By Jeyhun Aliyev
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 celebrated Mother’s Day on Sunday, while the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan marked the day citing the proverb “Paradise lies at the feet of mothers” and hailed the role of mothers in establishing peace in society.
Millions around the world are at home trying to curb the spread of COVID-19, but the burden of household chores has put additional pressure on mothers with extra responsibilities. Here is a feature story you find interesting on this topic.
Over 150 mothers in a suburb of Nairobi, Kenya's capital, received food and hygiene kits on Sunday from Turkey's state-run aid agency in celebration of Mother’s Day.
Senior Turkish citizens aged 65 and above, who have been restricted to their homes since March 21 as part of the country's fight against the coronavirus outbreak, were given one-time permission to step out on Sunday.
Turkey’s sigh of relief continued Sunday as the number of active COVID-19 cases in the country dropped to 42,180.
The country also recorded a total of around 92,700 patients who had won the battle against the pandemic and regained their health.
The death toll from the pandemic rose to 3,786 as the country saw 47 more fatalities.
Turkey lifted a 48-hour curfew as of midnight Sunday which had been imposed in 24 provinces as part of measures to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Apart from its successful fight against the virus, Turkey’s also extends a helping hand to countries around the globe.
A Turkish humanitarian agency, the Istanbul-based Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), has distributed food packages among 500 families in the Philippines’ self-governing Muslim-majority Bangsamoro region during the month of Ramadan, the agency said Sunday.
You may also like to read a story on how Turkey’s metropolitan city of Istanbul has stood out and set an example for the world in the fight against the novel coronavirus.
- Coronavirus around the globe
The coronavirus continued to claim lives around the world. Global novel coronavirus-related fatalities exceeded the 282,000 mark on Sunday, according to a running tally by US-based Johns Hopkins University.
While coronavirus cases worldwide surpassed 4.1 million early Monday, global recoveries hit the 1.4 million mark.
Italy on Sunday reported 165 new fatalities from the coronavirus, bringing the toll to 30,560, as the number of active infections continued to fall.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Sunday that the nationwide lockdown would continue but that small adjustments would be made as “the first careful steps” to reopening the country and the economy.
The death toll in the country rose to 31,855 Sunday evening as 269 more patients died over the past 24 hours.
France ended the weekend on a positive note with yet another drop in coronavirus fatalities Sunday and only a slight rise in infections.
With 143 more novel coronavirus-related deaths and 621 new infections confirmed Sunday, Spain continued to make progress in containing the pandemic with daily fatalities at their lowest since March 18.
Meanwhile, the number of novel coronavirus cases in Russia surpassed 200,000 on Sunday as the number of deaths approached 2,000, according to the country's emergency task force.
The coronavirus death toll in Iran rose to 6,640 with 51 more fatalities over the past 24 hours, state media reported Sunday.
Infections were also on the rise in Eurasia on Sunday.
COVID-19 cases in Moroccan prisons jumped to 397, as authorities on Sunday confirmed 53 new coronavirus cases at a prison in the northwestern city of Tangier.
Morocco's health authorities have so far confirmed 5,910 coronavirus cases, including 186 deaths.
Virus tallies also rose across Arab countries.
Bangladesh suffered its highest daily death toll from the coronavirus on Sunday, with 14 people succumbing to the disease, according to the latest data from the government. The country has now recorded 228 deaths from the virus.
- Other developments
An Iranian destroyer mistakenly shot and sank a second Iranian vessel during a naval exercise Sunday in the Persian Gulf, killing at least 20 people, according to unofficial reports.
Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) helped rescue a kidnapped Italian aid worker in Somalia, according to a security source Sunday.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday slammed Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar, adding that indiscriminate attacks constitute war crimes.
At least 10 members of Haftar’s militia were neutralized Sunday in shelling by the Libyan army.
The US and France plan to create political space for the YPG/PKK. The plan aims to separate the Kurdish National Council from the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces. Here is the story.
On Sunday, a terrorist surrendered to Turkish security forces in the country’s southeastern Mardin province, the Interior Ministry said, adding a total of 76 terrorists have so far surrendered to the forces since the beginning of this year.
At least 11 civilians were wounded in a bomb attack carried out by the YPG/PKK terror group in the northern Syrian city of al-Bab, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said Sunday.
Despite claims that US Vice President Mike Pence self-isolated himself at home, his spokesperson Devin O'Malley said Sunday that Pence continues to work at the White House and is not self-isolating after his press secretary tested positive for the novel coronavirus.