Taliban appeal for aid as Afghanistan earthquake death toll rises to 900 | First Thing

Rescuers search into night for people trapped under debris of mud and stone homes. Plus, how clanker' became a slur for robots

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Good morning.

The Taliban has called for international aid as Afghanistan reels from an earthquake that killed more than 900 people and left thousands injured.

What kind of earthquake was it? The quake, which struck at about midnight, was a magnitude 6.0 - but it was also a shallow earthquake, taking place just six miles beneath the Earth's surface, making it particularly destructive.

What did the Taliban say? Sharafat Zaman, a spokesperson for the health ministry in Kabul, called for international aid. We need it because here lots of people lost their lives and houses," he said.

What's the most controversial part of the plan? The 38-page plan suggests what it calls temporary relocation of all of Gaza's more than 2 million population" - a proposal that would amount to ethnic cleansing, potentially a genocidal act.