For families in north-west Syria, an area that has been battered by years of civil war, the deadly quake comes on top of unbearable living conditions.
The death toll from the 7.8 magnitude quake that struck near Turkey’s border with Syria has reached at least 4,000, with rescue workers pulling out more bodies from the rubble.
The displaced have spoken to The National about the horrors they experienced when one of the worst earthquakes in decades hit the region early on Monday.
Many of my friends are missing. Hospitals are overflowing with the dead and wounded. There is death everywhere around us
Wael Mishal, 42
Wael Mishal, a father of five from the largely rebel-held Idlib province, said it seems like there is no end to their misery.
“We have had horrors after horrors; wars after wars. And, now this [earthquake is here] to wreck our lives again,” said Mr Mishal, 42, an English teacher, who fled Palmyra in 2017 after ISIS overran the city.
He currently lives in the Atta camp, one of dozens of camps that house millions of Syrian families displaced by the country’s civil war. Syria has the world’s largest displacement crisis, with more than 13 million of its population either moved on by fighting or having fled from the 11-year-long civil war, according to the UN.
Wael Mishal's children Zainab,13 and Ibtizam, 4, outside their camp in Atta after the earthquake.
Mr Mishal said he ran out of the building into pouring rain when the earthquake hit the impoverished neighbourhood.
“I was jolted from my sleep early in the morning, and the whole place started shaking. It was raining but we grabbed our jackets and ran out. All I could do was pray to Allah and ask him to keep my family safe.
“There were hundreds of families out on the street, as they have nowhere to take refuge. Those with cars stayed inside their vehicles for hours. Others had no choice but endure the rain and cold.
“Many of my friends are missing. Hospitals are overflowing with the dead and wounded. There is death everywhere around us.”
Mr Mishal said the only comfort is that his children are not panicking, sadly because they have experienced worse.
“I once fled Palmyra with my family. It was a long, miserable journey across the desert with four children. Smugglers moved us from one place to another for weeks before we reached Idlib safely.
“We endured the worst in those years and lived in a small tent with my four children. We have endured rockets and air strikes on a daily basis. We have had enough.”
A collapsed building in Latakia, Syria. Reuters
Mustafa Hambasho, 54, a taxi driver from Aleppo, told The National that the situation in his neighbourhood is tragic.
“People are scared. They ran out to the street to save their lives. They still fear staying indoors because aftershocks are still happening.
“Lots of people lost their homes as many buildings have collapsed in the earthquake. Cars parked on the streets got crushed by falling buildings. There is severe damage everywhere.
“The worst part is this happened when people were sleeping. They did not have time to prepare.”
One aftershock after another
Bilind Arafat, 22, from Latakia, a port city in Syria that was hit by the earthquake, told The National that there were several aftershocks “one after the other”.
“It took me a few seconds to understand what was happening. The whole building was shaking. And in the next minute there was utter panic,” said Mr Arafat, a medical student.
He remembered the first quake was the strongest and it lasted “almost a minute”.
“Then there was another one, then another one, then again and again.
“I was awake at 4am and could hear loud screams. There were women and children crying out and running out into the street.
“We stood outside for three hours because everyone was scared to go back in. What if there were more aftershocks? That was our worry.”
Mr Arafat said many buildings have collapsed in his Mashrou Al Baath neighbourhood.
“Many people are missing and neighbours are picking through the rubble to see if there are people trapped under it.
“Luckily, there is not much damage to our four-storey building and we are back home now. But everyone is scared.”
Offers of aid have poured in from across the world, including from the UAE, the EU, Russia and Israel, with US President Joe Biden saying the US will provide “any and all” needed assistance.
