Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing - January 11, 2021

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency is here with a rundown of the latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic and other news in Turkey and around the world.

Turkey reported over 9,000 new coronavirus infections Sunday.

The country’s overall case tally crossed 2.32 million, including 22,807 deaths with 176 new fatalities recorded over the past day.

As many as 8,103 more patients recovered in the country, taking the total past 2.19 million.

Turkish security forces neutralized 226 terrorists in dozens of operations carried out over the last month, the country’s National Defense Ministry said Sunday.

A magnitude 4.5 earthquake rattled Turkey’s capital Ankara on Sunday, according to the country’s disaster management agency.

- COVID-19

South Africa reported 17,421 new coronavirus cases in a 24-hour period, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 1,231,597, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced late Sunday.

Mkhize also said the country had lost a further 339 people to COVID-19 related deaths during the same period, pushing the national death toll to 33,163.

The discovery of a “few clusters” of the UK variant of the COVID-19 virus has raised alarms in France over the rapid spread, particularly in the second largest city of Marseille, where authorities have declared an outbreak.

Italy reported 361 new coronavirus-related deaths, down from 483 a day before, as the government prepares to approve new regional restrictions to stop the second wave of contagion.

Bangladesh has decided to buy the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech through COVAX, a platform to ensure coronavirus shots reach those in greatest need, an official confirmed.

Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Sunday flew to Germany to complete his post-coronavirus treatment, his office said.

On Dec. 29, Tebboune returned to Algeria after a two-month trip to Germany for coronavirus treatment.

- Other developments

Qatar Airways said it will resume flights to Saudi Arabia on Monday following an agreement to end a more than three-year dispute between the two countries.

The talks between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan on the filling and operations of Ethiopia’s dam on the Nile River have failed, Sudan’s official news agency reported Sunday.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has sacked the transport minister and the CEO of the country’s flag carrier Air Algeria, according to the Presidency.

Zia Wadan, a spokesman for the Afghan Public Protection Force, was among three people killed in the capital Kabul on Sunday, an official confirmed, as violence continues despite the start of the second round of peace talks.

Kazakh voters headed to parliamentary polls on Sunday to elect deputies for the lower chamber of parliament for five-year terms.

Kazakhstan's ruling party won a landslide in parliamentary elections held Sunday with nearly 72% percent of the vote, according to exit poll results.

Also, voters went to the polls in Kyrgyzstan Sunday to choose a new president as well as decide on constitutional changes in the form of government.

Kyrgyzstan’s former Prime Minister Sadyr Japarov won Sunday’s presidential elections, according to unofficial results.

The black box from an Indonesian passenger plane that went down with 62 people on board Saturday may be retrieved from underwater as early as tonight, officials said.

Black box signals from the Sriwijaya Air flight were detected earlier today, said Marshal Hadi Tjahjono, the country’s military chief, adding that retrieving the box would help determine the cause of the crash.

The Boeing 737-500 crash site was also found along with human remains, belongings, and life vests in the Thousand Islands area between the isles of Lancang and Laki.