UK raises almost $120m in Turkiye, Syria quake relief appeal

About 865,000 people are living in tents due to the disaster (AFP)
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Updated 23 February 2023
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UK raises almost $120m in Turkiye, Syria quake relief appeal

  • British Red Cross ‘has distributed 36m hot meals,’ says charity group CEO

London: Britons have raised almost $120 million in an appeal for aid to Turkiye and Syria following the recent deadly earthquakes, Metro newspaper reported on Thursday.

The funds have helped in search and rescue operations as well as in providing urgent food, water, clothing and accommodation to the affected.

“The British Red Cross through the Turkish Red Crescent has distributed 36 million hot meals including 31 million loaves of bread,” said Saleh Saeed, CEO of the Disasters Emergency Committee, which includes 15 UK charities.

“I think that just demonstrates the scale of the humanitarian operation, and people also need medical care.”

About 865,000 people are living in tents due to the disaster, while UN officials have warned that the death toll could exceed 50,000.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to move forward with “swift” rebuilding through an economic relief plan.


Russian mass strike on Ukraine a ‘test’ for Kyiv allies: Ukraine foreign minister

Updated 4 sec ago
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Russian mass strike on Ukraine a ‘test’ for Kyiv allies: Ukraine foreign minister

Kyiv, Ukraine: Ukraine said Friday that Russia’s overnight fatal drone and missile attack — including with the hypersonic Oreshnik missile — posed a threat to Europe and was a “test” for Kyiv’s allies.
“Such a strike close to (the) EU and NATO border is a grave threat to the security on the European continent and a test for the transatlantic community. We demand strong responses to Russia’s reckless actions,” Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga wrote on social media.
Moscow said it used the Oreshnik in response to a December drone strike on a residence of Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin.
Ukraine has denied it was behind that attack and US President Donald Trump, who is pushing the two sides to agree to a peace deal, said he did not believe the strike happened.
“It is absurd that Russia attempts to justify this strike with the fake ‘Putin residence attack’ that never happened,” Sybiga added in his statement, describing the Russian version of events as Putin’s “hallucinations.”
The attack with the Oreshnik missile appeared to target “infrastructure facilities” in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, close to the border with EU and NATO member Poland.