Fresh magnitude 5 quake hits Turkey

Thursday evening at 6:53 p.m. local time with a depth of 9.76 km, was centered in the province's Defne district, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority.

earthquake jolts eastern Indonesia, no casualties reported

magnitude-6.4 quake on Tuesday.

On February 6, a magnitude

Ankara, Feb 24 (IANS) A magnitude 5 earthquake struck the southern Turkish province of Hatay bordering Syria, the country's disaster agency said. The quake, which occurred on

No new casualties were reported yet, Xinhua news agency reported.

Hatay was first hit by twin massive quakes on February 6, followed by another two on Tuesday night. The Defne district was the epicentre of the first

7.7 earthquake struck Turkey's southern province of Kahramanmaras at 4:17 a.m. local time, followed by a magnitude 7.6 one at 1:24 p.m. local time in the same province.

The recent quakes have killed more than 43,000 people and left tens of thousands homeless across 10 provinces of southern Turkey.

UN delegation in Gaza to defuse HamasIsraeli tension: Sources

The delegation, headed by UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, entered Gaza through the Israeli-controlled Erez Crossing in the northern tip of Gaza, the sources told Xinhua on condition of anonymity on Thursday.

they added.

The visit came hours after Israeli fighter jets bombed Gaza in response to the firing of six rockets toward southern Israel. Five of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome aerial defence systems and one fell in an open area, according to the Israeli military, Xinhua news agency reported.

Gaza, Feb 24 (IANS) A UN delegation arrived in the Gaza Strip to defuse the tension between Israel and Hamas, the ruler of the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian security sources said.

The UN delegation would discuss with the Hamas leaders the humanitarian developments in Gaza Strip and work to prevent the regional tension from turning into a major military escalation,

On Wednesday, an Israeli military raid in the West Bank city of Nablus killed 11 Palestinians and injured 102 others, aggravating the already tense ties between Israelis and Palestinians.

Sitharaman meets US Treasury Secretary, Japanese and Canadian Finance Ministers ahead of FMCBG meeting

Ministers and Central Bank Governors' (FMCBG) meeting. The FMCBG meeting will be held between February 24-25 in Bengaluru.

Sitharaman and Yellen discussed their perspectives on strengthening MDBs, global debt vulnerabilities, crypto assets and health.

during G20 Presidency. Later in the day, Sitharaman met Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, where both exchanged views on priorities under G20 Indian Presidency.

Jakarta, Feb 24 (IANS) A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia's eastern province of North Maluku on Friday morning, but did not cause casualties or damages, authorities said.

The earthquake occurred at 03:02 a.m. local time Friday (2002 GMT Thursday) with its epicenter located 133 km northwest of Morotai Island district and a depth of 112 km under the seabed, and did not trigger a tsunami, the country's meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency said.

The tremors of the earthquake were also felt in the nearby province of North Sulawesi, according to the agency. So far, the tremors of the quake did not cause damages on buildings or infrastructure facilities, said Abdul Muhari, spokesman of the National Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency as quoted by Xinhua news agency report. "There are no initial reports of damages or casualties after the earthquake," the spokesman told Xinhua through phone.

"The residents in the Morotai Island district felt the tremors, but they did not panic," Yusri A Kasim, head of the emergency unit of the disaster agency in North Maluku province, told Xinhua by phone.

Indonesia sits on a vulnerable quake-hit zone called "the Pacific Ring of Fire".

Global economy changed by Ukraine war

and fifth-largest exporters of wheat, accounting for almost a third of global exports. They are also significant producers of fertilisers and other essential commodities. As war disrupts these supplies, food prices have rocketed to unprecedented levels, The Guardian reported.

New Delhi, Feb 23 (IANS) Union Finance Minister Nirmala

Sitharaman on Thursday held a series of meetings with various dignitaries, including US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki and Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, discussing an array of issues such as strengthening of multilateral development banks (MDBs), debt related issues and crypto assets. The meeting came just a day before the crucial first 'Finance

Similarly, Sitharaman and her Japanese counterpart Shunichi Suzuki exchanged views on priorities under G20 Finance Track 2023.

Both Sitharaman and Suzuki looked forward for a close cooperation between Japan as G7 Presidency and India as G20 Presidency on strengthening of MDBs, debt-related issues, financing cities of tomorrow and coordinated policy for crypto assets.

The Japanese minister assured his "whole-hearted" support to India

Sitharaman acknowledged Canada for its support in the FMCBG Communique drafting, cooperation in MDB reform and climate finance.

Freeland stated that the pension funds in Canada are aware of the safety and opportunity of investing in India with a large population, economy size and democratic structure, and will approach the National Infrastructure and Investment Fund (NIIF).

She assured the Finance Minister of extending support to India during the G20 Presidency.

Israel approves building 7,157 new housing units in West Bank settlements

The Higher Planning Council of the Civil Administration, an Israeli body responsible for approving construction in the West Bank, approved the building plans after two days of discussions that began on Wednesday, according to a statement released by Peace Now on Thursday.

London, Feb 26 (IANS) Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent shockwaves through the global economy and now, a year on from the start of the attack, the world is fundamentally changed, the media reported.

Trends that were already in motion have accelerated, as the need to move away from fossil fuels to greener, renewable energy supplies became more urgent, The Guardian reported. Food prices have soared, increasing hunger in the developing world, and forcing governments, businesses and people to adapt to lasting shifts, The Guardian reported.

The surge in global energy prices since the invasion has pushed inflation across advanced economies to its highest levels in decades, squeezing household incomes and weighing on economic growth.

While this has posed challenges globally, developing nations that are net food importers are particularly exposed. Countries in north Africa and the Middle East are among the biggest buyers of Russian and Ukrainian wheat. But these poorer countries are facing a double whammy. Moves by the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in response to soaring inflation has pushed up the value of the dollar, making it more expensive for developing countries to import goods and borrow money on global markets denominated in the US currency.

Jerusalem, Feb 24 (IANS) Israel has approved plans to build 7,157 new housing units in the settlements in the occupied West Bank, an Israeli settlement watchdog group said.

Out of the planned new housing units, 5,257 units are being advanced with preliminary approval, while 1,900 are waiting for the final approval required for the construction to begin, it said.

This represents one of the largest settlement expansion projects approved in recent years, compared to 4,427 housing units approved in 2022 and 3,645 units in 2021, it added.

The move came fewer than two months after the swearing-in of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition, which is dominated by ultranationalist and pro-settler parties, Xinhua news agency reported.

The inflation surge led central banks to increase interest rates, which drove up borrowing costs for households and businesses. Mortgage costs in the UK and several other nations have risen sharply, stoking fears of a property crash.

Economists expect inflation to cool rapidly over the coming months, as the initial surge in energy prices drops out of the calculation for the annual increase in rising living costs. However, gas and electricity prices remain much higher than before the invasion, The Guardian reported. Russia and Ukraine are, respectively, the world's largest

International trade was already fragmenting before the Russian invasion, but the trend has been accelerated in the past year amid rising geopolitical tensions and concern over supply chain security. After the disruption caused by Covid, and with an eye on the conflict and shifting global relations, companies have pushed to reshore or "friendshore" production, bringing it closer to home, The Guardian reported. Ian Stewart, chief economist in the UK at accountancy firm Deloitte, said:

"The lure of cheap raw materials from Russia is spurring sanctions avoidance on a previously unseen scale. Russian oil shunned by the EU has found ready customers in China, India and Turkey," The Guardian reported.