As the death toll continues to rise following the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria, huge numbers of rescuers continue to comb through rubble in search of people left alive.
It will be a long, painstaking process complicated by the fact that the quake occurred close to the border with Syria, where years of civil war have left communities vulnerable.
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Inside during devastating earthquake
Syria after years of civil war
Much of the damage caused by the quake has been in northern Syria, a country that has been ravaged by years and years of civil war.
“The pictures that we are seeing are very similar to what you can see now in Turkey, and that is buildings being completely flattened,” Mr Bunkall says.
“A lot of them have already been damaged structurally from years of fighting, so that means that they would have been considerably weakened.
“You’ve got hundreds of thousands of refugees who are already living in miserable conditions that will be affected by this.”
Image: A rescuer carries an injured child away from the rubble of a building
Challenges accessing contested territory
Aid agencies are also likely to face difficulties getting access to northern Syria, much of which is controlled by rebel groups who have been battling the regime.
Many of these areas are held by Kurdish groups which Turkey has repeatedly threatened to invade in recent months.
Mr Bunkall, speaking on Sky News this morning, added: “It’s a region of Syria that is under no real coordinated single control, and so trying to rally any kind of rescue effort there amongst the agencies that are currently in the country and people like the White Helmets will be challenging.
“And it will be even more challenging for the international community to try and get into Syria to help.”
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Expert: ‘Worst kind of earthquake’
Damage to hospitals hampering relief effort
Harrowing pictures and videos of search teams combing through rubble from destroyed buildings show the huge scale of the devastation caused by the earthquake.
Among the buildings hit by the disaster are hospitals inside Syria, piling more pressure on the response.
The Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) said four of its hospitals have been damaged, forcing them to evacuate.
Other hospitals run by the organisation are overwhelmed with patients filling the hallways and there is an immediate need for trauma supplies.
“Across our operational facilities, we’ve been receiving victims of the quake as they come into our hospitals while simultaneously working to guarantee the wellbeing of our over 1,700 staff in Syria, and 90 at the epicentre near Gaziantep, Turkey,” said SAMS President Dr Amjad Rass.
Worldwide stock markets have plummeted for the second day running as the fallout from Donald Trump’s global tariffs continues.
While European and Asian markets suffered notable falls, American indexes were the worst hit, with Wall Street closing to a sea of red on Friday following Thursday’s rout – the worst day in US markets since the COVID-19 pandemic.
All three of the US’s major indexes were down by more than 5% at market close; The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 5.5%, the S&P 500 was 5.97% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 5.82%.
The Nasdaq was also 22% below its record-high set in December, which indicates a bear market.
Ever since the US president announced the tariffs on Wednesday evening, analysts estimate that around $4.9trn (£3.8trn) has been wiped off the value of the global stock market.
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Mr Trump has remained unapologetic as the markets struggle, posting in all-caps on Truth Social before the markets closed that “only the weak will fail”.
The UK’s leading stock market, the FTSE 100, also suffered its worst daily drop in more than five years, closing 4.95% down, a level not seen since March 2020.
And the Japanese exchange Nikkei 225 dropped by 2.75% at end of trading, down 20% from its recent peak in July last year.
Image: US indexes had the worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. Pic: Reuters
Trump holds trade deal talks – reports
It comes as a source told CNN that Mr Trump has been in discussions with Vietnamese, Indianand Israelirepresentatives to negotiate bespoke trade deals that could alleviate proposed tariffs on those countries before a deadline next week.
The source told the US broadcaster the talks were being held in advance of the reciprocal levies going into effect next week.
Vietnam faced one of the highest reciprocal tariffs announced by the US president this week, with 46% rates on imports. Israeli imports face a 17% rate, and Indian goods will be subject to 26% tariffs.
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China – hit with 34% tariffs on imported goods – has also announced it will issue its own levy of the same rate on US imports.
Mr Trump said China “played it wrong” and “panicked – the one thing they cannot afford to do” in another all-caps Truth Social post earlier on Friday.
Later, on Air Force One, the US president told reporters that “the beauty” of the tariffs is that they allow for negotiations, referencing talks with Chinese company ByteDance on the sale of social media app TikTok.
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Tariffs: Xi hits back at Trump
He said: “We have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say, ‘We’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs?’
“The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. They always have.”
Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.
The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.
The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.
The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.
The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.
Image: Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP
Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.
The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.
Image: The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP
After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.
He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.
His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.
The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.
South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.