Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing – September 8, 2020

By Fahri Aksut

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

Turkey's overall infection count has reached 281,509 with 1,703 new virus cases, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter.

Koca said 1,047 more patients recovered over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 252,152. He added that the death toll rose by 57 to 6,730.

Some 103,925 COVID-19 tests were done over the past day, pushing the total to over 7.88 million.

The number of patients in critical condition stands at 1,118, Health Ministry data showed.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced strict new measures to fight the novel coronavirus.

“In all provinces, no standing passengers in public transportation will be allowed,” he said after an over four-hour Cabinet meeting at the presidential complex in the capital Ankara.

Cafes and restaurants will also be subject to stricter inspections, he added.

Spain has become the first European country to hit a half-million cases. New coronavirus cases surged over the weekend in Spain, with the Ministry of Health reporting 26,560 more infections on Monday.

The three-day total brings the total number of infections to 525,549 – by far the highest number in Europe.

The number of people who have contracted the novel coronavirus in Africa has reached 1.29 million, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday.

At least 31,283 people have died from the virus across the continent while over a million patients have recovered, it said in its daily update.

Palestinian health authorities registered 182 additional coronavirus cases in the blockaded Gaza Strip on Monday.

In a statement, the Health Ministry said the seaside territory’s tally rose to 1,151 cases, including nine deaths and 89 recoveries.

Israel reported three more fatalities and 2,257 new infections from the novel coronavirus Monday.

Health officials said the number of cases has reached 131,970, including 1,022 deaths and 103,849 recoveries, since the virus was first detected on Feb. 21.

Across the world, COVID-19 has claimed more 891,000 lives in 188 countries and regions since it originated in Wuhan, China in December.

The US, Brazil, India and Russia are currently the worst-hit countries.

Over 27.25 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries over 18.24 million, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.

-Other developments

UN human rights investigator Agnes Callamard on Monday called the Saudi prosecutor's verdict on the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul a "parody of justice" which spared "high-level" plotters.

Saudi prosecutors in Riyadh convicted eight people the same day in Khashoggi's murder case after he was killed in his country's consulate in Istanbul.

"The Saudi Prosecutor performed one more act today in this parody of justice. But these verdicts carry no legal or moral legitimacy," tweeted Callamard.

"They came at the end of a process which was neither fair nor just, or transparent," she said.

The French military presence in Africa's Sahel region appears to be a fiasco because recent events in Mali have revived anti-French sentiment.

To date, 5,100 troops are deployed under Operation Barkhane led by the French armed forces in the region.

But their mobilization, officially justified by the fight against terrorism, is contested in several countries including Mali and Burkina Faso, where residents have repeatedly demonstrated against the French presence.

The situation worsened last Tuesday when a Malian civilian was shot dead and two others were wounded by French soldiers.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and two UN agencies called on European governments Monday to allow 27 people trapped on board a cargo ship in the Mediterranean to disembark.

The ICS, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the "the distraught group, including one child and a pregnant woman, have now been on board the Maersk Etienne for more than one month.”

"The absence of a clear, safe, and predictable disembarkation mechanism for people rescued in the Mediterranean continues to pose an avoidable risk to life," said IOM Director General Antonio Vitorino.

US President Donald Trump said Monday he would support Germany pulling out of a pipeline project with Russia over the alleged poisoning of a critic of Moscow but claimed Berlin may be too "weakened” in terms of energy security to do so.

Turkey condemned a deadly terror attack in the North African nation of Tunisia that claimed the life of a security officer, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Monday.

“We are saddened to receive the news that a member of the National Guard lost his life and another was injured as a result of an attack at a security checkpoint in Sousse, Tunisia, on Sept. 6, 2020, which was claimed by the Daesh [ISIS] terrorist organization,” the ministry said in a statement.

Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar has again violated a ceasefire agreement and targeted the country’s troops with multiple Grad rockets in the city of Sirte, the Government of National Accord’s military spokesman said early Tuesday.

Sudan said Monday that the death toll from the country’s floods caused by heavy seasonal rains has risen to 102.