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 registered 1,812 COVID-19 cases and 1,419 recoveries in the past 24 hours.

The country’s case count now stands at 343,955 with recoveries totaling 301,098, according to Health Ministry data.

The death toll from the virus reached 9,153 with 73 additional fatalities.

Turkey's health minister said there have been increases in infections in the Turkish metropolitan city of Istanbul and northwestern Bursa province.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed relations with Ukraine and said both countries enhanced ties in many fields, including defense, health and tourism through a win-win approach.

Turkey criticized recently approved plans by Israel to expand its illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The Turkish Red Crescent celebrated World Food Day with a celebrity chef and two Syrian refugees cooking a traditional meal of Syrian and Turkish cuisine.

As part of Turkey’s anti-terrorism efforts, 107 terrorists have been neutralized in the past 30 days. The country also neutralized four YPG/PKK terrorists in northern Syria.

Soumaya Raissi, a Daesh/ISIS terrorist wanted by France on a red notice, was arrested in southern Turkey, according to security sources said. 

Azerbaijan-Armenia row 

Amid tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Turkey strongly condemned Armenian forces’ attack on Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Armenian forces launched a missile attack on the territory of the Ordubad region, said Azerbaijan Defense Ministry.

At least 47 Azerbaijani civilians have been killed and 222 injured in attacks on civilian settlements, according to Azerbaijani authorities. 

Armenia has suffered heavy losses as Azerbaijan retained operational advantage along the entire front. The Azerbaijani army said it destroyed battle tanks, one Grad missile, five howitzers along with eight auto vehicles with ammunition.

The Azerbaijani army liberated three more villages, including Khirmanjig, Agbulag and Akhullu, in the Khojavend region from Armenian occupation, the country's president announced. 

COVID-19 updates worldwide

More than 1.1 million people have died worldwide after contracting the novel coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

COVID-19 cases in the US surpassed 8 million, while deaths near 218,000.

The US still leads the world in cases and deaths, followed by India and Brazil.

With India's coronavirus case count reaching 7.3 million, the Health Ministry said the recovery rate jumped to 87.5%

Italy reported a record in the number of daily COVID-19 infections, registering 10,010 new cases in the past 24 hours, the highest daily toll since the start of the pandemic.

Spain broke its all-time record for daily cases, with the Health Ministry reporting 15,186 new infections.

Germany reported 7,334 new infections, its highest one-day count since the start of the outbreak.

China carried out 11 million tests in just five days in the eastern coastal city of Qingdao after news cases were reported last weekend.

Iraq reported more than 3,500 cases and 56 additional deaths.

Black people and those with South Asian ethnic backgrounds have higher risks of death from COVID-19 compared to those with White ethnic backgrounds, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.

Currently, the drug dexamethasone is still the only therapeutic shown to be effective against the virus for severe patients, the chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

The WHO also said that a batch of drugs, at least the one used in the treatment of COVID-19, was unable to prevent deaths in patients infected with the virus. 

Other global developments 

Urgent efforts are needed to avoid “disastrous consequences” of a rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis in Africa’s Sahel region, the UN Refugee Agency warned.

The head of the UN condemned two recent attacks on the international body's mission in Mali.

The EU is determined to make a Brexit agreement possible but not at any cost, European Council President Charles Michel said after a two-day summit of EU leaders in Brussels.

Europe’s five major powers urged Israel to immediately stop plans to construct new settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was accused of alleged Libyan financing for his 2007 presidential campaign.