ANKARA
Anadolu Agency is here with a rundown of the latest developments in Turkey, around the world, and the coronavirus pandemic.
Developments in Turkey
Turkey has administered more than 121.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched an immunization drive in January, according to official figures updated Wednesday.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi over the phone.
Turkey is ready to play the role of mediator, facilitator, or to provide support in any format desired to end Russia-Ukraine tensions with the consent of both sides, the Turkish president said.
Erdogan also called on Turkey to benefit from opportunities of the government's new economic model.
The success of UN peacekeeping forces requires the consent of all sides, including on the divided island of Cyprus, said Turkey's foreign minister.
Visitors are flocking to Lake Cildir in eastern Turkey because it is partially frozen due to the extreme cold. Located on the border between Ardahan and Kars provinces in the country’s northeast, the second-largest lake in eastern Anatolia freezes over as temperatures drop below zero.
After converting to Islam over a decade ago and settling in Turkey, today a Japanese academic gives religious education in Istanbul to Muslim converts from his country.
Coronavirus pandemic
The new omicron variant of the coronavirus has been detected in 57 countries so far, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday.
With fears fading that the omicron variant will disrupt the global economic recovery, equity markets followed a buying-heavy course.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) urged governments to follow advice from the World Health Organization and immediately rescind travel bans introduced since the emergence of the omicron coronavirus variant.
Access to COVID-19 vaccines around the globe has been “shockingly unequal,” the UN human rights chief said.
Health authorities in France registered more than 61,000 positive coronavirus cases, the highest recorded figures since November.
Kuwait’s Health Ministry said it recorded its first case of the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Preliminary laboratory studies demonstrate that three doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine neutralize the coronavirus’ omicron variant, the companies said Wednesday.
Scientists in Japan have developed masks that “can trace coronavirus” after being exposed to ultraviolet light (UV).
World
US President Joe Biden suggested creating a body that will address the issues regarding Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Putin liked the format of a recent video meeting with Biden, the Kremlin announced.
The US is not considering putting troops on the ground in Ukraine amid tensions with Russia, Biden said.
Pele is back in the hospital in Brazil, where he is set to undergo colon tumor treatment initiated in September, when the three-time World Soccer Cup winner spent nearly a month after removing the tumor.
France has announced its candidates for the April 2022 presidential election. With the announcement, French public opinion has focused on the possible distribution of votes in the election, which is set to be held on April 10, 2022.
The Indian government said 96 civilians have been killed in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir since the autonomy of the region was revoked in 2019.
As India's Chief of Defense Staff Gen. Bipin Rawat was among 13 killed in a helicopter crash in southern Tamil Nadu, condolences have poured in over the death of the top general.
The US reiterated its call on India to not move ahead with its purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile defense systems as deliveries of the long-range ground-to-air system remain underway.
US Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman will depart Thursday for the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Egypt to discuss the Ethiopian conflict, a State Department spokesman said.
The Saudi suspect arrested in Paris over journalist Jamal Khashoggi's killing was released after identity verification confirmed he was the wrong man, a senior judicial officer announced.
French police have arrested two suspected Daesh/ISIS militants who were plotting knife attacks during the Christmas holiday season, local media reported.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian arrived in Algeria amid a row over comments by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Olaf Scholz was sworn in as Germany’s new chancellor, ending Angela Merkel’s historic 16-year tenure.
Putin congratulated Scholz, who was sworn in on Wednesday.
A Black woman in the US was elected mayor in the state of Maine in a city with a 90% white population. Deqa Dhalac, 53, became the first Black Muslim mayor of South Portland, a small city on Maine's southern coast, on Tuesday.
Amid growing anger in the country, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologized to the nation after a leaked video showed staff joking about a Christmas party at Downing Street last year in the middle of a lockdown.
Nearly 78,000 Lebanese citizens emigrated from Lebanon this year amid a crippling economic crisis, a local consultancy firm said.
Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and his assistant Yozo Hirano launched into space aboard a Russian-built Soyuz capsule.
