Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing - August 17, 2020

By Erdogan Cagatay Zontur

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 registered 1,192 new cases of the novel coronavirus Sunday, bringing its tally to 249,309.

A total of 997 patients have recovered from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, in the last 24 hours, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter. Citing Health Ministry data, Koca said the number of recoveries reached 230,969.

India surpassed 50,000 coronavirus deaths, and the number of infections rose to 2,589,682, including 677,444 active cases with 1,862,258 discharged.

In the wake of a controversial normalization deal between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, a UAE firm and an Israeli company have signed a pact to cooperate on research into COVID-19.

- Joe Biden and Turkey

In a newly revealed video, US Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden said he would seek regime change in Turkey and could support the opposition to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2023 elections.

Turkey's presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said: “The analysis of Turkey by Joe Biden was based on pure ignorance, arrogance and hypocrisy.”

The country’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also slammed Biden’s remarks. Only the Turkish nation – not someone from the US or other country – can decide to change its government and president, Cavusoglu said in a statement.

- Eastern Mediterranean

Turkey issued a new alert announcing that its drillship Yavuz will continue its work exploring for energy resources off the island of Cyprus.

The international maritime alert or NAVTEX said the drillship will operate between Aug. 18 and Sept. 15 along with the Ertugrul Bey, Osman Bey and Orhan Bey vessels in the Eastern Mediterranean southwest of Cyprus.

- Other developments

At least 16 people were killed and more than 18 others wounded in a car bomb blast followed by a four-hour siege of a popular hotel in Somali’s capital Mogadishu by al-Shabaab militants.