First Thing: Taiwan earthquake kills nine and leaves dozens trapped
Good morning.
A 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Taiwan killed nine people and injured at least 800 on Wednesday, causing building collapses, power outages and landslides throughout the island. The quake – Taiwan’s strongest in 25 years – also triggered initial tsunami warnings in southern Japan and the Philippines.
Taiwan’s national fire agency said authorities had lost contact with 50 people in minibuses after the quake downed phone networks. More than 70 other people were trapped but believed to be alive, some in a coalmine.
The earthquake, which Japan separately clocked at 7.7 and US agencies measured at 7.4, struck close to the popular tourist city of Hualien. Witnesses described driving as rocks dislodged from nearby mountains fell down around them, while others rushed outside after feeling the strength of the tremors.
How serious is the tsunami risk in the region? Both Japan and the Philippines lifted their tsunami warnings a few hours after the earthquake hit.
How much worse could it have been? Agence France-Presse reports that strict building regulations and widespread public disaster awareness appear to have staved off a major catastrophe.
Charities halt Gaza aid after drone attack that killed seven workers
The Israeli drone attack that killed seven international aid workers in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza has prompted charities to suspend their operations in the territory. The World Central Kitchen (WCK), Anera and the US-based Project Hope were among the organisations to put a pause on aid, as famine looms in the region.
“While we understand the severe consequences this suspension will have on the Palestinian population, the escalating risks associated with aid delivery leave us with no choice but to halt operations until our staff regain confidence that they can do their work without undue risk,” Anera said in a statement.
Who were the seven international aid workers who were killed? WCK has identified the victims as the Britons John Chapman, 57, James Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47, who were working for the charity’s security team; the team’s leader, Lalzawmi (Zomi) Frankcom, 43, an Australian national; the American-Canadian dual citizen Jacob Flickinger, 33; the Polish national Damian Sobol, 35; and a Palestinian, Saif Issam Abu Taha, 25.
What has Israel said about the attack? The Israeli military said an investigation into the attack was under way, and expressed “sincere sorrow” over the deaths.
And Joe Biden? “This conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed,” the US president said, criticising Israel for not doing enough to protect aid workers.
In other news …
Joe Biden and Donald Trump swept four primaries on Tuesday, including in the battleground state of Wisconsin, in a largely symbolic contest now that both Biden and Trump have locked up the Democratic and Republican nominations.
Florida abortion providers are bracing for the latest ban on abortion rights in the south – starting next month, abortions past six weeks of pregnancy will be illegal.
Botswana’s president has threatened to send 20,000 elephants to Germany amid a dispute over the import of hunting trophies, with the African leader arguing that conservation efforts have led to an explosion in the number of elephants and that hunting is an important means to keep them in check.
Researchers have found that an endangered form of Greek, spoken by only a few thousand people in remote mountain villages of northern Turkey, is a “living bridge” to the ancient world.
Stat of the day: An estimated one in three of those killed in the Israel-Hamas war have been children
Nine doctors gave the Guardian accounts of working in Gaza hospitals this past year, describing a steady stream of children, elderly people and others who were clearly not combatants with single bullet wounds to the head or chest. Some said that the types and locations of the wounds, and accounts of Palestinians who brought children to the hospital, led them to believe the victims were directly targeted by Israeli troops. The IDF said it “completely rejects” allegations that its snipers deliberately fire on civilians.
“This is not a normal war,” said Dr Fozia Alvi, a Canadian doctor who treated a number of Palestinian children at the European public hospital in southern Gaza. “The war in Ukraine has killed 500 kids in two years and the war in Gaza has killed over 10,000 in less than five months. We have seen wars before but this is something that is a dark stain on our shared humanity.”
Don’t miss this: Fighting the stigma of epilepsy in Cameroon
Rates of epilepsy in Cameroon are so high that it has become a national public health concern – yet stigma arising from the belief that the condition is a “curse” poses a barrier to treatment. “Lack of understanding as to why people suffer epilepsy makes them think that it is a spiritual problem,” said the human rights advocate Leo Igwe.
… or this: ‘I can’t speak but my photos do’
Asom Khan became the face of Myanmar’s refugees in 2017 when the Canadian photographer Kevin Frayer captured a photo of him crying as he climbed an aid truck in Bangladesh. Today, from the Rohingya refugee camps of south-east Bangladesh, Khan is the one on the other side of the camera, taking photos to share the stories of his community. Khan, who is deaf and mute, has found that he can speak through his photography.
“I can’t speak but my photos do,” Khan said through an interpreter. “I take pictures of the elderly – how they spend their days – and of how we suffer in our daily lives here.”
Climate check: Deploying geothermal energy at scale
Geothermal energy is finally having its moment in the US. A recent $74m investment by the Biden administration, combined with new techniques and the pressing need to secure continuous clean power, means that geothermal capacity could increase 20-fold by 2050, generating 10% of the US’s electricity.
“While this modelling is preliminary, our findings suggest an enormous opportunity to unlock vast amounts of clean energy beneath our feet,” said Terra Rogers, the director for superhot rock energy at Clean Air Task Force.
Last Thing: The 105-year-old and the solar eclipse
Laverne Biser, 105, has traveled to several US states and a handful of foreign countries to watch more than a dozen solar eclipses. The 8 April eclipse, slated to pass over his home in Fort Worth, Texas, could be his last one. “It’s something beautiful to see,” he said. “You’ll say: ‘Oh … I want to see more of these.’”
Sign up
First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.
Get in touch
If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com
