Middle East & North Africa

DUBAI, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Iran on Tuesday revealed an underground air force base, called "Eagle 44" and the first of its kind large enough to house fighter jets, the official IRNA news agency said.

The "Eagle 44" base is capable of storing and operating fighter jets and drones, IRNA said. The report did not elaborate on the location of the base.

IRNA said it was one of the country's most important air force bases, built deep underground, housing fighters equipped with long-range cruise missiles.

ANKARA, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared Tuesday a three-month state of emergency in 10 provinces of Türkiye hit by massive quakes.

The decision is taken in order to ensure that search and rescue activities and subsequent studies can be carried out quickly, he said at a press conference.

Death tolls from Monday's powerful earthquakes in southern Türkiye rose to 3,549, Erdogan added.

A total of 53,317 search and rescue staff and support personnel are currently working in the earthquake zones, according to the president.

ADANA, Turkey (AP) — Rescuers raced Tuesday to find survivors in the rubble of thousands of buildings brought down by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake and multiple aftershocks that struck eastern Turkey and neighboring Syria, with the discovery of more bodies raising the death toll to more than 5,000.

06 Feb 2023; MEMO: Turkiye has experienced the "biggest disaster" in the last century after the 1939 Erzincan earthquake, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after a strong earthquake hit southern provinces on Monday morning, claiming the lives of at least 912 people, Anadolu News Agency reports.

"Tonight at 04:17, we were shaken by the biggest disaster since the 1939 Erzincan earthquake that we underwent in the last century," Erdogan said in the capital, Ankara.

06 Feb 2023; MEMO: Saudi Arabia has attracted more than $9 billion in investments in future technologies, including by US giants Microsoft and Oracle Corp, which are building cloud regions in the Kingdom, a government minister said on Monday, Reuters reports.

06 Feb 2023; MEMO: Arab countries, on Monday, dispatched rescue teams to Turkiye following a deadly earthquake that killed hundreds and injured thousands, Anadolu News Agency reports.

A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck south-eastern Turkiye early Monday, killing at least 1,498 people and injuring 7,634 others, according to the country's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).

07 Feb 2023; MEMO: A Syrian official source has categorically denied Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claims that Damascus has requested earthquake relief aid from Tel Aviv, Al-Watan newspaper reported.

07 Feb 2023; MEMO: Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to shower 50 missiles on Gaza in response to each missile fired from the Strip toward Israel.

According to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Ben-Gvir said the Israeli response to Palestinian resistance attacks must be comprehensive.

He said that he hopes that the government will implement his vision of responding to Hamas rockets, adding that he is optimistic and believes this will materialise.

07 Feb 2023; MEMO: Morocco has launched renewable energy projects worth 20 billion dirhams ($1.95 billion) in the disputed Western Sahara region, Anadolu reported the Moroccan Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Dr. Leila Benali, saying yesterday.

07 Feb 2023; MEMO: The Israeli occupation authorities decided on Monday to postpone the demolition of a Palestinian building which is home to 100 families in occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli media have reported. The building was scheduled by the Israelis to be demolished today.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the building was issued a demolition order in 2015. The implementation of the order has been postponed several times.