

A proposal to reduce the number of lawmakers in the 137-seat assembly to around 100 members also ended defeat, with the “no” vote securing nearly 53%.

Lasso, whose popularity is hovering around 20%, has clashed repeatedly with the opposition-controlled assembly, where some lawmakers tried to oust him during demonstrations that engulfed Ecuador last year.

Mayoral elections were held on the same day. Voters in the two largest cities supported candidates aligned with former President Rafael Correa.

Voters in Quito, the capital, elected Pabel Munoz, a member of Correa’s political movement, as mayor, while another, Aquiles Alvarez won in Guayaquil, ousting the Social Christian party after three decades of control of the mayoralty, according to preliminary data from the electoral court.

“The strong performance of the Correismo in the regional elections together with what appears to be a government loss in the referendum, if confirmed, leaves a very challenging political scenario for the Lasso administration,” J.P. Morgan said in a note.

The referendum defeats would further erode Lasso’s political capital, the note said, adding that renewed social protests could be destabilizing.

Correa, who left office in 2017 and lives in Belgium, faces eight years in prison in Ecuador on a corruption conviction.

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Shoppers walking through a mall.

Kena Betancur/Getty Images

• Gen Y and Z accounted for all of the luxury market’s growth in 2022, per a Bain & Company report.
• Younger generations are set to become the largest buyers of luxury goods by 2030, the report says.
• Gen Z’s and Gen Alpha’s spending is set to grow three times faster than other generations through 2030.

Generation Y, Z, and Alpha consumers are not afraid to splurge when it comes to luxury — and their luxury bills are only expected to get bigger.

The luxury market’s consumer base will reach 500 million by 2030, according to a report by Bain & Company published on January 17. Bain’s study is based on information and data provided by the Fondazione Altagamma, an Italian luxury goods body with over 280 luxury companies as members.

The lion’s share of those luxury purchases will be made by the youngest consumers globally, per the report: Generations Y, Z, and Alpha will become the biggest luxury buyers by 2030, accounting for at least 80% of global purchases.

Millennials born between 1980 to 1994 are dubbed Generation Y, whereas Generation Z refers to those born between 1995 and 2009. Those born after 2010 are part of Generation Alpha. 

Not only will they be the biggest spending group, but Generation Z’s and Generation Alpha’s spending is also slated to grow three times faster than other generations by 2030, occupying a third of the luxury market. This is a reflection of the generation’s “precocious attitude toward luxury,” the Bain report states.

These shifting trends have already become noticeable. Insider’s Nidhi Pandurangi reported in December that a vast number of young Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 are opting to live with their parents — at a level not seen since the Great Depression era — which is likely freeing up disposable income for luxury spending. Insider’s Dan Latu and Kelsey Neubauer looked at the spending habits of the youth and spoke to 20-somethings who live at home and splash out on cars, designer handbags, and nightclubs.

These habits could also be a result of the booming luxury resale market, where Generation Y, Z, and Alpha are treating luxury goods as valuable investments.

For example, a Chanel Medium Classic Flap bag was sold at an average of $3,900 in 2011, based on data compiled by Nasdaq. A decade later, the value skyrocketed to an average of $7,800. A bag purchased in 2011 could have yielded a 200% return on investment in 2021.

Drawing parallels to the S&P 500 index, a dollar invested in 2011 could net a return of around 149% in 2021, showing that certain luxury goods are not just a fashion investment for self-indulgence, but they have the potential to be profitable financial investments.

Apparel led the growth within personal luxury goods sales in 2022

Personal luxury goods had a good performance last year, with apparel leading the growth within the sector, the Bain report states.

Generation Y, Z, and Alpha are spending more on luxury apparel because of the “post-streetwear” phenomenon. Some elements of post-streetwear include gender fluidity, inclusiveness, and disregard for the occasion. Instead of focusing on what’s in trend, younger consumers are more concerned about the techniques, materials, and functions of apparel, per the Bain report. 

Bain notes a record growth in luxury shoes, where Generation Y, Z, and Alpha are not splurging on the iconic Nike Air Jordan 1 sneakers, but instead making purchases in Birkenstock-looking shoes — formerly known as “fussbett sandals.” These sandals typically have a raised platform sole that’s made of lightweight material, and it has straps or buckles to secure your feet. 

Bain also said the luxury market will be shifting away from traditional business models to virtual shopping experiences such as Web 3.0 and the metaverse. This is expected to make luxury goods much more accessible and bolster sales to Generation Y, Z, and Alpha consumers. 

Photo of a bull shark taken during a diving expedition in Tiger Beach, Bahamas.

Carlos Grillo/Getty Images

• A teen in Perth was killed by a shark after jumping in a river to swim with dolphins, officials said.
• Officials believe it was a bull shark, a species known for its aggressiveness and ability to swim in freshwater.
• Bull sharks have been documented swimming up the Mississippi River as far as Illinois.

Though shark attacks are rare, they most commonly happen in the ocean, off the coast of beach destinations like Florida. But when a 16-year-old girl in Australia was killed in a shark attack on Saturday, she wasn’t swimming in the ocean.

Stella Berry was with friends riding jet skis in the Swan River, located in the city of Perth in Western Australia, when her friends said she decided to jump in the water to swim with dolphins that had been seen nearby. Her friends witnessed the attack, with Australian authorities calling it an “extremely traumatic” incident for everyone involved.

Don Punch, the Australian fisheries minister, said on Sunday it was too early to confirm the species of the shark involved, but said that it was believed to be a bull shark.

“We do know that bull sharks, particularly, do enter estuaries and freshwater river systems, so it is likely that may be the case,” Punch told the Australian outlet ABC News.

