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 confirmed 1,502 new cases of the novel coronavirus Tuesday, bringing the tally to 261,194.

In a tweet, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said 887 more patients had recovered from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, pushing the overall number to 238,795.

Top German diplomat Heiko Maas paid a working visit to Turkey and held meetings with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.

At a joint news conference, Cavusoglu warned Greece against taking missteps in the Eastern Mediterranean, saying Turkey is ready to do "whatever is necessary" to protect its legitimate interests in the region.

Maas, for his part, underlined that escalation in the Eastern Mediterranean helps no one -- not the EU, Turkey or Greece.

At least 172 people stranded by floods in Turkey’s Black Sea region were rescued, the nation’s disaster response agency said Tuesday. Eight people died and 12 were injured due to the heavy flooding Monday in Giresun province.

COVID-19 updates worldwide

Spain saw another surge in COVID-19 cases with 7,117 more positive tests. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced that the army would offer to help regions falling behind on contact tracing.

AstraZeneca, a British pharmaceutical company, has started clinical trials of an antibody drug to prevent and treat COVID-19.

The number of coronavirus cases in Southeast Asian countries climbed to 426,080, including 10,142 fatalities and 313,404 recoveries.

Coronavirus cases in Africa are now close to 1.2 million and the death toll on the continent is nearing 28,000.

Coronavirus cases and fatalities also continued to rise across Eurasian and Central Asian countries.

Since originating in Wuhan, China last December, the coronavirus pandemic has claimed more than 818,000 lives in 188 countries and regions. The US, Brazil, India and Russia are currently the worst-hit countries.

Over 23.8 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries exceeding 15.4 million, according to data from US-based Johns Hopkins University.

Other global developments

A boat carrying 80 irregular migrants sunk off a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea.

Some were on board when the boat sunk off the island of Halki, about 6 kilometers (4 miles) west of Rhodes, near southwestern Turkey.

Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh’s crammed camps commemorated the third anniversary of genocide with silent prayers in tents due to the coronavirus pandemic and the host country’s embargo on gathering at camps.

A two-day hearing for former Bosnian Serb Commander Ratko Mladic's appeal against his genocide conviction began.

Mladic is appealing his conviction for genocide and crimes against humanity at a court in The Hague.