CBC reporter Briar Stewart returns to Turkey after covering the aftermath of February's devastating earthquake in Antakya, where she witnessed the rescue of a woman from the rubble firsthand. Three months on, Özlem Ayna's body is beginning to heal. But healing the mental scars from the disaster may prove more challenging.

İstanbul

Returning to Turkey after devastating earthquakes

It's been three months since we met Ozlemina. Hi, hello, good to see you. She greets us with a warm smile. You look good, you look well. But it quickly becomes clear that underneath she's struggling. What are your hopes then for the future? Sometimes, there is not at all. I mean, what I experienced in these three months is a very heavy pain. On February 6th, her life, like so many others, was shattered in the middle of the night by a violent earthquake. Underneath all of this, she was trapped for four and a half days. Pinned between slabs of concrete that crashed down through her first floor apartment. We watched and so did many Canadians who saw her rescue unfold on their screens. Rescue so close at hand. She's been in this situation, as you say, for five days. Even before we knew her name, it was right in front of us. Written on her keepsake box that lay among the slabs of concrete and twisted rebar. It's like no other call I've been on. Yeah, me neither. It's a very special moment. A search and rescue team from Burnaby, B.C. helped the local crews try and find a way to free her. She can talk. She's very, very good. She can't move out. She can't move past the bed. After hours of risky, delicate work, this was the moment they were able to free her. Here she comes down here. Again, just an incredible moment. She was rushed to the hospital and we met her two days later. How are you? Doctor said Ayna's kidneys were failing because she was severely dehydrated from being without water for days. She had cuts and bruises, but her spirit was strong. Can you tell me about the moment you heard the rescuers looking for you? It was incredible. He told me to hold his hand. So I squeezed his hand so hard. He told me, calm down, we will save you. Do you know anything more about the other people in your building? Have you been in touch with any of them? Do you know anything more about how many people survived? I'm in touch with one of my neighbours who lost his wife and two children. The family living next door, they're all gone. They're all dead. There are only three people rescued from the first three floors. This was the moment rescuers started to pry her out. Her head was wedged between the rubble. And underneath these bandages, wounds that doctors initially thought were superficial but proved to be much deeper. She needed several surgeries and skin grafts. A deep cut remains on her arm. And then there are the emotional wounds. It's good that I had been rescued under the rubble after five days. Sometimes I feel so exhausted. I feel so indifferent. Even those clothes you see on me are not mine. I have lost everything, my health, my mental health in just one minute. I feel lost. This visit was the second time she's left the hospital since the earthquake. During her first outing, she suffered a panic attack. I recently went to a store because I don't have a lot of clothes. Nothing. I walked into the change room to try them on but I couldn't. I was so bad at the time. Sometimes, especially indoors, I feel like I can't breathe. There is a feeling of choking. Ayna has been seeing a psychiatrist and is on an antidepressant but it makes her sick. It's hard to find the words to offer comfort. But we wanted to deliver some messages from Canada including a care package from the Burnaby Search and Rescue Team. We admire your strength and resilience, part of the message reads. Despite her pain, she told us that she wanted to return to what was her home for a private visit. I'm definitely thinking about going to Adyaman and facing the truth. I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, it's the city that I worked for nine years and I have memories. At the same time, it's the city that I had the worst time of my life. This is what her block looks like now. Crews are clearing the rubble away. But part of her building remains along with signs of the lives that were lived there. So Briar, you're back in London. Oslem was returning to what's left of her home. How did she handle that? Well, it was a very traumatic visit for her, Ian, and in fact, she went back to her community of Adyaman because she wanted to vote in the elections. But she also wanted to see the damage for herself, really, and say goodbye because she has no plans on going back there. She worked there as a teacher for several years, but she's been reassigned to a new school in the fall. And she's really looking forward to that because she hopes it will be somewhat of a fresh start for her. And I think it's important to remember that she is just one individual. We know that there are three million people that have been displaced by the earthquakes, and they're all dealing with various levels of trauma. All right. Thank you very much, Briar.

A Russian missile attack on an educational institution in a popular seafront park in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa killed at least five people and injured 32, local officials said. Odesa has been a frequent target of Russian missile and drone attacks, particular port infrastructure.

Odesa

Ukraine Invasion

Russian missile attack kills five in Ukraine's Odesa

Scotland's leader Humza Yousaf resigned, further opening the door to the UK opposition Labour Party regaining ground in its former Scottish heartlands during a national election expected to be held later this year.

Edinburgh

Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf quits

Budget airline Bonza has gone into voluntary administration cancelling flights, leaving thousands of passengers stranded. The low-cost carrier only began flying last year.

Sunshine Coast

Budget airline Bonza goes into administration causing chaos

A 17-year-old girl charged with the stabbing murder of her 10-year-old sister in a suburb of Lake Macquarie in New South Wales will remain in custody.

Lake Macquarie

Teenager faces court over murder of 10-year-old sister

A major investigation is continuing after a 32-year-old man was arrested over the death of a 19-year-old woman. The woman's bod was found at a unit on Hardy St, North Bondi.

Bondi

Man arrested after woman found dead in Bondi

Columbia University began suspending pro-Palestinian activists who refused to dismantle a tent encampment on its New York City campus after the Ivy League school declared a stalemate in talks seeking to end the polarizing protest.

New York

Columbia University suspends pro-Palestinian protesters

The debris from a missile that landed in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Jan. 2 was from a North Korean Hwasong-11 series ballistic missile, United Nations sanctions monitors told a Security Council committee in a report seen by Reuters on Monday (April 29).