Glossary of a stock market revolution
Reddit
A discussion website
Redditor
The users of Reddit
Robinhood
A smartphone app for buying and selling shares
Short seller
Selling a stock today in the belief its price will fall in the future
Saturday
Atletico Madrid v Sevilla (3pm)
Alaves v Real Madrid (6.15pm)
Malaga v Athletic Bilbao (8.30pm)
Girona v Barcelona (10.45pm)
Sunday
Espanyol v Deportivo la Coruna (2pm)
Getafe v Villarreal (6.15pm)
Eibar v Celta Vigo (8.30pm)
Las Palmas v Leganes (8.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Valencia (10.45pm)
Monday
Real Betis v Levante (11.pm)
Isle of Dogs
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Liev Schreiber, Ed Norton, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson
Direct flights from the UAE to the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, are available with Air Arabia, (www.airarabia.com) Fly Dubai (www.flydubai.com) or Etihad (www.etihad.com) from Dh1,200 return including taxes. The trek described here started from Jomson, but there are many other start and end point variations depending on how you tailor your trek. To get to Jomson from Kathmandu you must first fly to the lake-side resort town of Pokhara with either Buddha Air (www.buddhaair.com) or Yeti Airlines (www.yetiairlines.com). Both charge around US$240 (Dh880) return. From Pokhara there are early morning flights to Jomson with Yeti Airlines or Simrik Airlines (www.simrikairlines.com) for around US$220 (Dh800) return.
The trek
Restricted area permits (US$500 per person) are required for trekking in the Upper Mustang area. The challenging Meso Kanto pass between Tilcho Lake and Jomson should not be attempted by those without a lot of mountain experience and a good support team. An excellent trekking company with good knowledge of Upper Mustang, the Annaurpuna Circuit and Tilcho Lake area and who can help organise a version of the trek described here is the Nepal-UK run Snow Cat Travel (www.snowcattravel.com). Prices vary widely depending on accommodation types and the level of assistance required.
How Apple's credit card works
The Apple Card looks different from a traditional credit card — there's no number on the front and the users' name is etched in metal. The card expands the company's digital Apple Pay services, marrying the physical card to a virtual one and integrating both with the iPhone. Its attributes include quick sign-up, elimination of most fees, strong security protections and cash back.
What does it cost?
Apple says there are no fees associated with the card. That means no late fee, no annual fee, no international fee and no over-the-limit fees. It also said it aims to have among the lowest interest rates in the industry. Users must have an iPhone to use the card, which comes at a cost. But they will earn cash back on their purchases — 3 per cent on Apple purchases, 2 per cent on those with the virtual card and 1 per cent with the physical card. Apple says it is the only card to provide those rewards in real time, so that cash earned can be used immediately.
What will the interest rate be?
The card doesn't come out until summer but Apple has said that as of March, the variable annual percentage rate on the card could be anywhere from 13.24 per cent to 24.24 per cent based on creditworthiness. That's in line with the rest of the market, according to analysts
What about security?
The physical card has no numbers so purchases are made with the embedded chip and the digital version lives in your Apple Wallet on your phone, where it's protected by fingerprints or facial recognition. That means that even if someone steals your phone, they won't be able to use the card to buy things.
Is it easy to use?
Apple says users will be able to sign up for the card in the Wallet app on their iPhone and begin using it almost immediately. It also tracks spending on the phone in a more user-friendly format, eliminating some of the gibberish that fills a traditional credit card statement. Plus it includes some budgeting tools, such as tracking spending and providing estimates of how much interest could be charged on a purchase to help people make an informed decision.
* Associated Press
THE DETAILS
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Director: Ron Howard
2/5
Warlight,
Michael Ondaatje, Knopf
OTHER IPL BOWLING RECORDS
Best bowling figures: 6-14 – Sohail Tanvir (for Rajasthan Royals against Chennai Super Kings in 2008)
Best average: 16.36 – Andrew Tye
Best economy rate: 6.53 – Sunil Narine
Best strike-rate: 12.83 – Andrew Tye
Best strike-rate in an innings: 1.50 – Suresh Raina (for Chennai Super Kings against Rajasthan Royals in 2011)
Most runs conceded in an innings: 70 – Basil Thampi (for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2018)
Most hat-tricks: 3 – Amit Mishra
Most dot-balls: 1,128 – Harbhajan Singh
Most maiden overs bowled: 14 – Praveen Kumar
Most four-wicket hauls: 6 – Sunil Narine
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Priority access to new homes from participating developers
Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
Flexible payment plans from developers
Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
