The number of victims of earthquakes that occurred in early February in the south-east of Turkey has reached nearly 46 thousand people, the country’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said.
“So far, 45,968,000 people have died as a result of earthquakes, including 4,267 Syrians,” Anadolu Agency quoted him as saying.
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit Turkey on the night of February 6, followed by a series of echo pushes, one of which had a magnitude of 7.6. The earthquake also caused serious damage and casualties in neighboring Syria.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the country’s authorities are working hard to extend the Black Sea grain initiative, Reuters reported.
“We are working hard for the smooth implementation and further extension of the Black Sea grain deal,” Çavuşoğlu said, speaking at a UN conference in Qatar.
The Turkish diplomatic chief added that he discussed efforts to extend the “grain deal” with UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
On July 22, 2022 in Istanbul with the participation of the UN, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine signed documents to create a corridor for the export of grain from the three ports on Ukrainian territory – the Chernomorsk, Odessa and Yuzhny. At the end of February, it was reported that the volume of exports of Ukrainian food products within the framework of the grain deal exceeded 22 million.
The initiative expires on March 18 this year.
The next day in Ukraine is expected to be moderately cool weather, light snow in places, and icy roads.
According to the Ukrhydrometeocenter, on Monday, March 6, in the western and northern regions, there will be light snow (in some places during the day), icy spots on roads, and the rest of the territory without significant precipitation. Wind is southwest, west, 7-12 m/s.
The temperature at night is 1-6°C cold, during the day 1-6°C, in the south up to 9°C.
Intermittent snowfall in Kiev on Monday. The wind is southwest, 7-12 m/s. The temperature at night is 2-4° frost, while during the day it may be 2-4° warm.
According to the Central Geophysical Observatory. The highest daytime temperature of March 6 in Kiev (17.4°) was in 1995, the lowest at night (-16.7°) in 1964.
Tuesday night, March 7, precipitation is light (moderate in Transcarpathia and the Carpathians) in the western regions and in Ukraine, except in the south, during the day.
Wind is southwest, 5-10 m/s. The temperature at night is 1-6°C frost, during the day 2-7°C; at night about 0°C in the south and Transcarpathian region, daytime 6-11°C in Odessa and the Crimea, up to 15°C.
In Kiev, on Tuesday, there are no precipitation at night, while during the day in some places there are light precipitation, mostly in the form of rain. The wind is south-west, 5-10 m/s. The temperature at night is 1-3° frost, while during the day it is about 5° warm.
Trade between the European Union and Russia has fallen significantly since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, especially noticeably in recent months, the EU statistics office (Eurostat) reported Friday.
Russia’s share of EU imports fell to 4.3 percent from 9.5 percent between February and December 2022, according to the statistical data. During the same period, Russia’s share of EU exports fell to 2 percent from 4 percent.
The EU’s trade deficit with Russia peaked at €18.2 billion in March 2022 and then gradually declined to €6.0 billion in December 2022. The value of imports from Russia during this period fell 53% to €10.3 billion from €21.8 billion.
Eurostat notes that “as Russia gradually replaced other trading partners, its share of EU imports fell across six key commodities. Among them, the largest drop was recorded for coal (to 22% in 2022 from 45% a year earlier), natural gas (to 21% from 36%), fertilizers (to 22% from 29%), iron and steel (to 10% from 16%).
Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov on Friday signed an order approving the regulations on the Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.
“The newly established consultative and advisory body, after holding an open nationwide vote for candidates on the platform of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and after determining the winners who will join the anti-corruption council, should ensure transparent activities of the Ministry of Defense and civilian control. Among other things, the list of tasks of the council includes analysis of corruption risks, prevention and counteraction to corruption, establishing interaction of the Ministry of Defense with public associations and other civil society institutions,” the website of the Ministry of Defense said on Saturday.
The Anti-Corruption Council is created on the basis of an open and transparent competition of 15 members for a one year term. Its activity provides for public participation in the formation of anti-corruption measures in the Defense Ministry of Ukraine. The composition of the council is approved based on the results of the competition. Candidates for participation can be nominated by public associations, state registration of which took place at least two years before the day of announcement of the competition and the statutory activity of which is related to prevention and counteraction to corruption.
“The Public Anti-Corruption Council is endowed with an exhaustive list of tools, which are sufficient to exclude any corrupt practices. It can create expert groups, involve specialists, and the regulation of the council’s activity provides for a wide range of actions. I am sure that the anti-corruption council will not only improve the work within the ministry, but also strengthen the foundation of public trust. Both the former and the latter are extremely important moments for achieving Ukraine’s main strategic goal – to win the war,” Reznikov said.
Newly elected Czech President Petr Pavel plans to visit neighboring countries in the first 100 days, a visit to Ukraine is planned for April, the Czech publication Ceske Noviny reported.
According to the newspaper, Paul intends to visit all neighboring countries within 100 days after his election as head of state. Also in the plans for April includes a visit to Ukraine.
The media noted that Pavel showed interest in visiting Ukraine soon after he was elected the new president of the Czech Republic. He said that he would like to visit Kiev together with Slovak President Zuzana Chaputova. In late January, Pavel was invited by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenski, who in a phone conversation thanked Pavel for his support of Ukraine. Pavel asked the Ukrainian side about the date of the visit in February.
It is noted that with his trips abroad Paul wants to show that the Czech Republic has returned to an active approach in foreign policy at the presidential level. “I don’t expect to have to go anywhere else during this period, because I really consider our neighborhood a priority,” Ceske Noviny quoted Pavel as saying.