Bull sharks are considered by many experts to be the most dangerous sharks in the world. They are found in waters around the globe and prefer to hunt in shallow, coastal areas — where people also tend to swim — during the day and night. Bull sharks can grow to be anywhere from 7 to 11 feet in length or more, weighing between 200 and 500 pounds, and are known for their aggressive nature — which is also where their name comes from.

Unlike most species of sharks, bull sharks can also swim in freshwater for extended periods of time, hence the reason they are known to enter and swim up estuaries. A study published in 2021 found two bull sharks even swam up the Mississippi River as far north as Illinois on separate trips in 1937 and 1995.

The study said the “rare appearance” of bull sharks in rivers has been reported on five continents. The authors said the “physiological adaptations” that allow the sharks to swim in freshwater, in addition to fossil records, indicate bull sharks have long entered freshwater ecosystems.

Still, although you are more likely to encounter a bull shark in a river than another species, attacks remain uncommon.

Punch told ABC the last deadly bull shark attack in Perth’s Swan River occurred 100 years ago, in 1923. 

“There’s only been six recorded historical attacks in the river, and this would make it seven,” he added.

The recent deadly attack has sparked some calls for additional research into bull sharks in the river, with Johan Gustafson, a marine ecologist with Griffith University, telling Perth radio station 6PR that tagging the fish would help researchers better understand them.

“Believe it or not we still don’t know a large amount about them — we know broad movements and broad scale behaviors of bull sharks but not the fine details — I think it’s a wonderful idea,” Gustafson told the station.

In 2022, there were 57 unprovoked shark attacks on humans worldwide, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File. The US leads the world in shark attacks, with 41 recorded last year, while Australia came in second with 9.

Bull sharks, great white sharks, and tiger sharks are the most common species to be involved in an attack.

Have a news tip? Contact this reporter at kvlamis@insider.com.

Russia was pouring reinforcements into eastern Ukraine ahead of a new offensive that could begin next week along a front where there have been relentless battles for months, a Ukrainian governor said.

Desperate for Western military aid to arrive, Ukraine anticipates a major offensive could be launched by Russia for “symbolic” reasons around the Feb. 24 anniversary of the invasion, which Moscow persists in calling “a special military operation”.

Ukraine is itself planning a spring offensive to recapture lost territory, but awaiting delivery of promised longer-range Western missiles and battle tanks, with some analysts saying the country was months away from being ready.

“We are seeing more and more (Russian) reserves being deployed in our direction, we are seeing more equipment being brought in…,” Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai told Ukrainian television.

“They bring ammunition that is used differently than before – it is not round-the-clock shelling anymore. They are slowly starting to save, getting ready for a full-scale offensive. It will most likely take them 10 days to gather reserves. After Feb. 15 we can expect (this offensive) at any time.”

The war is reaching a pivotal point as its first anniversary approaches, with Ukraine no longer making gains as it did in the second half of 2022 and Russia pushing forward with hundreds of thousands of mobilised reserve troops.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said personnel changes on the border and frontline will bolster Ukraine’s military efforts amid uncertainty over the future of his defence minister, just as Russia advances in the east for the first time in six months.

In his Monday evening address, Zelenskiy said he wanted to combine military and managerial experience in local and central government but did not directly address confusion about whether his defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, would be replaced.

On Sunday, David Arakhamia, head of Zelenskiy’s parliamentary bloc, said Reznikov would be transferred to another ministerial job, but on Monday he wrote that “there will be no personnel changes in the defence sector this week.”

Zelenskiy says he needs to show that Ukraine was a safe steward of billions of dollars of Western military and other aid, and his government is engaged in the biggest political and administrative shake-up since Russia’s invasion nearly a year ago.

“In a number of regions, particularly those on the border or on the front line, we will appoint leaders with military experience. Those who can show themselves to be the most effective in defending against existing threats,” he said.

The European Union said Zelenskiy has been invited to take part in a summit of EU leaders, amid reports he could be in Brussels as soon as this week, in what would be only his second known foreign trip since the invasion began.

Zelenskiy’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Russia launched five missile and 12 air attacks as well as 36 shelling incidents over a 24-hour period, hitting southern targets such as Kherson, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a Monday evening statement.

Ukrainian aircraft have launched nine strikes on areas of concentration of Russian forces and two anti-aircraft positions, it said. Reuters could not immediately verify battleground reports.

Ukrainian defence analyst Oleksandr Kovalenko said a new Russian offensive could come from one of four directions; the eastern Luhansk region, the Donetsk region, the Zaporizhzhia region and the city and port of Mariupol.

“Things are more serious in Donetsk region, particularly around Bakhmut and Avdiivka. And the Russians will be boosting their contingents there as well as equipment and paratroops,” Kovalenko, from the “Information Resistance group” think tanks, told Ukrainian radio NV.

For months Russia’s main target in eastern Ukraine has been Bakhmut, where its state media said the Wagner mercenary group had gained a foothold. Ukraine said on Monday evening that Russian forces had trained tank, mortar and artillery fire there in the past 24 hours.

Kovalenko said Mariupol, captured by Russian forces last May, could be used by the Russians to bring in troops and equipment for a new offensive.

“It could serve as a transport hub for the Russian occupation forces,” he said.

Kovalenko said Ukraine’s counter-offensive would not happen any time soon and Ukrainian forces would be assuming a defensive position, particularly in Donetsk.

“It may be an active defence, but a defensive position nonetheless. The idea will remain to block any Russian advance,” he said.

“Things could change more quickly in other sectors. But this situation could go on for two to two-and-a-half months – that is the time required for providing the tanks for brigades, training and getting everything outfitted.”

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