February 15, 2023

*) Rising toll makes quake deadliest in Türkiye's modern history Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that more than 35,000 people have died in Türkiye as a result of last week’s 7.7 magnitude earthquake and powerful aftershocks. This new toll makes the quakes the deadliest such disaster since the founding of the republic 100 years ago. The fatalities already surpassed those recorded from the massive Erzincan earthquake in 1939 that killed around 33,000 people. Erdogan also said 105,505 were injured as a result of the February 6 quake centred around Kahramanmaras province and its aftershocks. *) Russia has held at least 6,000 Ukrainian children for 're-education' Russia has held at least 6,000 Ukrainian children in sites across the country, whose primary purpose appears to be political re-education, according to a US-backed report. As part of a "large-scale systematic network”, Yale University researchers identified at least 43 camps and other facilities where Ukrainian children have been held. The children included those with parents or with so-called clear guardianship, those Russia deemed orphans and those whose custody was unclear or uncertain due to the war. In response, Russia's embassy to the United States said Russia accepted children who were forced to flee with their families from shelling in Ukraine. *) Palestinian teen killed in Israeli military raid in occupied West Bank A Palestinian teen has been killed during an Israeli military raid in a refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said. Tuesday's death was the latest in an almost year-long surge in Israeli military raids into occupied Palestinian territory along with increasingly discriminatory policies toward Palestinians. The official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, reported that during the raid local residents clashed with Israeli soldiers, who then shot at them. The Palestinian Health Ministry said that Mahmoud al Aydi, 17, died from a bullet wound to the head. *) US still in dark over flying