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 is set to usher in a new era for investment incentives, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying "we will achieve our goals by building economic policies on price, financial, macroeconomic stability." The country is set to focus more on gaining confidence and credibility in economic policies and reducing the country's risk premium.

The president also announced Wednesday that Turkey would further enhance its environmental efforts by planting billions of saplings by 2023, the country’s 100th anniversary of its foundation.

Wednesday marked a milestone in Turkey's coronavirus pandemic as the number of COVID-19 patients topped 400,000. In addition, Turkey is set to expand nationwide smoking restrictions as part of coronavirus measures.

Turkish prosecutors slapped a PKK terrorist responsible for a deadly terror attack in 2016 with an aggravated life sentence of over 10,000 years. Some 38 people were killed and hundreds wounded in the incident.

Five people were killed when a Turkish boat and a Greek tanker collided in the Eastern Mediterranean. The accident took place 15 nautical miles off southern Adana province.

A terrorist whose affiliation was not specified was "neutralized" in a counter-terrorism operation in an eastern region of the country.

Turkey’s foreign minister said plans excluding Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean region were doomed to fail as his country was determined to defend its legitimate rights and interests.

Attending a ceremony to celebrate Azerbaijan's military victory, Turkey’s defense minister hailed the military campaign in Nagorno-Karabakh, which was liberated from occupying Armenian forces.

Conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia

President Erdogan announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding setting up a joint Turkish-Russian center to monitor the Karabakh deal, which put an end to weeks of armed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, Russia deployed the first peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh as 414 Russian servicemen arrived in the conflict zone, according to the Russian General Staff.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said the liberated region would become a real paradise and "would be revived and reinvigorated."

Middle East and Africa

Libyan parties representing the government and its arch-enemy warlord Khalifa Haftar reached a preliminary deal to end the transition period and elections will be held within 18 months.

Bahrain's Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa passed away at the age of 84. His funeral will be held in Bahrain and will be limited to family members only.

An Ethiopian military counter-offensive against forces of the renegade Tigray People's Liberation Front continued Wednesday with more than 550 rebels killed.

Hanan al-Barassi, an outspoken critic of Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar’s militias, was shot dead by gunmen in Benghazi. The activist’s assassination sparked a global outcry.

The Muslim Brotherhood slammed a Saudi body over a terror label, with a spokesperson for the organization saying it is not a terrorist but a reformist establishment.

At least four people were injured in Saudi Arabia when a blast took place at a WWI memorial. Foreign diplomats were present at the site when the explosion occurred.

COVID-19 pandemic

Coronavirus cases continued to surge in Africa as a tally of registered cases surpassed 1.9 million while deaths neared 46,000.

Russia recorded its highest number of daily COVID-19 deaths. About 10,000 new cases and more than 430 deaths were reported.

Germany reported its highest number of coronavirus fatalities since April as the virus claimed 261 more lives, bringing the death toll to over 11,760.

Iran reported 462 more virus-related deaths and over 11,700 cases Wednesday. The country's death toll neared 40,000 and all provinces are now red zones with a high virus transmission risk, according to the country's Health Ministry.