Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing – August 28, 2020

By Burak Dag

ANKARA (AA) - 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 1,491 new cases of the novel coronavirus Thursday, bringing the tally to 263,998.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced on Twitter that the total number of recoveries had reached 240,792.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Ukraine's vice prime minister Thursday.

Turkey donated 12 new armored personnel carriers Thursday to the Somali military to support its fight against the al-Qaeda affiliated group al-Shabaab. Somali Defense Minister Hassan Ali Mohamed and Somali armed forces commander Gen. Odawa Yusuf Rageh received the donation at a ceremony held in the capital Mogadishu on Thursday.

Turkey wants its Turkic kin in Moldova’s autonomous Gagauzia region to prosper, Turkey’s foreign minister said Thursday.

"We want a strong Gagauzia within a strong Moldova. We appreciate your working on this with Chisinau," Moldova’s capital, Mevlut Cavusoglu told a press conference with Irina Vlah, governor (baskhan) of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia.

Trying to test Turkey's power would be unwise, the nation’s defense minister said Thursday, reiterating that it is both determined and able to protect its own rights and interests. Everyone should know that the Turkish Republic has truly become a player on the international stage, Hulusi Akar told Anadolu Agency's Editors' Desk.

Turkey welcomed the life sentence handed down to the terrorist who attacked worshippers at two mosques in New Zealand’s eastern city of Christchurch last year.

At least one member of the PKK terrorist group surrendered to security forces in southeastern Turkey, the Interior Ministry announced Thursday.

Turkey rescued 214 asylum seekers in the Aegean Sea, security sources said Thursday.

- COVID-19 updates worldwide

The number of novel coronavirus cases worldwide hit 24.36 million Thursday, according to a running tally by US-based Johns Hopkins University.

India reported over 75,000 new coronavirus cases and more than 1,000 fatalities Thursday.

At least 117 more coronavirus-related fatalities have raised the death toll in Iran to 21,137, the country’s Health Ministry said.

Nepal on Thursday reported 1,111 new COVID-19 infections, the highest single-day count in the Himalayan country, said the Health Ministry spokesman.

Coronavirus cases in Africa are now over 1.21 million and the death toll on the continent has passed 28,500, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said in an update Thursday.

France's prime minister on Thursday laid out a plan for the country's recovery from the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Manchester United's French football star Paul Pogba tested positive for the novel coronavirus Thursday.

The Palestinian Health Ministry on Thursday recorded 14 new coronavirus cases in the densely-populated Gaza Strip.

Britons returning from the Czech Republic, Jamaica and Switzerland will have to quarantine for two weeks from the coming Saturday, the British transport secretary announced Thursday, as over 1,500 more people tested positive for the novel coronavirus over the past 24 hours.

A new study has suggested the development of a sex-based approach to treat the novel coronavirus.

South Korea reported more than 400 new coronavirus cases Thursday, the highest daily number since March.

South Sudan is on alert as Ebola is lurking in the neighborhood and the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, overshadowing the threat of Ebola in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) spilling over.

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

Health authorities in Iraq, Sudan and Qatar registered more deaths from the novel coronavirus Thursday.

- Other global developments

The Australian white supremacist who killed 51 Muslim worshippers last year in New Zealand’s deadliest shooting was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the first such ruling ever handed down in the country.

China and the US witnessed a rare confrontation in the South China Sea as the Chinese army fired missiles to warn off US forces.

A day after firing warning missiles in the South China Sea, China’s Defense Ministry said Thursday that Beijing “opposes and does not fear the United States.”

The chief executive officer of Chinese-owned social media app TikTok has stepped down from his role, Chinese daily the Global Times reported Thursday.

The number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits last week topped 1 million for a second consecutive week, the US Labor Department said Thursday.

The US NBA postponed three playoff games Wednesday after the Milwaukee Bucks refused to take to the court in protest against racial injustice and police brutality after the shooting of a Black man in Wisconsin.

In a meeting with Germany’s chancellor Thursday, NATO’s secretary-general stressed “dialogue and de-escalation” to defuse recent tensions between Turkey and Greece over offshore energy exploration.

Police arrested a man in London on suspicion of war crimes during the Liberian civil wars, the Met Police said Thursday.

Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka has pulled out of a major tennis competition in the US in protest over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Wisconsin.

Hundreds of journalists have written a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling for the release of Kashmiri journalist Asif Sultan, who was detained two years ago.

Mauritius announced Thursday that it had started distributing food supplies to over 400 fishers whose livelihoods were hit when a Japanese ship ran aground on July 25, causing an oil spill.

Jordan is preparing for general elections scheduled for Nov. 10 in line with guidelines issued by the country’s election board due to the coronavirus.

Russian and US military chiefs discussed in a phone call their altercation in Syria, Russia's Defense Ministry said.

Togo has become the first African country to eliminate sleeping sickness as a public health problem, the World Health Organization’s Africa office said Thursday.

Islamabad on Thursday demanded that New Delhi share the initial findings on the deaths of 11 Pakistani citizens in India.

Long-awaited intra-Afghan talks with the Taliban will begin next week, Afghanistan’s top peace negotiator announced Thursday.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Oman’s Sultan in Muscat on Thursday as part of his regional travel, the country’s official media reported.

Ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has been released, the Malian junta announced Thursday.

Greek lawmakers on Thursday ratified a controversial maritime agreement with Egypt on boundaries in the Eastern Mediterranean.