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.
– Developments in Turkey
Turkey confirmed 1,293 more cases of the novel coronavirus Tuesday, bringing the total to nearly 200,000, according to the country's health minister.
A leading lawmaker of Turkey's ruling party announced Tuesday that he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
At least 74 suspects were arrested and millions of dollars seized in the largest anti-narcotics operation in Turkey’s history, the Interior Ministry said Tuesday.
Turkish exports reached $61.6 billion in the January-May period, down 20% year-on-year amid the coronavirus pandemic, the country's statistical authority said.
– Coronavirus outbreak across world
Since first appearing in Wuhan, China last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions.
The pandemic has killed more than 509,000 people worldwide, with an excess of 10.4 million confirmed cases and greater than 5.3 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.
Brazil on Tuesday confirmed 692 new fatalities from the coronavirus, bringing the nationwide death toll to 58,314.
The number of cases has reached 1,368,195, with 24,052 additions since Monday, according to the Health Ministry.
The death toll in Mexico reached 27,121 with 473 more fatalities, according to Health Ministry data.
India’s first COVID-19 vaccine received approval for human trials from the country’s drug regulator as the number of coronavirus-related cases and deaths continued upward, a drug company announced.
The daily growth in coronavirus cases in Russia stayed below 7,000 for a fifth day in a row while recoveries are rising, resulting in a falling share of active cases, according to official figures.
Bangladesh registered its highest single-day death toll from the novel coronavirus Tuesday as 64 people died over the past 24 hours, said the country’s Health Ministry.
Israel on Tuesday reported 714 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, the highest daily number of cases since April 2.
Iran confirmed 147 more fatalities Tuesday from the novel coronavirus.
A further 2,457 people tested positive for COVID-19, said Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari.
– Libya
The UN Human Rights Office said Tuesday it is "horrified" by the recent discovery of mass graves in and around the Libyan city of Tarhuna.
"We had already called on June 18 for a prompt, thorough, effective, transparent and independent investigation to establish the facts and circumstances of human rights violations and abuses perpetrated by all parties in Libya," UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Liz Throssell said.
Libya on Tuesday pushed back against recent statements by French President Emmanuel Macron on Turkey’s role in the North African country.
"We hoped to hear from President Macron a position that states his rejection of [Khalifa] Haftar's 14 months of aggression against Tripoli," the nation’s capital, said Mohamed Taher Siala, Libya's foreign minister, referring to the eastern-based warlord who has attacked the government.
Turkey on Tuesday accused NATO ally France of trying to increase Russia's role in Libya, despite the fact that the alliance sees Moscow as a threat.
"NATO sees Russia as a threat on the one hand, but NATO ally France is trying to increase Russia's presence in Libya on the other," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a joint news conference with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto.
Five more corpses have been discovered in mass graves in Libya’s western city of Tarhuna, officials said Tuesday.
Spain’s Foreign Affairs Ministry released a statement Tuesday calling for an end to the blockade on oil production in Libya.
– Other developments
China passed a national security law for Hong Kong on Tuesday to rein in the semi-autonomous region after months of protests last year, local media reported.
The US administration late Monday limited the export of sensitive American technology to Hong Kong and effectively revoked the special status of the former British colony hours before lawmakers in Beijing reportedly approved a national security law for China’s semi-autonomous region.
The US will continue to depend on Turkish manufacturing for key parts of F-35 fighter jets through 2022, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing a Pentagon official.
Robert Jenrick, Britain’s Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary, has faced a wave of criticism over the past month which has threatened to undermine the reputation of the ruling center-right Conservative Party.
Chinese video-sharing platform TikTok said Tuesday that the data of all its users in India is secure and has never been shared with any foreign government, a day after New Delhi banned the app along with 58 others over security concerns.
France’s oldest power plant Fessenheim went offline at midnight Monday after 40 years of operation, the state-owned energy company EDF announced.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Tuesday that more than $696 million in humanitarian aid will be delivered to Syrians.
Hugely popular Oromo language singer, activist and songwriter Hachalu Hundessa has been killed by unidentified gunmen, police said early Tuesday.
