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 18,912 new coronavirus cases including 869 symptomatic patients, according to the Health Ministry. The total number of cases in the country passed 2.93 million while the nationwide death toll reached 29,696 with 73 fatalities over the past day.

Turkey’s president and vice president received the Kazakh foreign minister Wednesday in the capital Ankara.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday called for developing effective mechanisms to eradicate anti-Muslim tendencies and hatred towards Islam.

Cavusoglu also hailed his country’s ongoing talks with Greece and said his Greek counterpart would visit Turkey on April 14.

Turkey’s national defense minister on Wednesday virtually attended a NATO-led meeting on Afghanistan, a country whose struggle for peace and stability Turkey has long supported.

Turkey's top prosecutor filed an indictment Wednesday seeking the dissolution of the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), calling it an undemocratic party that colludes with the PKK terrorist group and seeks to destroy the unity of the state.

COVID-19 updates worldwide

The European Union threatened Wednesday to introduce further export restrictions on COVID-19 vaccines.

“We want reliable deliveries of vaccines. We want to see reciprocity and proportionality in exports, and we are ready to use whatever tool that we need to deliver on that,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, told a press conference.

The European Commission on Wednesday presented its proposal for issuing vaccine certificates to be used for travel within the bloc.

The World Health Organization’s expert group said Wednesday that the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine is safe for use on people aged above 18 and that an investigation showed that a tiny number of people who had the jab showed signs of blood clotting.

A letter from the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) to local vaccination centers warned the country will face a “significant reduction” in vaccine supplies from March 29, local media reported Wednesday.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday he would receive a shot of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine “shortly.”

Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza said Wednesday that the country’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign will move forward at full speed, as the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is expected to give its backing to AstraZeneca's vaccine.

Poland will introduce new restrictions after it reported its highest single-day jump in the number of coronavirus cases Wednesday, according to media reports.

Spain’s Health Ministry said Wednesday that it was now looking into three serious blood clotting incidents, including one death, that may be tied to the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Other global developments

Russia on Wednesday recalled its ambassador to the US after President Joe Biden made comments critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

US President Joe Biden called Vladimir Putin a "killer" in a pre-taped interview, saying his Russian counterpart will pay a price for interference in US affairs.

The US Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged between the 0.00% - 0.25% range during its two-day meeting.

Hatred and discrimination against Muslims has risen to "epidemic proportions," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Wednesday.

At least 33 soldiers were killed and 14 others wounded in a terrorist attack in Mali’s northern region of Gao earlier this week, the army said in a statement Wednesday.

UNICEF on Wednesday condemned the "horrific killings" of civilians in Niger after at least 58 people, including six children aged 11-17, were killed in the Tillabery region.