Main news of October 23

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* A powerful earthquake struck the city of Van in south-east Turkey, causing the collapse of a seven-storey building and trapping people under the rubble, the city mayor told NTV

*Libya's transitional government  declared national liberation

* The death toll from a powerful earthquake that rocked southeastern Turkey may reach up to 1,000 people, the country’s Kandilli Observatory said

* Former Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi died of a gunshot wound to the head, following the results of an autopsy completed by doctors, the CNN reported, referring to the chief pathologist

* EU leaders on Sunday agreed to change the bloc's governing treaty if necessary in the interests of economic convergence and recovery from the present Eurozone crisis, EU President Herman Van Rompuy said

* Tunisian voters went to the polls to vote in the country's first free democratic election, 10 months after the ouster of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali

* Syrian security forces raided villages and cities where residents have been on strike and shot dead two, as President Bashar al-Assad replaced the governors of two provinces that have seen sustained protests against his rule

* eif al-Islam, one of the sons of Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi who was killed by fighters of the National Transitional Council (NTC) near his home town of Sirte, vowed revenge for his father's death

* At least 31 people were killed and more than 100 injured after a wooden suspension bridge collapsed in east India, NDTV reported on Sunday, citing police sources

* The body of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi will be handed to his relatives in a deal reached with Libya's interim government

* Doctors on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s medical team have disputed a gloomy prognosis about his health made by his former surgeon

* German defunct satellite ROSAT has entered the atmosphere early on Sunday but there is still no data on where its debris could hit the Earth, the country’s DLR space agency reported