Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing - June 24, 2021

By Merve Berker

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 on Wednesday lowered the COVID-19 vaccination eligibility age to 18, with appointments to be scheduled as of Friday, said the country's health minister.

Kazakhstan’s political and social peace has always been Ankara’s priority, the Turkish parliament's deputy speaker said Wednesday.

Over the past 15 days, Turkish sea cleaning teams have collected a total of 5,738 cubic meters (202,636 cubic feet) of mucilage from the Sea of Marmara, the country's environment and urbanization minister said Wednesday.

Turkey’s foreign minister met Wednesday with his German counterpart and Libya’s prime minister ahead of the Second Berlin Conference on Libya.

In response to Greece violating a decades-old pact, Turkey issued a navigational alert, or Navtex, on Wednesday declaring the international waters of the Aegean Sea to be training zones.

Turkey’s deputy foreign minister on Wednesday announced the initiation of consular consultations between Germany after a four-year hiatus.

Pakistan’s army chief paid a day-long official visit to Turkey on Wednesday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received new ambassadors of Nigeria, Rwanda and Gambia on Wednesday.

A US delegation of Pentagon and State Department officials will visit Turkey to discuss security at Kabul airport in Afghanistan, according to a defense official Wednesday.

The Turkish vice president said Wednesday that Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) should work toward building a self-sufficient TRNC.

- COVID-19 updates worldwide

Over 2.75 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines have been given worldwide so far, figures compiled by Our World in Data, a tracking website, showed Wednesday.

India surpassed the 30 million mark in COVID-19 cases Wednesday, registering 50,848 additional infections in the last 24 hours, according to the latest data released by the Ministry of Health.

With 17,594 more coronavirus infections reported Wednesday, Russia's overall case count rose to 5.36 million and active cases to 335,508, authorities said.

Zambia on Wednesday started a second round of COVID-19 vaccinations, giving its citizens the second dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

The Ugandan parliament will remain closed for two weeks amid a nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases, officials said.

The UK vaccines minister said Wednesday that the country’s vaccination program had saved over 14,000 lives.

- Other global developments

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake rattled the Iranian city of Khoy, Turkey’s disaster agency said early Wednesday.

At least 134 Afghan soldiers fleeing a Taliban attack have crossed the border and taken refuge in Tajikistan, officials said early Wednesday.

Russia has stopped a British Royal Navy destroyer that it said was violating its waters, the Russian Defense Ministry announced Wednesday.

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Ersin Tatar will meet with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Brussels on Friday, the presidency said Wednesday.

A senior UN official is calling for international unity against hatred, saying the COVID-19 situation is not just an economic or financial crisis but a human one.

Protests were held Wednesday in more than 50 cities worldwide calling for the boycott of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Britain on Wednesday rejected Russian claims that warning shots were fired at one of its vessels in the Black Sea.

Amnesty International on Wednesday accused Greece of contravening their human rights obligations under EU and international law by illegally detaining refugees and migrants and returning them to Turkey.

The UN General Assembly reiterated its call that the US end its embargo on the island nation of Cuba on Wednesday, the latest in a long-standing series of annual votes insisting the Cold War-era measure be halted.

The second Libya conference concluded in Berlin on Wednesday with a final declaration stressing the need for holding elections in the North African country as agreed.

McAfee antivirus software creator John McAfee was reportedly found dead in a Barcelona prison on Wednesday.

Two female journalists were killed and at least 22 others injured after a bus carrying them overturned in Iran’s West Azerbaijan province on Wednesday.