Anadolu Agency’s Morning Briefing - Jan. 17, 2023

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

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit the Izu-Ogasawara Islands south of the capital Tokyo, Japan around 0449GMT.

Maritime traffic in the Istanbul Strait has been suspended after a cargo ship ran aground Monday.

Japan and India kicked off their first-ever joint air drills Monday amid attempts to counter China’s expanding economic and military influence in the wider Asia-Pacific region.

The death toll from a Russian missile strike on an apartment building in eastern Ukraine's city of Dnipro early Saturday rose to 35, local authorities said Monday.

German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht resigned Monday following a series of fiascos and sharp policy turns that increased pressure on the government.

The head of the Greek army allegedly used illicit funds to buy a house in the country's capital Athens, according to local media reports Monday.

Italy's most-wanted mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro was arrested in Sicily on Monday morning after about three decades on the run, Italian police said.

Ukraine's premier announced Monday that his country signed a memorandum of understanding with the EU to provide €18 billion ($19.4 billion) in macro-financial assistance.

Afghan families have called for Prince Harry to be put on trial after he admitted to killing 25 people during his time fighting in Afghanistan for the UK military.

The US should take care to keep its relations between Ankara and Athens balanced, Türkiye's foreign minister said.

Teachers in Portugal began an 18-day strike Monday in Lisbon, demanding better working conditions from the Education Ministry.

The first €3 billion (about $3.25 billion) tranche of an €18 billion macro-financial aid package that the EU earmarked for Ukraine last month will be disbursed Tuesday, the bloc announced.

Rescuers on Monday discovered the black boxes of the ill-fated Nepal plane which crashed before landing in Pokhara a day earlier with 68 passengers and four crew members on board.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has called on the allies to send more heavy armored weapons to Ukraine amid intensified fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

The Israeli army demolished 18 Palestinian-owned structures north of occupied East Jerusalem on Monday.

Climate activists from the Debt for Climate group blocked the airport in Altenrhein in the Swiss canton of St. Gallen on Monday morning. Police are also on the scene.

Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida, known around the world as an icon of Italy's renaissance after World War II, died Monday at the age of 95.

The top court in London granted an appeal to a charity which challenged the court’s decision that the government’s plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda while their status is decided are lawful in broad principle.

Suspected terrorists abducted some 50 women in northern Burkina Faso’s Sahel region last week, authorities confirmed Monday.

The Turkish and Russian presidents discussed steps Monday to start making flour in Türkiye out of grain from Russia to send to Africa.

The Israeli army detained a foreign activist Monday from the Dheisheh refugee camp in the city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank. The official Wafa news agency identified the activist as Italian named Stefania in her fifties.

Togo's decision to withdraw recognition of Kosovo's independence is final, said the nation's Foreign Minister Robert Dussey on Monday.

At least 13 companies in Europe, Asia and North America have been supplying raw materials and technology to the Myanmar junta to manufacture weapons despite Western-led sanctions, said a new report.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned on Monday a Russian missile strike on a Ukrainian apartment complex over the weekend that killed dozens of civilians and injured scores more.

Constantine II, the former and last king of Greece, was buried as a private citizen on Monday.

Nearly 12,000 people held a march Monday in the French city of Strasbourg to show solidarity with anti-government protesters in Iran.

US President Joe Biden joined civil rights leaders on Monday as the nation commemorated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., with the commander-in-chief pointing to the civil rights champion as a touchstone for the nation.

At least eight people were injured in a shooting at an event Monday to commemorate civil rights champion Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the US state of Florida, according to media reports.