Turkey’s coronavirus cases overtake Iran, highest in Middle East

An aerial picture taken on April 18, 2020 shows the empty Galata bridge in Istanbul, as Turkish government announced a two-day curfew to prevent the spread of the epidemic COVID-19 caused by the novel coronavirus. (AFP/Ozan Kose)
Short Url
Updated 18 April 2020
Follow

Turkey’s coronavirus cases overtake Iran, highest in Middle East

  • An increase of 3,783 cases in the last 24 hours also pushed Turkey’s confirmed tally within a few hundred of China
  • The Interior Ministry said it was extending restrictions on travel between 31 cities for a further 15 days starting at midnight on Saturday

ISTANBUL: Turkey’s confirmed coronavirus cases have risen to 82,329, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Saturday, overtaking neighboring Iran for the first time to register the highest total in the Middle East.
An increase of 3,783 cases in the last 24 hours also pushed Turkey’s confirmed tally within a few hundred of China, where the novel coronavirus first emerged.
Koca said 121 more people have died, taking the death toll to 1,890. A total of 1,822 people have recovered from coronavirus so far, and the number of tests carried out over the past 24 hours came to 40,520, the minister said.
The Interior Ministry also said it was extending restrictions on travel between 31 cities for a further 15 days starting at midnight on Saturday.


Yemen’s STC leader Al-Zubaidi has fled to unknown location, did not board plane to Riyadh: Coalition

Updated 27 min 31 sec ago
Follow

Yemen’s STC leader Al-Zubaidi has fled to unknown location, did not board plane to Riyadh: Coalition

RIYADH: Aidarous Al-Zubaidi, the leader of Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council, has fled to an unknown location and did not board a plane to the Saudi capital Riyadh, where talks with other southern-based factions are set to take place, the coalition to support the legitimate government of Yemen said.

Saudi Arabia offered to mediate between the factions to resolve tensions in the south of the country and both Al-Zubaidi and Yemen’s presidential council leader Rashad Al-Alimi agreed to attend.

A large delegation of STC members did board the flight to Riyadh, the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen said early on Wednesday. 

Al-Zubaidi was due to arrive in the Kingdom on Tuesday but during a 3-hour flight delay, the coalition said that “unjustified field movements” were observed in Aden. 

The coalition said it had been provided with information that Al-Zubaidi has moved a large number of forces toward Dhala.

Last week, the coalition carried a out a “limited” airstrike targeting two shipments of smuggled weapons and other military hardware into Mukalla in southern Yemen.

It said the two vessels entered the port without authorization from either the Yemeni government or the coalition, prompting the port’s closure.

The large quantity of “weapons and combat vehicles to support the Southern Transitional Council forces in the eastern governorates of Yemen” aimed to fuel the conflict, the coalition said.

More to follow...