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Türkiye

KURDISH militants from the outlawed

PKK group announced a temporary halt in fighting to facilitate rescue work after the massive earthquake that struck south-eastern Türkiye and parts of Syria on Monday. The Kurdistan Workers’

Party (PKK) has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Ankara and its main Western allies for waging a brutal insurgency that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since 1984. But the earthquake disaster has reshaped the political landscape in Türkiye and Syria while claiming more than 22000 lives – more than 18 000 of them in Türkiye It struck a multi-ethnic region that has witnessed some of the heaviest fighting between Turkish government forces and the PKK. The group’s co-leader, Cemil Bayik, told the Pkk-linked ANF news agency that “thousands of our people are under the rubble” and urged a focus on recovery work rather than waging war.

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Ukraine

A SENIOR Ukrainian official renewed calls for Western allies to provide Kyiv with long-range missiles and fighter jets after a new wave of Russian missile and drone attacks on Friday. “Russia has been striking at Ukrainian cities all night and morning,” presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter. “Enough talk and political hesitation. Only fast key decisions: long-range missiles, fighter jets, operational supplies logistics for Ukraine.” Meanwhile, Swedish defence group Saab has reported a more than doubling of orders in the fourth quarter as countries boost military spending following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Order intakes totalled 63.1 billion Swedish kronor (about R25.5m) in 2022, a 45% increase from the previous year. | Reuters and AFP

New Zealand

NEW Zealand’s government has urged people to prepare for Cyclone Gabrielle after severe flooding hit the country’s largest city, Auckland, and claimed four lives two weeks ago. “Cyclone Gabrielle is likely to impact across the North Island with severe gales and heavy rain forecast from today through to Tuesday. It is likely to impact communities in Northland, Auckland, and other regions in the

North Island, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran Mcanulty said. The last round of record rainfall has caused massive flooding since January 27, with a state of emergency declared by the government. | Xinhua

Space

BLUE Origin, the private space company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was awarded its first interplanetary Nasa contract this week to launch a mission next year to study the magnetic field around Mars, the US space agency and company said. Plans call for Blue Origin’s recently developed New Glenn heavy-lift rocket to blast off with Nasa’s dual-spacecraft “Escapade” mission late next year from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, Nasa said. |

Baldwin

THE Ukrainian parents and sister of Halyna Hutchins, right, filed a civil lawsuit against actor Alec Baldwin and others over the cinematographer’s 2021 death in New Mexico during the filming of the Western Rust, the family’s lawyers said this week. The announcement comes after a Santa Fe prosecutor criminally charged Baldwin on January 31 with involuntary manslaughter, accusing him of reckless disregard for safety when a revolver he was holding fired a live round that killed Hutchins and injured film director Joel Souza. |

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