Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing – October 9, 2020

By Dilara Hamit

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 reported 1,615 new cases of the novel coronavirus and 1,398 recoveries over the past 24 hours, the country's Health Ministry said Thursday. The overall case count now stands at 330,753, with recoveries totaling 290,352, according to ministry data.

Some 117,101 COVID-19 tests were conducted over the past 24 hours, bringing the overall tally to more than 11.27 million. The death toll from the virus reached 8,667 with 58 more fatalities.

The abandoned town of Maras in the Turkish Cypriot city of Gazimagusa partially reopened for public use.

Turkey's military presence in Qatar serves the stability and peace not only for Qatar but the whole Gulf region, said the Turkish president.

The Turkish and Greek foreign ministers discussed the dispute over the Eastern Mediterranean and around the island of Cyprus.

Ahead of new technical talks between Turkey and Greece to reduce tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, Greece has issued an alert that it will hold maritime shooting drills on a Turkish national holiday in what seems to be a deliberate provocation.

Turkey's US envoy lashed out at an American congressman who said it is "time to get tough with Turkey." Ambassador Serdar Kilic, in a series of tweets, accused Democrat Adam Schiff of California of twisting "the truth as well as the realities on the ground" and said Americans deserve to know the truth, not politically motivated distortions.

- COVID-19 updates worldwide

Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Brazil have passed 5 million, with the country’s death toll approaching 150,000, health authorities confirmed.

Hundreds of doctors and nursing staff of a government-run Delhi hospital designed for COVID-19 patients continued their strike for the third day as the country recorded over 78,500 more positive cases.

Germany registered its highest daily coronavirus cases since early April with 4,058 new infections.

Israeli health authorities reported 4,117 new coronavirus infections amid its total lockdown.

COVID-19 infections continued to climb Thursday in France with 18,129 new cases and 77 additional fatalities registered, according to the Health Ministry.

A new poll by France's Elabe Institute shows that the majority of French people feel their president failed to handle the COVID-19 crisis as well as he could have.

More than 85% of those who tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the UK did not have any of the established symptoms of the disease when they took the test, a new study released Thursday found.

Italy reported 4,458 more cases of the novel coronavirus Thursday, hitting a fresh record since early April, when the country was under a strict lockdown.

- Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict

Armenia’s president dismissed the head of the country's National Security Service.

The Armenian Armed Forces continued shelling Azerbaijani civilian settlements, according to Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry.

Azerbaijan summoned its ambassador in Greece back for consultations.

In a statement, the country's Foreign Ministry said it had shared open-source reports with Athens that Armenian-origin Greek nationals had traveled to the region to take part in Yerevan's attacks on Azerbaijan

- Other global developments

US Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic challenger Kamala Harris sparred politically in what was a markedly more civil showdown than last week's first presidential debate.

Canada has introduced a plan to ban harmful single-use plastics by the end of 2021.

King Abdullah II of Jordan appointed Bishr Al-Khasawneh to form a new government, succeeding the government of Omar Al-Razzaz, which resigned Saturday.

Kuwait’s parliament endorsed Sheikh Mishaal al-Ahmad al-Sabah as the new crown prince.

The US sanctioned 18 Iranian banks and Iran's wider financial sector Thursday in a move European governments warned could have dire humanitarian consequences for the country.