The Daily News Briefing in Podcasts

On Monday, a giant 7.8-magnitude earthquake and an aftershock almost as big shook the earth in southern Turkey. The quakes sent ripples through neighboring countries, but the area along the Syrian-Turkish border was hit particularly hard.

Thousands of people have been killed, and dozens of cities have been gutted.

We hear from witnesses on the ground about what happened when the devastating tremors hit.

Guest: Ben Hubbard, the Istanbul bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• The initial earthquake struck before dawn, shattering lives in a region already rocked by war, a refugee crisis and economic distress.
• In northwestern Syria, nearly three million people displaced by the country’s civil war were already living in precarious conditions.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

A 7.8-magnitude quake has struck Turkey and Syria, killing at least 2,600 people and razing entire neighbourhoods. Experts say it could not have happened at a worse time. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus

President Biden will outline his goals for the next year at Tuesday’s State of the Union address. Today on Post Reports, we look at how the White House has deployed Vice President Harris over the past two years. 

Read more:

On Tuesday, President Biden will deliver the State of the Union address.  While the 2024 election is more than a year away, this moment has prompted questions from Democrats about future leaders of the Democratic party.

Vice President Harris has long been considered to be Biden’s successor. But is she up to winning the top job? Today on the show, White House reporter Cleve R. Wootson Jr. breaks down what Harris has accomplished in her time as vice president, the criticism she faces, and how Democrats are thinking about her future in the party. 

The balloon crisis is blown up. Politico’s Alex Ward deflates it for us.

This episode was produced by Amanda Lewellyn, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Miles Bryan, engineered by Paul Robert Mounsey and Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram.

Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained

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