Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing - August 12, 2020

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.

Turkey

“There has been a 32% decrease in hospitalization for the last three days,” Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter, citing the Health Ministry's data.

Turkey is set to issue a license for drilling in the western part of its continental shelf in the Eastern Mediterranean region, the country’s foreign minister said Tuesday.

Turkey has taken all measures to protect its rights and interests in the Eastern Mediterranean arising from international law in its maritime jurisdiction areas, the country's top defense official said Tuesday.

In the face of efforts by Greece, the Greek Cypriot administration and Egypt to limit Turkey to its mainland, Ankara has announced that it would respond by continuing exploration activities in the Eastern Mediterranean with its seismic research vessel the MTA Oruc Reis.

COVID-19 pandemic

The first coronavirus vaccine in the world has been registered in Russia, President Vladimir Putin announced Tuesday.

More than 20 million cases of the novel coronavirus have been confirmed worldwide, according to data compiled late Tuesday by US-based Johns Hopkins University.

India’s coronavirus tally rose to more than 2.26 million Tuesday with over 50,000 new cases in the last 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry.

The novel coronavirus claimed 703 more lives in Brazil and 705 in Mexico over the last 24 hours, health authorities said Tuesday.

Nigeria's government has issued a fresh warning to citizens to take preventive measures against the coronavirus as the country's death toll nears 1,000.

New Zealand's prime minister on Tuesday confirmed four local cases of the novel coronavirus -- the first in the last 102 days.

A total of 730,000 jobs have been lost in the UK since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the country’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed Tuesday.

The total number of coronavirus cases in Southeast Asian countries reached 337,756 as of Tuesday, including 8,370 fatalities and 214,811 recoveries.  

Blast in Lebanon

The death toll from last week’s explosion at the Beirut Port has risen to 171, outgoing Lebanese Health Minister Hassan Hamad said Tuesday.

At least 34 refugees died in the Beirut explosion last week, the UN said Tuesday, fearing the death toll could rise further.

At least 8,000 buildings, including 50 ancient structures, were damaged by last week’s massive explosion at Beirut Port, according to the High Relief Commission in Lebanon on Tuesday.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun sent a report to the Higher Defense Council about the ammonium nitrate shipment that caused the explosion at Beirut Port two weeks before the blast, a source close to the president said Tuesday.

Lebanese security forces on Tuesday fired tear gas canisters at protesters in a bid to keep them away from the parliament building in the capital Beirut.

Three Israeli tanks crossed a technical fence that separates Lebanon from Israel on Tuesday, according to the official Lebanese News Agency.

Other global news

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden tapped California Senator Kamala Harris on Tuesday to be his running mate ahead of the US election in November.

Israel decided Tuesday to close the Karem Abu Salem crossing, Gaza’s main commercial trade route, to all entries except humanitarian aid and fuel oil.

Belarus's Interior Ministry announced Tuesday that a protestor died in demonstrations after President Alexander Lukashenko won a sixth term in office.

Meanwhile, more than 3,000 people have been arrested in Belarus as protests continued for a second day after incumbent Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner of Sunday’s presidential election.

Egyptians went to vote Tuesday for a new upper house chamber, the Senate, for the first time since last year's constitutional amendments.

The ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) of Trinidad and Tobago has declared itself the winner of the 2020 general elections.

The family members of three missing cousins in Indian-administered Kashmir have alleged that the Indian army killed the trio in a staged gunfight last month and passed them off as militants.