ISTANBUL
Anadolu Agency is here with a rundown of the latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic and other news in Turkey and around the world.
Coronavirus and other developments in Turkey
More than 36.25 million people have received their first doses, while over 15.85 million have been fully vaccinated, the Health Ministry said.
Over 1.54 million people have also gotten third jabs meant as boosters some three months after full vaccination
It also confirmed 4,678 new coronavirus cases and 35 deaths in the last 24 hours.
On Turkey’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged citizens to get vaccinated to protect themselves as well as their loved ones.
Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Erdogan also announced that Orhan Inandi, one of the FETO terror group’s senior executives responsible for its Central Asia operations, was brought to Turkey by the National Intelligence Agency (MIT).
Turkish Parliamentary Speaker Mustafa Sentop on Monday received his Zimbabwean counterpart Jacob Francis Mudenda and expressed his expectation for deepened bilateral economic relations.
Turkish security forces on Monday held at least 101 irregular migrants in the southeastern province of Gaziantep.
COVID-19 updates worldwide
Over 3.2 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines have been administered so far worldwide, according to figures compiled by Our World in Data, a tracking website affiliated with Oxford University.
China leads the global count with more than 1.3 billion jabs, followed by India with 347.38 million. Turkey came ninth on the list with over 53.53 million doses given, followed by Japan, Mexico and Indonesia.
South Africa registered 12,513 COVID-19 infections in a 24-hour period, taking the country’s total number of confirmed cases to 2,075,409, health authorities announced late Monday.
Similarly, Bangladesh on Monday recorded its highest-ever single-day deaths and cases despite a lockdown. The country registered 164 fatalities and 9,964 infections in the last 24 hours, raising the death toll to 15,229 and caseload to 954,881.
Pakistan, another South Asian country, recorded only 19 deaths from the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, its lowest single-day toll since February, according to the country’s Health Ministry.
Research conducted by Israel’s Hebrew University revealed that Pfizer-BioNTech jabs are 70% effective against the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19. The Delta variant, which was first detected in India, is said to be responsible for more than 90% of new COVID cases in Israel over the past two weeks.
French Health Minister Olivier Veran said the country faces the risk of a fourth COVID-19 wave by the end of July due to the progression of the Delta variant of the virus.
Other global developments
Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh urged the country's Political Dialogue Forum to make concessions for successfully holding elections on Dec. 24 as it was originally planned.
Intensified fighting in northern Afghanistan led Russia, Pakistan, Iran and India to limit or suspend their diplomatic activities in that part of the country.
Meanwhile, in a plenary session of parliament, Afghani lawmakers expressed grim concerns over mounting assaults of the advancing Taliban in various parts of the country, accusing Washington of leaving the task of eliminating terrorism unfinished.
In a related development, Pakistan said it is working with regional powers to ensure a political settlement in neighboring Afghanistan and avert a potential civil war following the US pullout.
Similarly, Germany announced that it remains committed to supporting the inter-Afghan peace process.
Amid Turkey’s speedy vaccination drive and decrease in the number of COVID-related cases and fatalities, Russia on Monday decided to boost the number of direct flights to Turkey.
Israel released a Jordanian citizen who had spent more than two years in jail on charges of spying for the Palestinian resistance.
