Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing - January 8, 2021

By Dilan Pamuk

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.

- Global developments

President-elect Joe Biden formally became the 46th president of the US after Congress certified the votes of the Electoral College.

Jon Ossoff won a runoff election for the US Senate in the state of Georgia, giving control of Congress to the Democrats.

The head of NATO and European leaders voiced concern after supporters of American President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol as lawmakers were set to sign off on President-elect Joe Biden's electoral victory.

The US Defense Department fully activated the Washington, D.C. National Guard to assist federal and local law enforcement following a breach of the Capitol building.

Several officials from President Donald Trump’s administration resigned after the storming of the US Capitol by his supporters.

Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser extended a public emergency for 15 days after violent protests in the US capital.

Kosovo's President Vjosa Osmani dissolved the Assembly and called early parliamentary elections for Feb. 14.

Over 60,000 refugees have fled over the border to eastern Sudan following a conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region.

At least three people were killed and seven others injured in a bomb attack targeting the Somali prison chief in the capital Mogadishu.

At least 53 Taliban insurgents and 13 Afghan security forces were killed in the past 24 hours as violence flared up across the country amid a pause in intra-Afghan peace talks.

Around 20,000 more people have been evacuated due to flooding in several provinces of Malaysia.

- Coronavirus and other developments in Turkey

Turkey confirmed 12,171 new cases, including 1,370 symptomatic patients. With the new additions, the tally of infections topped 2.29 million. A total of 194 people lost their lives to the virus over the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to date to 22,264. As many as 8,211 more people recovered over the past day, bringing the total to over 2.17 million.

13 YPG/PKK terrorists in northern Syria were neutralized by Turkish security forces while they were trying to infiltrate the Operation Peace Spring zone south of Turkey’s border.

Veysal Sahin, a former intelligence officer, was remanded by Turkish security authorities following a court ruling related to the killing of prominent Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink.

A Turkish penal court approved indictments for 108 defendants Thursday, including former co-chairs of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), as part of a probe into the deadly 2014 terror incidents across the nation.

At least 25 asylum seekers were held by Turkish security forces in the Aegean province of Izmir.

48 irregular migrants were held by gendarmerie teams in Turkey’s northwestern provinces of Kocaeli and Canakkale. Legal action was initiated against six people suspected of smuggling the migrants.

At least 41 asylum seekers pushed into Turkish territorial waters by Greece were rescued by the Turkish Coast Guard in two separate incidents.​​​​​​​

- COVID-19 updates worldwide

China is facing a resurgence of COVID-19 infections as 63 new cases were reported, mostly in northern Hebei province. The country stated that 51 locally transmitted cases were reported in the province.

Brazil registered 1,242 COVID-19-related fatalities, bringing the death toll to 198,974. The country also reported 63,430 new virus cases, with the overall count standing around 7.87 million. The total number of recoveries in the country reached 7.36 million.

Mexico reported 13,345 new coronavirus cases and 1,165 new fatalities. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the country has recorded some 1.47 million cases, 129,987 deaths and 1.11 million recoveries.

Argentina registered 13,441 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number to 1.67 million. The nationwide death toll rose to 43,976 as 191 patients died over the past day. Some 1.47 million patients have recovered so far.

Colombia confirmed 16,805 new cases and 295 fatalities, raising the total number of infections to 1.71 million and the death toll to 44,723. Some 1.56 million patients have so far recovered from the virus.

Peru registered 2,414 new cases and 66 fatalities, raising the overall count to 1.24 million, including 37,991 deaths. The number of recoveries grew to 926,566.

Ecuador reported 1,294 more infections, taking the total number of cases in to 217,377. The death toll in the country reached 14,146 with 43 additions, while the total number of recoveries rose to 190,350.

Panama recorded 5,186 more COVID-19 cases, raising the overall count to 264,956. Also, 45 more patients died, bringing the death toll to 4,283. So far, 208,620 patients have recovered from the virus.

Guatemala reported 783 more infections and 40 new fatalities, raising the total number of cases to 140,202, including 4,899 deaths. To date, 128,952 people have recovered from the disease in the country.

Japan declared a state of emergency in the capital Tokyo and three other provinces amid rising coronavirus infections. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced the decision hours after Tokyo reported 2,447 cases today – the biggest daily spike in infections since the outbreak began in the country on Jan. 16, 2020.

Russia registered 23,541 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the country’s total count to 3.33 million. The country also reported 506 new fatalities, bringing the death toll to 60,457. The total number of recoveries in the country reached 2.7 million, with 23,729 fresh recoveries. The number of active cases in the country stands at 562,233.

Czechia reported a record number of new coronavirus cases with 17,668. Some 84 people lost their lives, bringing the death toll to 12,621. The total number of COVID-19 infections in the country, with a population of 10 million, reached 794,740.

Italy reported 18,020 new COVID-19 cases and 414 new coronavirus-related deaths.

Kenya confirmed eight coronavirus fatalities and 335 new infections. The new additions bring total fatalities from the virus to 1,702, while the latest cases brought the total figure to 97,733.

The UK reported 1,162 new coronavirus fatalities, the highest death toll in a day since April 21. The total number of deaths currently stands at 78,508. The country also reported that there were 52,618 positive test results for COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases to 2,889,419.

Portugal registered 9,926 infections, the second-highest daily surge on record. For the country of 10 million people, the levels of infection are higher on a per capita basis than in the UK.

Spain reported 42,360 new cases of COVID-19. The surge brought the country’s total recorded coronavirus infections to beyond 2 million for the first time.

South Africa recorded 441 new coronavirus deaths, pushing the number of fatalities to 31,809. The country also recorded 20,999 new infections, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 1,170,590.

France will continue to impose travel restrictions with the UK, in the wake of the new coronavirus strain resulting in a national lockdown in the neighboring country, the prime minister announced.