News archive of August 2020

Turkey has condemned "illegitimate attempts" by Greece to change the status of Kastellorizo following news footage in the Turkish media allgedly showing Greek soldiers disembarking from a ferry on the southeastern Aegean island on Friday.

Turkey's economy contracted 9.9 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of this year, the country's statistical authority announced on Aug. 31.

Gross domestic product (GDP) at current prices amounted to 1.04 trillion Turkish liras ($153.18 billion) in the April-June period, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).

Prime Minister Boyko Borissov will take part today, August 31, in the Strategic Forum in Bled, Slovenia, the government's press service said.

A wildfire near the ruins of the Bronze Age site of Mycenae in Greece that prompted the evacuation of visitors to the archeological site was contained Sunday, firefighters said.

The fire that started at noon near the tomb of Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae who was killed during the Trojan War, "is partially under control", Greek Fire Brigade said.

Officials in Portland, Oregon, said on Aug. 30 they were braced for an escalation of protest-related violence that has convulsed the city for three months, citing social media posts vowing revenge for a fatal shooting amid weekend street clashes between supporters of President Donald Trump and counter-demonstrators.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied on Aug. 30 in the Belarusian capital of Minsk to begin the fourth week of daily protests demanding that the country's authoritarian president resign.

The protests began after an Aug. 9 presidential election that protesters say was rigged but that election officials say gave President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office.

Lady Gaga cleaned up at MTV's Video Music Awards on Aug. 30, an unorthodox show that paid socially distanced homage to New York City as themes of voting and racial justice punctuated the night.

The United States neared six million coronavirus cases on Aug. 30, nearly a quarter of the planet's total, as nations around the world battle to contain the raging pandemic.    

Global coronavirus infections soared past 25 million, as countries tightened restrictions to halt the health crisis that has upended life for most of humanity.    

Turkish driver Ayhancan Güven won the seventh round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup in Belgium on Aug. 30.

Dylan Pereira from Luxembourg and French driver Florian Latorre came in second and third, respectively.

This was Güven's second victory of the year.

A 59-year-old patient at Attikon Hospital in Haidiari in western Athens stabbed a nurse before jumping to his death from the fourth floor of the building.

According to reports, the woman has sustained a wound on the neck but her life is not in danger.

The motive behind the incident, which took place on Monday at 5.30 a.m., is not known.