Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing

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.

Coronavirus and other developments in Turkey

Turkey reported 8,424 new coronavirus cases, including 610 symptomatic patients.

The country's overall caseload crossed 2.7 million, including 28,569 related deaths, according to the Health Ministry.

While 66 died, as many as 6,511 patients won the battle against the disease, bringing the number of recoveries to over 2.57 million.

More than 33 million coronavirus tests have been conducted in Turkey to date, with 109,639 in the last 24 hours.

The latest figures show that the number of COVID-19 patients in critical condition dropped to 1,191.

Turkey summoned the Iranian ambassador in the country over remarks alleging Ankara violated Iraq's sovereignty, according to diplomatic sources.

The Turkish president spoke against military coups, particularly the 1997 "post-modern" coup by the Turkish armed forces.

In a video message on the coup's 24th anniversary, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was jailed for reading a poem when he was the mayor of Istanbul.

COVID-19 updates worldwide

Iran received the first consignment of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Chinese company Sinopharm as the country surpassed 60,000 deaths from the pandemic.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban received the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine developed by China's Sinopharm.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II accepted the resignation of the interior and justice ministers for violating coronavirus measures.

Cross-border travelers from France to Germany will be required to produce proof of a negative COVID-19 antigen or PCR test taken within the last 48 hours and an electronic declaration on their purpose of travel from March 2, according to new health measures to curb rising cases of virus variants from France's northeastern Moselle region.

Other global developments

India's space agency launched a Brazilian satellite, Amazonia-1, and 18 other payloads from the Satish Dhawan Space Center (SDSC) in Sriharikota, a barrier island off the Bay of Bengal.

At least 10 people were reportedly killed and many others injured in a police crackdown on anti-coup demonstrators in several cities of Myanmar.

The 2020 Doha agreement between the US and the Taliban has failed to bring peace to war-ravaged Afghanistan, the Afghan government said.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz met secretly with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

An Egyptian journalist known for his criticism of the government went missing upon his return to the country, his son said.