ANKARA
Anadolu Agency is here with a rundown of the latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic and other news in Turkiye and around the world.
Coronavirus and other developments in Turkiye
Turkiye reported more than 66,000 COVID-19 cases, the first time the figure has risen above the 60,000 mark in nine months. To stem the virus’ spread, the country has also administered more than 134.19 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched an immunization drive in January 2021. The country reported 66,467 new COVID-19 cases, 143 deaths, and 29,316 recoveries over the past day.
Turkiye's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu held a phone call with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The diplomats exchanged views ahead of a NATO foreign ministers' meeting Friday and NATO-Russia Council meeting on Jan. 12.
The first meeting of special representatives from Turkiye and Armenia will be held on Jan 14, the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced.
Other developments worldwide
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev accepted the government’s resignation in a presidential decree after a wave of mass protests swept the country over rising liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices.
North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the East Sea in the first such test of the new year, said South Korea and Japan.
A camp in the vicinity of Baghdad International Airport has been hit by a rocket attack, the Iraqi Defense Ministry said.
Amid growing mass protests, Kazakhstan decided to introduce price controls on LPG, gasoline, diesel fuel, and basic food products for 180 days in order to contain rising prices in the country.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said he was discharged from the hospital two days after he was admitted with an intestinal blockage.
As Kashmiris mark their annual Right to Self-Determination Day, Pakistan called on the UN to live up to its promise by holding a plebiscite in the disputed valley.
Pakistan’s military confirmed that a month-long cease-fire with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella group comprised of several militant outfits, has come to an end.
China will provide 100 million yuan ($15.7 million) in financial assistance to Eritrea, said the information minister of the East African country.
A deadly fire that tore through a converted row house in Philadelphia in the US state of Pennsylvania has left 13 people dead, said fire and local officials.
At least nine people were killed in floods that hit almost all of Iran, local media reported.
A new law in Spain took effect recognizing pets as "sentient beings" for the first time in the country.
Ten rockets were fired from Syria’s eastern Mayadin region, apparently targeting the Al-Omar oil field in Deir Ez-Zor province of eastern Syria, where US forces are also stationed.
An Anadolu Agency cameraman was attacked by far-right Israelis in the country’s capital Tel Aviv in front of a hospital where a high-profile Palestinian prisoner is undergoing treatment.
There will be no progress with Russia amid simmering tensions with the West as long as Moscow continues to hold a "gun pointed to Ukraine's head," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
