Rescuers are still finding people alive in the rubble of collapsed buildings a full week after the catastrophic earthquake in southern Turkey and northern Syria.
A seven-year-old boy and a 62-year-old woman were rescued from the rubble in Hatay province late Sunday night after being buried for 163 hours, according to local reports.
In another province, a 45-year-old man was also rescued on Sunday after being under the rubble for 162 hours, and in the city of Adimayan, a 10-year-old boy was extracted after being buried for 158 hours. After finally being freed, the boy reportedly asked rescuers for chewing gum.
Although time is running out to reach survivors trapped by the quake, rescuers have vowed to continue searching. Over the weekend, the HUSAR Poland rescue group, which includes 15 rescuers from Trójmiasto, announced they would extend their tour of duty in Turkey until Thursday, February 16.
As of this morning, the earthquake that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria last Monday has killed more than 35,000 people, including at least 5,900 in Syria.
Source: PAP
In an interview with the BBC on Sunday, Polish President Andrzej Duda said the decision to transfer F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine must be made in collaboration with other allied nations.
During the interview, Duda expressed his belief that an independent Ukraine is in the best interest of Poland and Europe, and lasting peace can only be secured through restoring Ukraine’s full territorial sovereignty.
He went on to stress the need to provide Ukraine with more advanced weaponry so that the country can defend itself. “Ukraine must win and fend off Russian aggression,” Duda emphasized, “but in order to do so, it needs armaments.”
Asked if Poland could transfer its own F-16 jets to Ukraine, Duda made it clear that the decision must be made by all of Ukraine’s allies and not just individual countries. If Poland were to transfer even a portion of its limited number of F-16s, he explained, it would need to acquire more, as its current number is insufficient.
Duda’s interview with the BBC was recorded in Warsaw yesterday in preparation for an official planned visit to the UK next week.
Source: Polskie Radio
Polish ski jumpers Piotr Żyła and Dawid Kubacki made history over the weekend after collectively winning the first duets competition in the Ski Jumping World Cup in Lake Placid, New York.
The pair came in 13.2 points ahead of Austria’s Daniel Tschofenig and Stefan Kraft, and 24.1 points ahead of Japan’s Naoki Nakamura and Ryoyu Kobayashi in third.
Thirteen pairs of ski jumpers participated in the historic event, which saw the Ski Jumping World Cup return to the United States after an absence of 19 years.
In Sunday’s individual competition, Norway’s Halvor Egner Granerud topped the podium, followed by Germany’s Andreas Wellinger and Austria’s Stefan Kraft. Kubacki came in seventh, teammate Aleksander Zniszczol came in 21st, and Żyła came in 25th.
Source: PAP
The City Guard and the local fire department in Gdańsk recently came to the rescue of local wildlife, freeing a seagull caught hanging in the branches of a tree.
A passerby walking along Kurpiński street noticed the entangled gray seagull and contacted the city guard. As the animal was hanging several meters above the ground, officers were unable to free it on their own and called in the city fire department.
Firefighters then used the boom ladder on the fire truck to free the bird, who was later taken to the veterinary clinic on Kartuska Street with a damaged wing.
After observation at a local clinic, the bird was taken to the Pomeranian Wildlife Rehabilitation Center “Ostoja,” which specializes in the treatment and rehabilitation of wild animals.
Source: Radio Gdańsk
Weather
Today will be mostly cloudy, with a slight chance of rain later in the day and a gentle breeze coming in from the northwest. Temperatures will drop steadily throughout the day from a high of 6°C or 43°F to a low of 2°C, or 36°F overnight. Similar weather is expected tomorrow, with a sharp drop in temperatures midweek before a high-pressure system and warmer weather returns on Thursday.
Elizabeth Peck
