By OMAR AKOUR Associated Press AMMAN (AP) — The United Nations regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syrian crisis said Thursday that the country’s death toll from last week’s deadly earthquake is likely to rise further as teams scramble to remove rubble in hard-hit areas. In an interview with The Associated Press, Muhannad Hadi defended the U.N.’s response to the disaster, which many in Syria have criticized as slow and inadequate. The U.N. has reported a death toll of about 6,000 for all of Syria, including 4,400 in the rebel-held northwest. That figure is higher than those reported by ..read more

BEIJING (AP) — China and Iran have urged mutual neighbor Afghanistan to end restrictions on women’s work and education. The call came in a joint statement Thursday issued at the close of a visit to Beijing by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during which the two sides affirmed close economic and political ties and their rejection of Western standards of human rights and democracy. Since taking over Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban has banned women and girls from universities and schools after the sixth grade and forced out those in elected offices and other prominent positions. “The tw ..read more

Turkey – Syria Earthquake By SARAH EL DEEB, ZEYNEP BILGINSOY and ANDREW WILKS Associated Press ANTAKYA, Turkey (AP) — The earthquakes that killed more than 39,000 people in southern Turkey and northern Syria produced more grieving and suffering along with extraordinary rescues and appeals for aid. Here’s a look at key developments Wednesday from the aftermath of the earthquakes: DEFYING ODDS AFTER NINE DAYS A woman and her two children – a boy and a girl – were extricated from a collapsed apartment building in Antakya, Turkey, a full 228 hours after the first 7.8 magnitude earthquake struc ..read more

Turkey – Syria Earthquake ANTAKYA, Turkey (AP) — Rescuers on Tuesday were working to reach people under the rubble in three provinces hit hard by the devastating quakes that hit Turkey and Syria last week. The death toll from the magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 quakes that struck nine hours apart on Feb. 6 in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria passed 35,000, and was certain to increase as search teams find more bodies. Turkish television continued broadcasting rescues Tuesday, as experts said the window to find survivors is closing. In Adiyaman province, rescuers reached 18-year-old Muhammed Caf ..read more

Turkey – Syria Earthquake ADIYAMAN, Turkey (AP) — Thousands who survived the earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria a week ago are pondering what comes next. While many have been evacuated from the devastated region, others are staying by wrecked homes and as the search for missing loved ones continues. Rescuers found a woman alive 174 hours after the first quake struck, but reports of rescues were coming less often as the time since the quake reaches the limits of the human body’s ability to survive without water, especially in freezing temperatures. The magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 quakes str ..read more

News about grants, gifts NEW YORK (AP) — Humanitarian groups working in southern Turkey and northwest Syria warn that Monday’s earthquake will have a “long tail” — a wide range of needs that will require donations for months, or even years, after the rescue and recovery missions end. Border customs officials inspect a truck loaded with UN humanitarian aid for Syria following a devastating earthquake reach the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey, Idlib province, Syria, Friday, Feb. 10, 2023. Rescuers pulled several people alive from the shattered remnants of buildings on Frid ..read more

My Puerto Rican wife says that the United States should stop celebrating Independence Day because the US is obviously still a colony of Great Britain. On the day after another devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico, it seems the American media can only stay focused on a dead monarch in a country our ancestors fought to be liberated from. While Puerto Ricans dig out from a storm exactly 5 years from historic hurricane Maria (almost to the day), it seems the most important thing on the minds of the media is the pomp and pageantry of a British royal funeral. Really? Is this our top priority consid ..read more

Purchase Magazine Philanthropologist serves as a bridge between the Philanthropy Journal and The Good Road television program. Some issues will serve as companion pieces to episodes of TGR, others will highlight areas around the world that have a more urgent and timely need for the spotlight to shine on them. Each will be led by the people from and of these communities. In this first issue, we focus on the incredible island nation of Puerto Rico. I have yet to visit Puerto Rico, which is why it is even more important that the content that follows is curated, rather than crafted, by me. This ..read more

The Agarwal Law Firm sign at reception. [Photo by Kimberly Frost] Craig Martin, Co-Host The Good Road – So Nupa, thank you for allowing us to come and be in your office here. Where are we? What’s your office? What do you do? Nupa Agarwal, Principal and Attorney, Agarwal Law Firm – Sure. I am primarily a bankruptcy attorney, and my office is in Richmond, Virginia. I also do real estate sales but my primary practice is bankruptcy. That’s what I do mostly day to day. And I love it and I love being in private practice and helping my clients. Nupa and her family in India. [Photo provided by Nu ..read more

Special to the Philanthropy Journal Opinion by: Advance Carolina Today marks the grim anniversary of the 2015 mass shooting at Emmanual African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, which took the lives of nine Black worshippers, including state senator Clementa C. Pinkney. Over the past few weeks, we have been reminded of America’s gun problem and the need for bipartisan gun legislation with the recent mass shootings in Buffalo, Uvalde, and Tulsa, which killed 35 people. Advance Carolina, and our sister organization North Carolina Black Alliance, call on President Biden ..read more