Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing - Oct. 26, 2021

ANKARA (AA) - Anadolu Agency is here with a rundown of the latest developments in Turkey, around the world, and on the coronavirus pandemic.

- Developments in Turkey, coronavirus pandemic and other news

Turkey has administered over 115.49 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched an immunization drive in January, according to official figures released Monday.

The Health Ministry recorded 27,663 new cases, 232 fatalities and 30,824 recoveries over the past day.

On Monday, the Turkish president slammed envoys of 10 countries over their statement on the ongoing case of businessman Osman Kavala.

The ambassadors who issued the statement on the Kavala case directly target Turkey's jurisdiction, right of sovereignty, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said following a Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara.

Turkey cannot tolerate ambassadors questioning its judiciary, while even the country's legislative and executive organs cannot interfere according to the Turkish Constitution, he noted.

He also described the recent move as a great insult to all judiciary members in the country, including judges, prosecutors and lawyers.

Earlier on Monday, the 10 embassies in Turkey announced Monday that they abide by Article 41 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which calls on the envoys not to interfere in the internal affairs of the states they serve in.

Earlier, the Turkish Foreign Ministry had summoned the ambassadors of these countries -- US, Canada, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Germany and France -- for meddling in the Turkish judiciary.

- Coronavirus pandemic, other developments across the world

Russian Presidential envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov on Monday announced a series of meetings aiming to address “the post-conflict restoration” of Afghanistan.

On Wednesday, Iran will host a meeting of countries, neighbors of Afghanistan, and Russia is invited and will take part, Kabulov said at a news conference in Moscow.

In mid-November, the expanded troika on Afghanistan -- Russia, the US, China and Pakistan -- will hold a meeting in Islamabad, the first with the recently appointed US envoy for Afghanistan Tom West, Kabulov noted.

“The new US special envoy for Afghanistan wrote to me that he is waiting for a date [for the meeting], which means that the US will participate,” Kabulov said.

The UN human rights chief strongly condemned Monday's military coup in Sudan, saying the action threatens a peace agreement hammered out for the country and jeopardizes the progress made toward democracy.

In a statement, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said: "I strongly condemn today's military coup in Sudan and the declaration of a nationwide state of emergency, the suspension of key articles of the Constitutional Document and the governing bodies."

In London, the US administration was urged to drop all charges against WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange.

Speaking at a news conference in London alongside WikiLeaks’ editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson and Assange’s partner Stella Moris, Rebecca Vincent from media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said it is now a good chance for US President Joe Biden to “distance himself” from his predecessor’s policies.

The presser came only a couple of days before an appeal from the US administration against the decision of a UK court to reject the extradition of Assange.

Russia on Monday reported a record-high number of coronavirus cases with 37,930 people testing positive for COVID-19 over the past day, taking the nationwide tally to 8.27 million.

Active cases currently stand at 861,293, Russia’s coronavirus emergency task force said in a daily report.

Fatalities rose by 1,069 over the last 24 hours to reach 231,669, while 20,690 won the battle against the virus, taking recoveries to 7.18 million.

Starting Oct. 28, Russia will have a national 10-day non-working period aiming to stem the spread of the virus.