Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing – Aug. 8, 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 nearly 75.9 million coronavirus vaccine doses since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in January, according to official figures.

According to the Health Ministry, nearly 41.7 million people have gotten their first doses, while more than 28.7 million are fully vaccinated.

The ministry also confirmed 25,100 new infections and 112 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, while as many as 6,758 more patients recovered.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s president received the visiting prime minister of Libya.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh had a one-on-one closed-door meeting at the Vahdettin Mansion in Istanbul that lasted an hour-and-a-half.

The leaders later attended a meeting of their countries' delegations.

Participating were Turkey's Treasury and Finance Minister Lutfi Elvan, Trade Minister Mehmet Mus, Turkish Central Bank Governor Sahap Kavcioglu and Principal Consultant to President Sefer Turan.

Regarding Turkey’s ongoing forest fires, Kazakhstan sent two helicopters to support efforts to extinguish the flames.

Kuwait also said that it will dispatch a fire brigade crew to support Turkey’s fight against forest fires.

Kuwaiti Fire Force chief Khaled Al-Mekrad said the team that will be deployed Sunday will consist of 45 firefighters.

- Worldwide developments related to COVID-19

Malawi received 302,400 doses of the Johnson & Johnson's Janssen coronavirus vaccine donated by the US through the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility.

Health Minister Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda said the vaccines will be distributed Monday across the country.

In India, the government approved the US’ Johnson & Johnson's single-shot vaccine for emergency use, its health minister announced.

"India expands its vaccine basket! Johnson and Johnson's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine is given approval for Emergency Use in India," Mansukh Mandaviya said on Twitter.

He said India approved five vaccines for emergency use and "this will further boost our nation's collective fight against COVID19."

Meanwhile, lockdowns are “unlikely” needed in the future, according to Neil Ferguson, one of the UK government’s top advisers throughout the pandemic.

“I think it is unlikely we will need a new lockdown or even social distancing measures of the type we've had so far,” Ferguson, an immunologist at Imperial College London, told The Times newspaper in an interview.

The number of vaccine doses administered worldwide has reached 4.40 billion, according to Our World In Data, a tracking website affiliated with the University of Oxford.

Data on the website shows China, where the virus first emerged in late 2019, leads the global count with more than 1.76 billion jabs.

- Developments across the world

A strike that would have caused major disruptions at the Canadian border that will be opened to Americans on Monday for the first time in 17 months was averted when border guards reached a tentative agreement with the government.

About 9,000 Canada Border Services Agency (CSBA) union members reached a proposed deal after working-to-rule, or doing the bare minimum, and warned that major delays would be encountered.

Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, US B-52 bombers targeted positions of advancing Taliban, according to a government official.

"Taliban's gathering was targeted by B-52 in Shebergan city, Jawzjan province today evening at 6:30 pm. The terrorists have suffered heavy casualties as a result of US Air Forces airstrike," Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Fawad Aman said on Twitter.

In sports, world champion Turkish boxer Busenaz Surmeneli made history at the Tokyo Olympics by winning gold in the women's welterweight division.

Surmeneli sealed her nation’s first-ever Olympics medal in boxing by defeating Gu Hong of China at the Kokugikan Arena in the Japanese capital.

Surmeneli, 23, became world champion in the 2019 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships in Ulan-Ude, Russia.