Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing – Aug. 27, 2021

By Jeyhun Aliyev

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

- Developments in Turkey, coronavirus pandemic and other news

Turkey has administered more than 91.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since launching a mass immunization campaign in January, according to official figures Thursday.

Over 47.2 million people have received their first vaccine dose, while more than 36.1 million are fully vaccinated, the Health Ministry said.

Turkey's foreign minister condemned the "heinous terror attack" in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul.

There are no reports of casualties of Turkish troops from two explosions outside the airport serving the Afghan capital Kabul, Turkey's Defense Ministry said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will pay official visits to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro on Friday.

At a time of sweeping changes in the global order, the stability and trust seen in Turkey make it well placed to rise to the top, according to Erdogan.

Turkey has long supported the Afghan people’s struggle to rebuild their country and will continue to do so, said Turkey’s communications director, highlighting Turkey's commitments to peace and stability in Afghanistan since 2002, in the aftermath of the US invasion.

The first batch of Turkish troops evacuated from Afghanistan landed in the country's capital Thursday, according to flag carrier Turkish Airlines.

August is hailed as “the month of victory” in Turkey, as Turkish and Ottoman armies over the centuries won numerous wars in the month, changing the course of history.

Italian archaeologists hailed a decision to add a 30-meter-high (over 90 feet) archaeological mound in southeastern Turkey to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Five suspects were arrested in Turkey on Thursday during operations against the Daesh and al-Qaeda terror groups.

- Worldwide developments related to COVID-19

Germany on Thursday recorded more than 12,000 daily coronavirus cases for the first time since May, amid a surge in infections among teens and young adults.

Russia recorded the highest-ever number of single-day coronavirus deaths with 820 fatalities, health authorities said, taking the country’s death toll to 179,243.

South Africa recorded 12,771 new COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour period, taking the country’s total number of confirmed infections to 2,734,973, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).

At the Machakos Level 5 Hospital in Eastern Kenya, a patient lies on a bed at the entrance to a coronavirus ward in the intensive care unit (ICU). He is fighting for breath and hanging on to life. Go here for the story.

Despite an increase in COVID-19 vaccinations, Africa faces inoculation challenges due to an unpredictable access to jabs, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

One person involved in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games has been hospitalized with COVID-19, the first time this has happened, the games organizing committee said.

Japan suspended the use of about 1.6 million doses of the Moderna vaccine due to contamination.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) praised the European Commission for its speed in delivering the EU Digital COVID Certificate (DCC) and urged states to make it their global standard for digital vaccine certificates.

Cambodia has allowed its citizens to get a third COVID-19 booster shot to build “real herd immunity,” according to the state-run Agence Kampuchea Press news agency.

Australia’s COVID-19 infections hit a daily record Thursday, topping 1,000 for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

- Developments across World

Multiple explosions shook Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Thursday, including two outside the airport serving the city, killing dozens and wounding over 100, according to media reports and an Anadolu Agency correspondent on the ground.

US President Joe Biden confirmed that attacks outside Kabul airport in Afghanistan which killed at least 13 American soldiers were carried out by the ISIS-K terrorist group, the Afghan affiliate of Daesh/ISIS, and promised to respond with "force and precision."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel strongly condemned attacks that targeted Afghan civilians outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg also condemned the explosions outside Kabul airport, calling them a "terrorist attack."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told local media that the “overwhelming majority” of people who are eligible for evacuation from Afghanistan, around 15,000 people, have already been evacuated.

French President Emmanuel Macron said his ambassador to Kabul will not remain in Afghanistan.

A Taliban spokesman reiterated that there is “no proof” that al-Qaeda conducted the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks from Afghanistan, according to NBC News.

Washington will continue to speak up against China’s actions that threaten global order and the sovereignty of nations, the US vice president said as she concluded her Southeast Asia tour Thursday.

The European Union warned of a possible collapse of Lebanon if the country’s leaders fail to form a government.

The head of the European Council and Pakistani prime minister discussed the unfolding situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the Afghan capital Kabul on Aug. 15.

Three sailors, including two Turkish and one Georgian citizen, died of poisoning on a cargo ship 50 miles off the Port of Cartagena in southeastern Spain.

The UN's mission in Libya welcomed the creation of a joint force between the North African country's opposing sides to secure the nation's water network.

Canada's efforts to evacuate Canadians and Afghans from the Taliban-controlled country came to an abrupt end Thursday.

Germany’s evacuations from Afghanistan are expected to end Thursday due to the terror threat at Kabul airport, the Bild newspaper reported.

Targeting a hugely popular stable of social media tools, a court in Moscow fined Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp a total of almost half a million dollars for violating the law on data localization.

South African Airways (SAA) is set to resume flights from Sept. 23 after remaining grounded for more than 15 months.