February 21, 2023

*) New deadly earthquakes hit Türkiye's Hatay province At least three people have been killed and 213 others wounded after another earthquake jolted Türkiye’s southern Hatay province, the country’s interior minister said. Suleyman Soylu said at a news briefing on Monday evening that search and rescue efforts are under way at three sites. Turkish disaster ma nagement agency AFAD said the magnitude 6.4 earthquake took place at around 8:04 pm local time (1704GMT) in Hatay’s Defne district. It was followed by a magnitude 5.8 earthquake three minutes later, with the epicentre in Hatay’s Samandag district. *) US to continue its 'full support' after two more quakes hit Türkiye The US will continue to offer its full support after two more earthquakes jolted Türkiye’s southernmost province of Hatay, the White House has said. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan wrote on Twitter that the US is “deeply concerned by the news of earthquakes impacting areas already devastated in Türkiye and Syria.” It came as magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes centred in Kahramanmaras struck 10 other provinces on February 6, killing at least 41,000 people in Türkiye and another 5,800 in Syria. *) Erdogan: More than 1.68M quake-affected people provided shelter Türkiye has provided shelter to over 1.68 million people who were affected by the original twin earthquakes that jolted the country's southeast, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced. The construction of nearly 200,000 houses in quake-hit areas is also set to begin in March, Erdogan said during a briefing at the heavily affected Hatay province. The majority of the construction work will be focused on the Hatay, Kahramanmaras, and Malatya provinces, with over 40,000 houses to be built in each province. *) Biden announces more military aid for Ukraine during Kiev visit US President Joe Biden has promised increased arms deliveries for Ukraine during a surprise visit to Kiev. Biden met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shortly after arriving in the country's cap