Also, China's balloon spin and Russia's mounting losses.
Good morning. We're covering the rising death toll from the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, and China's efforts to play down the balloon incident. |
 | | Rescue workers saved a 3-year-old girl from a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Emin Ozmen for The New York Times |
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Rescuers race against time |
Personal account: Garo Paylan, a member of the Turkish parliament from Diyarbakir, one of the worst-affected cities, has lost three of his relatives in the quake. "People are trapped under the rubble," he told "The Daily." "We were hearing from them, but nowadays, we don't hear from them anymore." |
Getting aid to Syria: The only border crossing with Turkey approved by the U.N. for transporting international aid into Syria is closed because of earthquake damage. The quake zone also includes both government- and opposition-controlled lands, which complicates relief efforts. Sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad's government mean the country cannot receive direct aid from many countries. |
Turkish politics: The state of emergency could include curfews and travel bans. Some fear that Erdogan could use the powers to repress dissent as he fights for his political future just months before an election in May. |
Tectonic plates: The earthquake and large aftershock were among more than 70 large quakes to hit the region since 1900. Turkey's two main fault zones make it one of the most seismically active regions in the world. |
 | | China criticized the U.S. for saying it had no plans to return the balloon's parts.Andy Wong/Associated Press |
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Chinese propaganda targets the balloon |
Chinese censors are limiting news coverage and curating online conversation to ensure that the balloon doesn't become a domestic headache as well as an international one. Still, jokes about the suspected spy balloon have been making the rounds on social media. |
The government's apparent acceptance of humorous responses could be an effort to allow an outlet for nationalist feeling, said Chong Ja Ian, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore. |
"It's probably an effort to mollify domestic sentiment," he said, "but also trying not to let things blow out of control." State media has largely avoided covering the saga, other than carrying the foreign ministry's statements. |
In the U.S.: At least 11 states are considering bills that would bar Chinese citizens and companies from buying land. Governor Greg Abbott of Texas has announced that he would sign a broad ban on any real estate or land purchases in his state by Chinese entities. |
 | | Ukrainian tanks in a village near the eastern front on Sunday.Lynsey Addario for The New York Times |
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Can Russia sustain an offensive? |
Russia is relying on masses of troops to make slow gains in its push to capture more of eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials say. But it remains unclear whether Moscow can mobilize enough forces to sustain a prolonged offensive and change the course of the war. |
Russia is seeking to overrun Ukrainian positions in the east by pouring more conscripts into the battle, especially around Bakhmut. That has allowed it to make incremental gains, but at a cost of hundreds of dead and wounded soldiers each day, according to U.S. officials. |
Ukraine's military intelligence has warned that Russia plans to mobilize as many as half a million more soldiers to sustain its campaign, but Western officials question whether President Vladimir Putin can find hundreds of thousands more soldiers without triggering a greater domestic backlash. |
The Kremlin is already struggling to train and arm the soldiers it does have, military analysts said. British intelligence said that Russia was aiming to capture the rest of the Donetsk region but had "only managed to gain several hundred meters of territory per week," because of a lack of munitions and maneuver units. |
The energy war: Russia has outmaneuvered Western curbs on its oil revenue by redirecting exports to Asia. But there are signs that new embargoes are beginning to have an impact on energy earnings. |
 | | An Indian boy with cystic fibrosis would be eligible for the drug on his 6th birthday if he lived in the U.S.Atul Loke for The New York Times |
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- Strikes in France again snarled public transit as protesters marched for a third day against President Emmanuel Macron's plan to raise the retirement age by two years.
- A London police officer was sentenced to life in prison for rape and sexual abuse against 12 women.
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 | | David Solomon's remixes have millions of streams on Spotify.Sarah Maxwell |
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David Solomon, the chief executive of Goldman Sachs, has been spinning records for years as an amateur D.J., a hobby that has taken him from tiki bars in the Bahamas to clubs in downtown Manhattan. |
 | | Notations help President Biden navigate his stutter during speeches.Doug Mills/The New York Times |
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President Biden will deliver one of the biggest speeches of his presidency in the coming hours. Preparations for the State of the Union address began weeks ago to help him navigate his stutter. |
The president has met with a close group of aides at the White House and has read drafts aloud from top to bottom. He practiced in front of teleprompters, making sure the language was relatable and clear. Biden has noted to a former aide that one of the hardest things for a stutterer to do is speak while standing up. |
He also uses a system of annotating his speech with lines and dashes, to remind himself to take a breath or help him get through a tough transition. It can look like he's marking up a piece of music. |
The speech will begin at 9 p.m. Eastern time (that's 10 a.m. in Hong Kong). Here's a preview. |
 | | Mark Weinberg for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Yossy Arefi. |
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Colette is considered by some to be the greatest French author of the early 20th century. If you haven't read her work, here's where to start. |
That's it for today's briefing. See you next time. — Amelia and Mariah |
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