Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing - March 14, 2021

By Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA (AA) - 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

Turkey reported 15,082 new coronavirus cases, including 841 symptomatic patients, according to the Health Ministry.

The number of cases in the country passed 2.86 million, while the nationwide death toll reached 29,421, with 65 fatalities in the past 24 hours.

Turkish Cargo, a subsidiary of the national flag carrier, Turkish Airlines, has carried coronavirus vaccines and other medical equipment supplied by UNICEF across the world.

Ismail Hakki Musa, Ankara’s Ambassador to Paris, announced his more than four-year tenure in France has reached its end and reflected on his tenure in the City of Light.

One more family joined an ongoing sit-in against the PKK terror group in southeastern Turkey.​​​​​​​

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Afghan counterpart, Hanif Atmar, spoke via telephone about the Afghan peace process, according to diplomatic sources.

Turkey’s parliament speaker hit back at baseless, ignorant claims the European Parliament made about Turkey.

"We reject the uninformed, unfounded, and malicious allegations against our country" adopted by the European Parliament's General Assembly on the 10th anniversary of the Syrian conflict, Mustafa Sentop said on Twitter.

Good relations between Turkey and Serbia are essential for peace and stability in the Balkans, according to the outgoing Turkish ambassador.

A French traveler who stopped in the central province of Konya en route to China was impressed with the city’s bicycle-friendly transportation network and facilities.

- Other global developments

As anti-coup protests rage in Myanmar, at least 11 more people were killed by the military junta, according to media reports.

A Metropolitan London police officer was charged with the kidnapping and murder of a woman whose remains were found days after her disappearance.

A Hindu man was arrested for assaulting a Muslim boy for drinking water at a temple in a city near India’s capital of New Delhi.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen announced that it ruled out a US cease-fire plan, describing it as a plot to put the war-weary country in a more dangerous situation.

Mercenaries who withdrew outside of Sirte for a vote of confidence of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh’s government are back in the city, according to a Libyan official.

Turkey's place as a regional power cannot be denied, as its importance in the region's stability and prosperity is "too obvious to overlook," according to French historian and political scientist Maxime Gauin.

At least one person was killed and several wounded, including a senior army officer, when a bomb targeted a vehicle carrying Somali military personnel in the capital, Mogadishu, an official said.

The northern Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) condemned the terrorist PKK after a Peshmerga fighter was killed in an explosion.

Here you can find a story about a Syrian refugee whose dream of becoming a doctor came true in Turkey. Dropping out of a medical school when he fled the civil war in the homeland, a Syrian refugee achieved his dream in Turkey when he became a medical doctor.

Afghanistan’s government will send official delegations to Turkey and Russia for proposed peace talks in both countries, a top official said.

The human rights board of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) strongly condemned last Sunday’s referendum in Switzerland passing a ban on facial coverings.

Subhi al-Tufayli, a Lebanese religious scholar and first secretary-general of Shia Hezbollah, thanked Turkey for its positive role in Libya and called on Muslim countries to take a similar attitude.

Palestine slammed the Czech Republic for opening a diplomatic office on March 11 in Jerusalem -- affiliated to its embassy in Tel Aviv.

From March 8 - 12, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov toured the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Qatar to discuss regional and international issues.

The principle of sovereignty and Arab national security must be respected in efforts to improve relations between Egypt and Turkey, an Egyptian official said.

Eight patients died Saturday in the Jordanian capital, Amman, due to a shortage of oxygen supplies, according to state television.

- COVID-19 updates worldwide

Five EU member states called for a summit on the "fair distribution" of vaccines developed for the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The number of vaccinations administered throughout England continues to rise, with more than 21 million doses being distributed, said official new figures.

Hoping to curb a recent spike in infections, Ethiopia kicked off its COVID-19 vaccination drive.

Libya’s new Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh pledged to provide vaccines at the earliest possible time.

Tunisia launched a vaccination campaign, days after receiving the first batch of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.

In Latin America, more infections and fatalities from the coronavirus were reported.

After witnessing a steady decline in daily coronavirus cases, several states in India started to see a spike in new cases, with the country reporting almost 25,000 infections.