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Social Media

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  1. Syria's war-torn city of Aleppo is among the areas to have borne the brunt of a deadly earthquake, which also devastated parts of southern Turkey.

    More than 1,000 people have been reported dead so far in northern Syria following the quake.

    Emergency rescue teams said many buildings are damaged or destroyed and that people remain trapped under the rubble.

    The region is home to millions of refugees displaced by the civil war.

    Control of northern Syria is divided between the government, Kurdish-led forces and other rebel groups. They remain embroiled in conflict.

    Even before the earthquake the situation in much of the region was critical, with freezing weather, crumbling infrastructure and a cholera outbreak causing misery for many of those who live there.

  2. Two people, including the founder of a neo-Nazi group, have been arrested after allegedly plotting to shut down power to the Baltimore area.

    Brandon Russell, 27, and Sarah Clendaniel, 34, were charged with conspiracy to damage an energy facility.

    The crime carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

    Authorities say the couple planned to shoot five electricity substations in the state of Maryland.

    The pair met while both were in prison, and began discussing the alleged plot last year. Ms Clendaniel described their plan as "legendary" and said the attack "would completely destroy the whole city".

    "This planned attack threatened lives and would have left thousands of Marylanders in the cold and dark," US Attorney Erek Barron said in a statement.

  3. Joe Biden's State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday comes at a pivotal time in his presidency.

    By most indications, he is poised to announce a bid for re-election next year, and the speech provides a high-profile platform from which he can make his case to the American people, the media and key figures within the Democratic Party.

    Before the president gets to that, however, he will be under intense pressure to address the issue that has been hovering over his administration since Friday. The Chinese spy balloon, and the US reaction to it, has dominated headlines, captivated the attention of the American public and prompted sharp criticism of the Biden administration from Republicans.

  4. British search and rescue specialists are travelling to Turkey to help search for survivors following the earthquake that has killed over 2,300 people.

    A team of 76 rescuers is flying to Turkey on Monday evening.

    Two 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude quakes have devastated parts of Turkey and Syria, reducing many buildings to rubble.

    Turkish communities in the UK have been sending aid to the areas affected by the earthquake since early on Monday morning.

    Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the impact of the quakes was "on a scale that we have not seen for quite some time".

    More than 10,000 people are thought to have been injured.

  5. BREAKING

    Death toll now more than 3,500

    At least 2,379 people were killed and 14,483 were injured in Turkey following the earthquakes, the country's vice-president says.

    Fuat Otkay adds that 7,840 people were pulled alive from the rubble after 4,748 buildings were destroyed.

    At least 1,444 people are reported to have died in Syria.

    It means the death toll from the devastating earthquakes now stands at more than 3,500, but this is almost certain to rise as the rescue efforts continue.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) earlier warned that the death toll could eventually rise eight-fold.

     

     

  6. Hundreds of people have joined the police in the past three years who should never have passed their background checks, it has been revealed.

    Matt Parr, the boss of HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, has said many officers failed to declare “big red flags” such as “prior convictions”.

    He said some have had “links with criminals that are too close and not explained” and were “not being entirely honest on their application”.

    One in 10 officers looked at by Mr Parr’s team should never have made it through vetting, he said, and while it was not a random sample, it still amounts to hundreds of people who shouldn’t have been hired.

    • Haha 1
  7. Beyoncé has broken the record for the most Grammy Award wins of all time, after collecting her 32nd trophy at this year's ceremony.

    The singer made history as she won best dance/electronic album, for her euphoric dance opus Renaissance.

    In doing so, she overtook Hungarian-British conductor George Solti, whose record of 31 awards had stood for more than 20 years.

    "I'm trying not to be too emotional," said the star, accepting the prize.

    "I'm trying to just receive this night."

    She went on to thank her family, including her late uncle Jonny, who helped make her stage outfits before she became famous.

     

    Beyoncé has previously said his battle with HIV influenced her interest in dance music, and its historical ties to the LGBTQ community, on Renaissance.

  8. Some 47 people are on trial for flouting Hong Kong's controversial national security law, in the largest case of its kind.

    They include some of the city's most prominent pro-democracy figures, such as activists Joshua Wong and Benny Tai.

    Accused of "subversion" for holding an unofficial primary election, most of them have been detained for the past two years on national security grounds.

    Critics say the national security law is used as a tool to crush dissent.

    But Chinese and Hong Kong authorities maintain it is needed to curb unrest.

  9. Summary

    1. Dozens of people are dead and hundreds more are injured after a huge earthquake struck south-eastern Turkey, near the Syrian border
    2. Early statements from officials in Turkey and Syria put the death toll at more than 100, but that is likely to rise
    3. Rescuers are racing to save people trapped beneath the rubble after hundreds of buildings collapsed in both countries
    4. Turkey declares a state of emergency and urges people not to use mobile phones to allow rescuers to co-ordinate
    5. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck in the early hours of Monday and dozens of aftershocks have been felt in the hours since
    6. Millions of people across Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus and Israel felt the earthquake - the epicentre was near the Turkish city of Gaziantep
  10. You're going to hear the term "spring offensive" a lot in the coming weeks of the war in Ukraine.

    In a traditional military sense, it's when armies look to generate momentum after using the poor winter conditions to replenish.

    It is true that the fighting has become more static during typically cold conditions.

    However, all signs seem to be pointing towards an upcoming Russian push.

    Moscow has mobilised hundreds of thousands more men, as well as increased its production of weapons and ammunition.

    Kyiv is expecting to see major attacks from the east and south as soon as 24 February, which would mark a year since the full-scale invasion.

     

    So, if Russia does launch another offensive, what will it try to take?

    • Like 2
  11. 13 minutes ago, Beachcomber said:

    Using a missile to shoot down a balloon seems like a bit of overkill.

    Surely a short burst of bullets would have done the job and the balloon would have come down slowly without damaging the instruments.

     

    As a point of curiosity I thought missiles needed something to guide and detonate them. Hot exhaust or proximity to metal, presumably neither of which the balloon 

    ????

    I thought exactly the same, a 200million aircraft firing a 400k missile to drop a bag of air just seems wrong and a waste of resources. Ax you say a short burst of bullets would probably have sufficed as you said.

  12. Indian police have arrested more than 2,000 men in a crackdown on illegal child marriages involving girls under the age of 18 in a northeastern state, officials said Saturday.

    Those arrested this week included more than 50 Hindu priests and Muslim clerics for allegedly performing marriages for underage girls in Assam, state police chief Gyanendra Pratap Singh said.

    "We have so far arrested 2,169 men based on 4,074 registered police cases involving a total of about 8,000 men," said Singh.

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