Turkey Logs Record Daily COVID-19 Cases amid Omicron Surge

Municipality workers in protective suits disinfect courtyard of the Kocatepe Mosque to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Ankara, Turkey April 15, 2021. (Reuters)
Municipality workers in protective suits disinfect courtyard of the Kocatepe Mosque to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Ankara, Turkey April 15, 2021. (Reuters)
TT

Turkey Logs Record Daily COVID-19 Cases amid Omicron Surge

Municipality workers in protective suits disinfect courtyard of the Kocatepe Mosque to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Ankara, Turkey April 15, 2021. (Reuters)
Municipality workers in protective suits disinfect courtyard of the Kocatepe Mosque to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Ankara, Turkey April 15, 2021. (Reuters)

Turkey recorded 68,413 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the highest daily figure on record, health ministry data showed on Thursday, amid surging infections due to the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

It also recorded 156 deaths related to coronavirus in the same period, the data showed.

Cases in Turkey have more than doubled in just over a week as the Omicron variant became dominant in the country.



German Christmas Market Attacker Asked about Whereabouts of Saudi Ambassador

People mourn at the mourning site in front of St. John's Church following a vehicle-ramming attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, 22 December 2024.  EPA/FILIP SINGER
People mourn at the mourning site in front of St. John's Church following a vehicle-ramming attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, 22 December 2024. EPA/FILIP SINGER
TT

German Christmas Market Attacker Asked about Whereabouts of Saudi Ambassador

People mourn at the mourning site in front of St. John's Church following a vehicle-ramming attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, 22 December 2024.  EPA/FILIP SINGER
People mourn at the mourning site in front of St. John's Church following a vehicle-ramming attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, 22 December 2024. EPA/FILIP SINGER

The perpetrator who drove a car at speed through a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg, Germany, has reportedly offered a reward in return for information about the whereabouts of the Saudi ambassador to Germany, a source told Independent Arabia on Sunday.
The source said that the attacker, Taleb al-Abd al-Mohsen, had offered a SAR 10,000 (equivalent to 2662 euros) in reward for anyone who provides information pertaining to the residence of the Saudi ambassador to Germany, and the timing of his presence.
The Saudi embassy had informed the German authorities about the threat, said the source but the latter “did not take the matter seriously”, he stated.
On Friday, Taleb al-Abd al-Mohsen drove a car at speed through a Christmas market in Germany, killing four women ranging in age from 45 to 75, as well as a 9-year-old boy and injuring 200, including 41 in serious condition.
The police apprehended the perpetrator at the scene of the attack. He is a doctor who had fled Saudi Arabia, where he was wanted on criminal charges. He had been residing in Germany for two decades.
Saudi Arabia condemned the ramming attack and expressed solidarity with the people of Germany.
A Saudi source told Reuters that Saudi Arabia had warned the German authorities about the suspect who appears to have been an active user of the social media platform X, sharing extremist tweets and retweets daily.
In 2023 and 2024, Germany received warnings about the man from Saudi authorities, a German source affirmed.