Libya Reports More than 1,000 Virus Cases in 24 Hours

Libya reports over 1,000 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours. (Reuters)
Libya reports over 1,000 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours. (Reuters)
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Libya Reports More than 1,000 Virus Cases in 24 Hours

Libya reports over 1,000 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours. (Reuters)
Libya reports over 1,000 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours. (Reuters)

Libya’s National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) recorded on Tuesday 1,031 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours.

These include 769 new cases and 262 who were in contact with infected people, raising the tally to 38,468, 2,410 recoveries and 602 deaths.

The cases were distributed among 40 cities and municipalities across the country, with 520 cases in Tripoli alone, 45 in the western city of Zawiya and 35 in the eastern city of Benghazi.

The Center urged Libyans to follow all the precautionary measures and avoid gatherings in social events and malls.

Separately, the Government of National Accord’s (GNA) Supreme Committee to Combat the Coronavirus Epidemic (SCCCE) has allowed the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments to reopen mosques, urging them to take all the necessary preventive measures.

The GNA’s Health Ministry announced on Tuesday the establishment of a “medical tent” to sort out visitors to Tripoli University Hospital before allowing them to enter.

According to a ministry statement, stages through which patients pass differ according to their symptoms, adding that the number of daily visitors will be limited to 1,000 to 1,500.

These stages begin by taking the body temperature, heart rate, oxygen rate and vital functions and end with isolating those tested positive for COVID-19.



Iran Denies Aiding Yemen’s Houthi Militias after US Strikes

 People gather on the rubble of a house hit by a US strike in Saada, Yemen March 16, 2025. (Reuters)
People gather on the rubble of a house hit by a US strike in Saada, Yemen March 16, 2025. (Reuters)
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Iran Denies Aiding Yemen’s Houthi Militias after US Strikes

 People gather on the rubble of a house hit by a US strike in Saada, Yemen March 16, 2025. (Reuters)
People gather on the rubble of a house hit by a US strike in Saada, Yemen March 16, 2025. (Reuters)

Iran on Sunday once again denied aiding Yemen's Houthi militias after the United States launched a wave of airstrikes against them and President Donald Trump warned that Tehran would be held “fully accountable” for their actions.

The Houthi-run Health Ministry said the strikes killed at least 31 people, including women and children, and wounded over 100. The Houthis said one strike hit two homes in northern Saada province, killing four children and a woman. The Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV showed images of what it said were the bodies.

The Houthis have repeatedly targeted international shipping in the Red Sea and launched missiles and drones at Israel in what the militias said were acts of solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been at war with Hamas, another Iranian ally.

The attacks stopped when a fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire took hold in Gaza in January, but the Houthis had threatened to renew them after Israel cut off the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza this month.

The US and others have long accused Iran of providing military aid to the Houthis and the US Navy has seized Iranian-made missile parts and other weaponry it said were bound for the group, which controls Yemen's capital, Sanaa, and the country's north.

Gen. Hossein Salami, head of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, denied his country was involved in the Houthi attacks, saying it “plays no role in setting the national or operational policies” of the militant groups it is allied with across the region, according to state-run TV.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in a post on X, urged the US to halt the strikes and said Washington cannot dictate Iran's foreign policy.

Trump on Saturday had vowed to use “overwhelming lethal force” until the Houthis cease their attacks on shipping along the vital maritime corridor.

The airstrikes come a few days after the Houthis said they would resume attacks on Israeli vessels sailing off Yemen in response to Israel’s latest blockade on Gaza. There have been no Houthi attacks reported since then.

The Houthis had targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two and killing four sailors, during their campaign targeting military and civilian ships between the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023 and January of this year, when the ceasefire in Gaza took effect.

The United States, Israel and Britain have previously hit Houthi-held areas in Yemen, but Saturday’s operation was conducted solely by the US It was the first strike on the Houthis under the second Trump administration.