Anadolu Agency’s Morning Briefing - Feb. 28, 2023

ANKARA (AA) - Anadolu Agency is here with a rundown of the latest developments around the world.

The death toll from the Feb. 6 earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye stands at over 44,300 as relief efforts continue to assist people affected by the quakes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said there will be no change in the plan to build Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced that he signed decrees imposing further sanctions on Russia after the EU adopted its 10th sanctions package against Moscow last Friday.

Türkiye reminded Sweden and Finland of their pledges for their NATO accession bids, saying it is impossible to approve Sweden's bid "without seeing steps taken."

Japan said it will end the mandatory requirement of COVID-19 tests for travelers arriving in the country from China.

A US maritime patrol and reconnaissance airplane transited the Taiwan Strait early Monday.

Gunmen killed at least four miners and injured three others in southwest Pakistan on Monday, officials and local media reported.

Italy's center-left Democratic Party (PD) chose 37-year-old Elly Schlein as its new leader.

At least one person was killed after a magnitude 5.6 earthquake jolted Türkiye’s eastern Malatya province, weeks after two massive tremors shook the region, according to the country's disaster management agency.

More than half of all trains scheduled to run in Portugal were canceled as workers began a four-day strike.

The Kremlin said it is paying close attention to China's 12-point peace plan for the Russia-Ukraine war which Beijing released last Friday.

Hailing the support and solidarity Egypt displayed immediately after deadly earthquakes shook southern Türkiye earlier this month, the Turkish foreign minister said the two countries were "opening a new chapter in relations."

At least two Pakistan Army troops and as many suspected terrorists were killed in an armed clash in northwestern Pakistan, the military said.

Acts of violence against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank are “unacceptable,” the French Foreign Ministry said.

Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir called Monday for the resumption of the assassination policy of Palestinian faction leaders.

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised not to allow major changes to the fabric of the country's southern regions amid efforts to rebuild from the devastation caused by twin earthquakes earlier this month.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and dozens of activists – including members of the indigenous Sami community – blocked the entrance of the Norwegian Energy Ministry, protesting the wind turbines built on land used by the minority group.

Flooding triggered by Tropical Cyclone Freddy has washed away bodies from a cemetery near Mozambique’s capital Maputo, according to local media reports.

Congolese M23 rebels seized the strategic mining town of Rubaya in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern North Kivu province Sunday, residents and a security mapping monitor said.

The UK and the European Union struck a new deal Monday on the Northern Ireland Protocol, coming to an agreement after more than a year of disputes over post-Brexit trade arrangements, government sources told local media.

More than 21 million people – two in three Yemeni children, women and men – need assistance and protection, the UN chief said.

Visiting Ukraine's capital Kyiv on Monday, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced an additional $1.2 billion in aid for the war-torn country.

The record devaluation of Iran's currency, the rial, in recent weeks has prompted the judiciary to step in after President Ebrahim Raisi blamed "internal and external" forces for the turbulence.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki accused international actors of using their influence to shield Israel from accountability.

The White House defended a nascent troubled accord to restore calm in Israel and Palestine as violence continues to rage and as Israeli leaders dispute their commitments under the agreement.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep concern over the recent violence in the West Bank, his spokesperson said.

The US House of Representatives passed a resolution mourning the loss of the life in the earthquakes that hit Türkiye and Syria and condemning Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime for blocking UN aid through its border.