Turkey-Syria quake toll
The death toll from the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria has climbed to more than 16,000 as the search operation is still underway in the affected regions. According to official figures, more than 12,800 people have died in Turkey and over 3,060 have been confirmed dead in Syria. The death toll is expected to rise. A Syrian child has been pulled out alive from the rubble after two days. On Wednesday, a medical team found a baby alive in the Turkish province of Hatay. Another group of rescuers found four members of the same family alive under the wreckage. Rescue operations remain slow in many areas because of cold weather and a lack of necessary equipment despite the arrival of foreign teams in the two countries. Survivors in southern Turkey and northern Syria have spent a third night in the freezing cold.
Russia warning UK
Ukraine’s president says France and Germany have the opportunity to be game changers by delivering more weapons, including warplanes to Kiev to help it fight Russia. Zelensky also said that he intends to strengthen continental unity. He arrived in Paris for a dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. In a joint press conference after the meeting, Macron said Ukraine can count on France and its European partners to win the war against Russia. Macron added that Ukraine's Western allies want to lead the peace-building process alongside Kiev as an indispensable complement to the war. Meanwhile, the German Chancellor said Russia must not win the war. Earlier, Zelensky visited London, where he urged the British Prime Minister and other western governments to send fighter jets to Ukraine. However, Russia has warned the UK against any such move, saying it will have serious military and political consequences for the entire world. Western countries have scaled up their pledges of military aid for Ukraine this year. They have already announced their plans to equip Kiev with hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles as well as longer-range missiles, but have so far refused to deliver warplanes.
North Korea missiles
North Korea has displayed new intercontinental ballistic missiles during a massive parade to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the country’s armed forces. Images from state-run media showed the military rolling over a dozen ICBMs down the streets of Pyongyang, overseen by North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un. The parade also featured tactical and long-range cruise missiles as well as a new solid-fuel weapon, which the North has long sought to develop to help make its nukes harder to detect and destroy. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry has denounced the North's military parade, urging it to stop "illegal nuclear and missile development" and return to denuclearization talks. The North has continued its missile development program despite UN resolutions and sanctions. Pyongyang describes its nuclear and missile programs as deterrence against threats from the US and some of its regional allies.