Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing - June 17, 2021

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 has administered over 1.44 million jabs of COVID-19 vaccines in the last 24 hours, according to official figures released Wednesday.

Over 37.11 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered since the country launched a mass vaccination campaign in mid-January.

More than 23 million people have received their first doses, while over 14 million have been fully vaccinated, a Health Ministry count showed.

Turkey also confirmed 6,221 new coronavirus cases across the country in the last 24 hours, including 548 symptomatic patients.

Turkey's overall case tally is now over 5.34 million, while the nationwide death toll has reached 48,950 with 71 new fatalities.

As many as 4,632 more patients won the battle against the virus, pushing the total number of recoveries past 5.21 million.

Ankara and Baku have signed the Shusha Declaration to boost post-war cooperation and promote stability in the region.

At least two people with suspected links to the Daesh/ISIS terrorist organization were arrested Wednesday, according to a local authority in central Turkey.

Other global developments

With the world watching, US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday held their first face-to-face talks since Biden took office in January.

US President Joe Biden said his agenda on Russia was not against Moscow but for the American people.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin said his meeting with his US counterpart had been "constructive" and "substantive."

The presidents of the US and Russia issued a joint statement on "strategic stability" to reduce the threat of nuclear war.

The EU's foreign policy chief gave recommendations on guiding the bloc's relations with Russia.

The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill that makes a day remembering the freeing of America's slaves a federally recognized national holiday.

Juneteenth, which falls on June 19th, honors the day in 1865 when slaves learned of their freedom after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

China said a spaceship carrying three astronauts will be launched Thursday, according to state-run media.

With a luxury hotel project planned in China's Xinjiang autonomous region on the site of a bulldozed mosque, Hilton Worldwide Holdings is helping Beijing accomplish its genocidal goal against Uyghurs, the US' largest Muslim advocacy group said Wednesday.

Members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) renewed a call for their participation in international talks on Iran's nuclear program.

A Palestinian youth was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers Wednesday in the northern West Bank, a witness said. -