Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing – Aug. 10, 2021

ANKARA (AA) - Anadolu Agency is here with a rundown of the latest developments in Turkey, around the world and the coronavirus pandemic.

- Developments in Turkey, coronavirus pandemic and other news

Turkey has administered over 77.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in January, according to official figures released Monday.

According to the Health Ministry, over 42.15 million people have gotten their first doses, while some 29.66 million are fully vaccinated.

The ministry also confirmed 23,731 new infections and 117 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, while as many as 7,365 more patients have recovered.

Turkey has brought all the forest fires in the country under control except for three blazes in the southwest, the agriculture and forestry minister said Monday.

Flag carrier Turkish Airlines rented two additional helicopters Monday to help Turkey extinguish forest fires in the country.

Turkish security forces “neutralized” 13 PKK terrorists in northern Iraq, the National Defense Ministry said Monday.

A wanted terrorist was "neutralized" in a domestic anti-terror operation in southeastern Turkey, the Interior Ministry said Monday.

Parents of those forcibly abducted by the PKK terror group continued to hold a sit-in protest Monday in Turkey's southeastern Diyarbakir province, hoping to reunite with their children and embrace them once again.

New microbialites different in structure and shape than previous discoveries have been found on the shore of Turkey’s Lake Van.

Turkey will deliver icons stolen from historical local churches to Istanbul’s Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomew, the government said Monday.

- Worldwide developments related to COVID-19

The count of COVID-19 vaccines given worldwide topped 4.46 billion on Monday, according to Our World In Data, a tracking website affiliated with Oxford University.

Canada will lift travel restrictions for fully vaccinated US citizens and permanent residents from Monday.

Over half of Cambodia’s population has received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the government said Monday.

China started mobilizing health workers Monday as it scrambles to contain a growing new COVID-19 outbreak driven by the infectious Delta variant.

Australia granted provisional approval Monday to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for people aged 18 and over, the country's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) said.

Iran on Monday recorded the highest single-day deaths and infections from the coronavirus since the outbreak last year, as the Delta variant drives the fifth wave of the pandemic.

The number of people in Africa infected by the coronavirus has reached over 7 million, an update by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday.

The US said Monday that it will give over $11 million in urgent assistance to bolster Bangladesh's efforts to curb spiraling COVID-19 infections and deaths.

Restaurants, cafes, trains and flights in France on Monday began enforcement of the controversial health pass initiative, despite vocal opposition to the measure, which is meant to reduce the spread of the Delta variant and avoid further lockdowns.

The US Defense Department will require all active-duty service members to get vaccinated against COVID-19 no later than mid-September, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Monday.

Germany has donated nearly 1.3 million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to low-income countries, the government announced Monday.

- Developments across world

According to US space agency NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), wildfires continue to rage across numerous areas of the world.

The scale of the world’s unprecedented current warming trend is producing irreversible changes to the planet, a sobering new UN climate report warned Monday.

The “so-called” memorandum on Hong Kong by the US “blatantly defames and attacks” the law of China on “safeguarding national security” and China's Hong Kong policy, Beijing said.

Saudi Arabia has appointed two women to senior positions in the administration that supervises the two holy mosques for Muslims, according to local media Monday.

The Israeli Public Prosecution has requested an extension of the solitary confinement for Palestinian icon Sheikh Raed Salah for another six months, his lawyer said Monday.

The Israeli army on Monday demolished commercial and agricultural structures and detained eight Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

In a push to repel advancing Taliban from urban centers, Afghan forces on Monday claimed to have killed over 500 insurgents in air and ground offensives in the past 24 hours.

Over 40 Malian civilians were killed over the weekend when armed assailants launched three simultaneous attacks in the country’s northern areas near the border with Niger, authorities said Monday.

Britain has imposed fresh sanctions on Belarus on the anniversary of alleged fraudulent presidential elections in the country, an official statement said Monday.

Canada marked the first anniversary of Belarus’ “fraudulent” presidential election Monday by imposing new sanctions on the beleaguered central European country.

A joint military exercise between China and Russia got underway Monday, with Beijing saying the drill “testifies to the solid friendship of the two militaries beyond the limits of COVID-19.”

The Russian Defense Ministry announced Monday that the country will expand its military construction on the Kuril Islands in the North Pacific, disputed by Japan.

The 41st Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit started Monday in Malawi’s capital Lilongwe to discuss a regional strategic development plan with a strong focus on industrialization.

A senior UN official said Monday that he is "extremely concerned" over the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, where fighting between the Taliban and government forces has intensified as foreign troops leave the war-torn country by Sept. 11.

Rising violence in Afghanistan is taking a devastating toll on children, with 27 killed and 136 more wounded in the past two days alone, the UN said Monday.

Malawi's energy minister and two other top officials were arrested in the country's capital, Lilongwe, on corruption-related charges.

A Catholic priest was killed in western France on Monday, local media reported.

Forty-five members of Tunisia’s judiciary urged President Kais Saied on Monday to step back from his recent decisions against judges, accusing him of violating their freedoms.

A leader of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and his wife were shot dead Monday by suspected militants in Indian-administered Kashmir, officials said.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said Monday that his country attached great importance to its ties with Turkey, a neighbor and strategical partner.