Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing - Dec. 30, 2021

By Ali Murat Alhas

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 has administered more than 130.61 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched an immunization drive in January, with more than 56.86 million people receiving their first jab and over 51.53 million fully vaccinated.

Turkish forces “neutralized” eight YPG/PKK terrorists in northern Syria and nine PKK terrorists in northern Iraq's Gara region.

Turkey handed over the leadership of NATO's highest readiness force to France over the weekend, the Ministry of National Defense said, adding Paris would lead the Very High Readiness Joint Force (VJTF) as of Jan. 1, 2022.

Turkish security forces this year prevented more than 120,000 irregular migrants from entering the country from the border with Iran, according to a tally of official data from 2021.

Maritime traffic through the Bosporus, one of Turkey's two main waterways, was suspended after a vessel malfunctioned and was left stranded.

The spokesperson for Turkey's Justice and Development (AK) Party denounced Greece's illegal pushback policy and the EU's negligence regarding the situation.

Turkey has started initiatives at the World Health Organization (WHO) for use of the country’s homegrown COVID-19 vaccine Turkovac.

- COVID-19 worldwide and other developments

The fast-moving omicron variant of COVID-19 is triggering a “tsunami of cases,” leaving health systems near collapse, exhausting health workers, and disrupting the goal of halting the pandemic’s acute phase in 2022, the World Health Organization chief said.

Britain reported 183,037 cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, setting a new record for daily infections. Britain's prime minister has urged people who received two COVID-19 jabs to take the booster jab.

China has reported a slight decrease in the number of locally transmitted coronavirus infections compared to the past three days, with 152 daily cases.

Germany is planning to donate 75 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to low- and middle-income countries next year.

Islamophobia in Europe "has worsened, if not reached a tipping point," according to a 886-page report titled European Islamophobia Report 2020.

The year 2021 was tough for many on the African continent, where civil wars, terrorism and the coronavirus pandemic continued to claim thousands of lives.

The death toll from a recent gold mine collapse in the Sudanese state of West Kordofan has risen to 38.