Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing

ANKARA

Anadolu Agency is here with a rundown of the latest developments around the world.

At least 53 people were declared dead on Friday after a building collapsed last week in China.

After living and working in space for six months, NASA's SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts returned to Earth on Friday.

The Olympic Council of Asia confirmed on Friday the 19th Asian Games, which were scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, China, have been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition said on Friday that a plane carrying Houthi prisoners took off from Saudi Arabia to Yemen.

Russia has no intentions to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, the deputy spokesman of the country's Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the rhetoric by Poland's politicians against Russia "openly hostile”.

The Russian air defense systems downed Ukraine's two fighter jets last night, the country's Defense Ministry said on Friday.

Nearly 500 more civilians were evacuated from Ukraine's Azovstal steel plant and Mariupol city, according to presidential sources on Friday.

Two municipal councilors in Brussels have proposed to change the names of streets associated with Russia as a protest against its war on Ukraine, local media reported on Friday.

Charter flights carrying the presidents of Turkiye and Azerbaijan will land at Turkiye's Rize-Artvin Airport this month -- marking the first landing at the facility.

- ‘End dependency on Russian gas’

Europe should end its dependence on Russian gas, European Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.

Britain’s governing Conservative Party lost support in local elections held Thursday, but the main opposition Labour Party failed to make significant gains at their expense, as votes continued to be counted on Friday.

EU sanctions against Russia opened a new chapter in the European history when economic power battled a military force, the European Commission president said on Friday.

The central Madrid neighborhood of Salamanca was rocked on Friday by an explosion that has left more than a dozen people injured.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday spoke via video conference with the UK-based think tank Chatham House and accused Moscow of torturing the civilian population of Ukraine's southeastern Mariupol city but also insisted that not all bridges with Russia were burned.

Ukraine is facing "a child protection crisis of extraordinary proportions" which may not have been seen before, a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) official said on Friday.

Russia and Ukraine have conducted another prisoner exchange and 41 people, including 28 military members, were released, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said on Friday.

Oil giant Shell said on Friday it will halt operations of fuel stations in Russia as it withdraws from the country over the Ukraine war.

Scottish National Party (SNP) remains the biggest party in Scotland as all votes have been counted in the local council elections held on Thursday.

-Howitzers in Ukraine

Turkiye registered 1,743 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, according to official data released on Friday.

Germany will send seven howitzer artillery systems to Ukraine to help the country defend itself against Russia, the German Defense Ministry confirmed on Friday.

The "vast majority" of the 90 howitzer artillery weapons have successfully arrived in Ukraine, the Pentagon announced on Friday.

The UN Security Council spoke for the first time in a unified voice on Ukraine since Russia began its war over two months ago, voicing support on Friday for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' efforts to broker peace.

A strong explosion occurred on Friday at the Saratoga Hotel in the Cuban capital of Havana, causing serious damage to the hotel and resulting in multiple casualties, the Cuban government reported.

Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein is on course to win the most seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly after securing 29% of the first preference votes in Thursday’s election.

Nearly 70 vessels are stuck at Ukrainian ports, with six foreign-flagged ships blocked in Mariupol, Ukrainian officials said on Friday.