Kharkiv

U.N. experts say North Korea missile landed in Kharkiv

Columbia University's president said that talks with pro-Palestinian activists over a protest encampment on the Ivy League campus in New York City had reached an impasse and urged demonstrators to voluntarily disperse or face suspension.

Protesters defy deadline to leave Columbia encampment

Spain's Prime Minister said he has decided to stay in office after days of publicly weighing his future, generating relief amongst leftist allies, exasperation among the public and ridicule from his opponents. Sanchez said last week that he was retreating from public duty to decide whether to quit.

Madrid

Pedro Sanchez stays on as Spain's prime minister

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he is hopeful Hamas will accept an “extraordinarily generous” offer, as U.K. Foreign Minister David Cameron says it will include a 40-day ceasefire. But the sticking points remain: Israelis want a truce while Hamas demands a cessation of all hostilities.

Riyadh

Israel-Gaza War

U.S., U.K. urge Hamas to accept Israeli truce proposal

G7 environment ministers have gathered in Turin for two days of talks, as hundreds of protesters demonstrated in the city, some burning photos of the G7 leaders who they accuse of failing future generations over the climate crisis.

Turin

Climate Crisis

Protesters call for climate action ahead of G7 meeting in Turin

French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne is in the Lebanese capital Beirut for talks aimed at easing tensions between Hezbollah and Israel. After meeting Lebanon’s influential Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah, and the head of the Lebanese army, Joseph Aoun, Sejourne said there had been “a lot of progress” over the French proposals.

Beirut

French FM says ‘a lot of progress’ in Lebanon talks

At least four people are dead, including an infant, after a series of tornadoes swept across Oklahoma. The weather system is threatening the region with more twisters, heavy rain and large hail in a band stretching from Missouri to Texas.

Sulphur

At least four dead in Oklahoma tornadoes

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she would stand in upcoming European Parliament elections, a move apparently calculated to boost her far-right party, although she would be forced to resign immediately under EU rules.

Pescara

Italian far-right PM Meloni says will stand in EU elections

At least four people died, including a four-month-old baby, in Oklahoma this weekend, after dozens of twisters swept the U.S. Southern Plains. The White House said, President Joe Biden has pledged federal support for Oklahoma as well as other states hit by severe storms.

Oklahoma

Deadly tornadoes rip through Oklahoma

The Sydney Bishop targeted in an alleged terror-related attack a fortnight ago has made a surprise appearance before his congregation in Western Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel saying he forgives his attacker, who is facing terrorism charges.

Wakeley

Sydney bishop returns to pulpit after stabbing

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been slammed by protest leaders for his involvement in a protest against gendered violence in Canberra at the weekend. Organisers hitting out at the Labor leader on social media, calling him a 'liar'.

Canberra

Protest leaders hit out at Prime Minister over power 'abuse'

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and "reiterated his clear position" on a possible invasion of the Gaza border city of Rafah, the White House said.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Biden tells Netanyahu U.S. doesn't support Rafah assault

Ukraine's top general says his troops have been forced to retreat as fighting on the country's eastern front intensified. Kyiv's forces have fallen back to new positions in at least three places along the front, west of the Donetsk region.

Donetsk

Ukraine troops retreating on eastern front

Tesla CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing on an unannounced visit, to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of Full Self-Driving software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

Shanghai

Elon Musk makes surprise visit to China

Hamas's armed wing released video of two men held hostage in Gaza who are seen alive and urging Israeli authorities to strike a deal for the release of all the remaining captives.

Rafah

Hamas releases video of two Israeli hostages

Defence Minister Richard Marles has revealed a fresh aid package to support Ukraine in its war with Russia, including $30 million in funding for drones. It marks more than one billion dollars in funding from Australia since the war began.

Lviv

Australia announces $100m in Ukraine aid

Tens of thousands of people have marched across the country calling for an end to violence against women. The Prime Minister addressed the crowd in Canberra where he called the issue a 'national crisis'.

Prime Minister joins rally calling for end to gendered violence

Israeli protesters have shut down streets in Tel Aviv demanding the release of hostages and the political end of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Anger has been growing inside Israel as the Gaza war drags on for more than 200 days.

Thousands block Tel Aviv streets in protest

After weeks of delays, negotiations, and distractions, Israel appears to be gearing up for its ground invasion in southern Gaza. Dozens of Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles have been seen near Rafah, Gaza’s last 'safe zone'.

Israel 'gearing up' for Rafah ground offensive

Ohio police released video of a Black man who died at a local hospital after repeatedly telling officers "I can't breathe" as they pinned him to the floor of a bar and handcuffed him, evoking memories of the killing of George Floyd in 2020.

Canton

'I can't breathe' man tells Ohio cops before death

Witnesses in Gaza reported fresh Israeli strikes overnight around Rafah. It comes as Hamas says it is considering an Israeli ceasefire proposal, after a delegation from Egypt arrived in Israel to resume stalled negotiations.

Sderot

Gaza hit by fresh strikes amid ceasefire talks

The US military has started building a large floating pier off Gaza's coast to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid, the defence department has said. Ships will deliver aid from Cyprus to the pier where it will be loaded onto trucks to transfer across Gaza.

Jerusalem

US begins building floating base to boost aid

King Charles will return to his public duties next week for the first time since his February cancer diagnosis, visiting a cancer treatment centre. There fears his Australian trip will be delayed, while he continues treatment for his own cancer battle.

Windsor

King Charles resuming public duties but Australian trip in limbo

Demonstrations have taken place across the country after a spate of domestic violence deaths, including Molly Ticehurst. Protestors held signs saying ‘no more’ calling for immediate action against male-inflicted violence.