ANKARA

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

Virus in Turkey

Turkey imposed limited curfews across the country this weekend as more than 2.5 million students are set to take university entrance exams.

The health minister said Friday that active cases of the novel coronavirus continued to fall, with more daily recoveries than new infections.

A total of 1,492 people beat COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall count to 167,198, Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter, citing official data.

The death toll from the virus rose to 5,065, as it reported 19 new fatalities in the past 24 hours.

Turkish doctors applied the Turkish ray therapy method (TurkishBeam) for the first time Friday for COVID-19 treatment on a patient in southeastern Turkey.

It was applied to a 46-year-old male patient, cardiovascular surgeon Hikmet Selcuk Gedik at Ankara’s Gazi University said at a news conference that was attended by Diyarbakır Provincial Health Director Cihan Tekin and Diyarbakır Gazi Yaşargil Training and Research Hospital head physician Erkan Baysal.

TurkishBeam is a ray treatment system first established and developed by world-famous Turkish firm developer RD Global INVAMED
after three years of research by scientists under the name TurkishBeam Selective-Sensitive UVC and Laser Therapy, or TurkishBeam.

Security, anti-terror ops in Turkey

Turkish security sources “neutralized” three PKK terrorists in southeastern Hakkari province, the Interior Ministry said Friday.

Terrorists were neutralized in the Kavakli region of Hakkari in a joint air-backed anti-terror operation carried out by Turkish police and gendarmerie forces, according to a statement that said the operation is ongoing.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including many women, children and infants.

A Turkish soldier was martyred in a clash with terrorists in a cross-border anti-terror operation in northern Iraq, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said Friday.

Two terrorists were also neutralized during Operation Claw-Tiger and their weapons were destroyed, according to the ministry.

Security forces in southeastern Turkey seized explosives and ammunition belonging to the PKK/YPG terror group.

Gendarmerie forces launched an operation in Cukurca district after spotting a hideout of the terror group June 24, according to local authorities in Hakkari province.

A total of 44 suspects were arrested Friday in Turkey for alleged links to the PKK terror group, including former mayors from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).

The arrests were made following security forces’ raids in Diyarbakir, Istanbul, Izmir, Batman and Sanliurfa provinces after judicial authorities issued arrest warrants for 64 suspects.

Coronavirus outbreak across world

A World Health Organization (WHO)-led coalition against the novel coronavirus said Friday it needs $31.3 billion during the next 12 months to develop and roll out tests, treatments and vaccines to fight the virus.

“Total needs are estimated for low-and-middle-income countries over 12 months for therapeutics and diagnostics, and 18 months for vaccines," said Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, special envoy for the WHO's ACT-Accelerator program at an online event ahead of a pledging conference.

Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus cases continues to increase across the world.

After months of confinement and social distancing, most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are facing an increase in COVID-19 cases, economic crisis and fatigue due to extensive quarantines.

Similarly, the number of infections and fatalities from the virus continued to rise across Eurasian countries.

In Spain, researchers at the University of Barcelona said they detected the virus in a frozen Barcelona wastewater sample from March 12, 2019.

If research holds up, it will blow apart the accepted timeline about the virus and the idea it originated in China.

In Italy, the government sent soldiers Friday to isolate a group of buildings in the southern town of Mondragone, where a new cluster of coronavirus among seasonal workers sparked clashes with residents.

Earlier this week, authorities ordered a quarantine of buildings and put 700 residents -- mainly Bulgarians and Roma -- under lockdown for 15 days.

Other developments

The world's first uterus recipient gavd birth in Turkey. A woman in southern Turkey gave birth after receiving the world's first successful uterus transplant, her doctor said Friday.

On her 28th week, Derya Sert gave birth June 4 to a healthy boy, plastic surgeon Dr. Omer Ozkan of Akdeniz University in Antalya province told Anadolu Agency.

Sert, 23, who had not been able to bear children because she did not have a uterus at birth, went down in history as the world's first successful uterus recipient in August 2011.

In sporting news, Liverpool was crowned league champions after 30 long years.

The English giants waited three decades for a top-flight title as the Reds were crowned champions of England after Chelsea defeated Manchester City 2-1 in a match Thursday.

The title gave Liverpool its 19th top-flight crown since the 1989-90 campaign.

The Reds also earned the earliest Premier League title in league history with a 23-point lead ahead of second-place Manchester City after playing just 31 matches.