Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing

ISTANBUL

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

World

Gabriel Boric won Chile's presidential election Sunday, becoming the country's youngest leader at the age of 35 after his rival conceded defeat.

Thousands of Sudanese rallied in the capital Khartoum on Sunday to mark the third anniversary of a popular uprising that swept long-serving President Omar al-Bashir from power.

The death toll from Typhoon Rai in the Philippines reached 169 on Sunday, local media quoted police as saying.

At least four people, including children, were killed when a light plane crashed off Australia's east coast Sunday.

The US has donated 1.78 million more doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine to Bangladesh in an effort to help the South Asian country expand its immunization drive to young people aged 12 and up, the US embassy in Dhaka announced Sunday.

Israeli forces detained six Palestinians early Sunday who were allegedly involved in attacking settlers in the occupied West Bank.

The UN Mission to Support the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA) on Sunday urged Yemen’s warring parties to calm down the situation and avoid harming civilians and their properties.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said Sunday that it had destroyed two drones fired by Houthi rebels towards Saudi territories.

Developments in Turkey

Turkey's new telecommunication satellite was launched Sunday by US aerospace company SpaceX at 6.59 a.m. Turkish time.

Turkey will not abandon free-market principles, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday, stressing that the country will not put in place a controlled foreign exchange regime.

With Afghanistan continuing to struggle with a humanitarian crisis, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Sunday called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to "play a leading role in mobilizing international support for Afghanistan."

Turkey has administered more than 124.05 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it launched an immunization drive in January, according to official figures released Sunday.

Over 56.66 million people have received a first vaccine shot, while more than 51.16 million are fully vaccinated, the Health Ministry said.

Turkey has also given third booster shots to more than 14.28 million people.

Meanwhile, the ministry confirmed 16,910 new coronavirus infections, 171 related deaths, and 22,858 recoveries over the past day.