Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing – Jan. 3, 2023

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

Türkiye's exports hit an all-time high of $254.2 billion in 2022, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Monday, citing preliminary data.

Emphasizing Türkiye's desire for dialogue, peace and good-neighborly relations in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean seas, the Turkish defense minister said Athens tries to prevent and sabotage consultation and confidence-building measure talks with Ankara.

Ukrainian missile strikes killed at least 63 soldiers at a Russian deployment area in eastern Ukraine, Russia's Defense Ministry said.

Emperor Naruhito of Japan offered New Year greetings Monday, marking the first time in three years that he publicly engaged with visitors at the palace.

A new left-right coalition took charge in Denmark after intense negotiations that lasted 43 days after the last elections that gave a narrow majority to the Social Democratic party of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

The Israeli army carried out a missile strike on Damascus International Airport that killed at least four people, including two Syrian soldiers, according to local media.

Croatia adopted the euro and joined the EU's borderless zone, saying goodbye to its national currency, the kuna.

Venezuela and Colombia have decided that they will reopen the last stretch of their common border, which had remained closed for almost seven years due to a diplomatic dispute.

One-third of the world's economies are expected to go into recession this year, according to the IMF's managing director.

US President Joe Biden said that Washington is not discussing joint nuclear exercises with South Korea against North Korea’s threats.

Qatar on Monday required all travelers from China to present negative COVID-19 tests before entering the country.

New York has joined other US states by approving a bill allowing for the conversion of human bodies into compost after death.

Residents of the US state of California welcomed New Year's Day with panic due to an earthquake and flood disasters.

At least 20 people, mostly civilians, have been killed and around 30 wounded in clashes between protesters and security forces in Somaliland, according to hospital sources.

Eighty-five migrants have been rescued in international waters off Libya and are now on their way to the southern Italian city of Taranto, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said.

The head of the European Parliament has launched an urgent procedure to waive the immunity of two MEPs implicated in a corruption scandal at the request of Belgian judicial authorities, officials said.

The first openly transgender woman is set to be executed in the US unless she receives a pardon, the Associated Press reported Monday.