Turkey Logs Record 93,586 New COVID Cases

People shop at a fresh market in Ankara, Turkey December 20, 2021. (Reuters)
People shop at a fresh market in Ankara, Turkey December 20, 2021. (Reuters)
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Turkey Logs Record 93,586 New COVID Cases

People shop at a fresh market in Ankara, Turkey December 20, 2021. (Reuters)
People shop at a fresh market in Ankara, Turkey December 20, 2021. (Reuters)

Turkey has recorded 93,586 new COVID-19 cases in the space of 24 hours, its highest daily figure of the pandemic, health ministry data showed on Friday.

Daily cases have surged to record high levels in recent weeks with the spread of the Omicron variant but Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said the new variant would reduce the severity of the pandemic due to a lower hospitalization rate.

"The virus is not as strong as it was. There is no need to be concerned due to the increasing numbers," he said on Twitter, calling on people to get vaccinated.

There were 210 deaths related to coronavirus in the same period, the data showed on Friday, the highest since early December and up from 174 a day earlier.

In late December, daily cases stood at about 20,000, before a surge in infections due to Omicron.



Türkiye Discusses Steps to End War with Iran, US, EU, Egypt in Calls

A man looks at residential buildings damaged by an Iranian missile strike in Arad, southern Israel, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A man looks at residential buildings damaged by an Iranian missile strike in Arad, southern Israel, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
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Türkiye Discusses Steps to End War with Iran, US, EU, Egypt in Calls

A man looks at residential buildings damaged by an Iranian missile strike in Arad, southern Israel, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A man looks at residential buildings damaged by an Iranian missile strike in Arad, southern Israel, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed steps to end the war between Iran, the United States and Israel with counterparts from Iran and Egypt, as well as US officials and the European Union, a Turkish diplomatic source said on Sunday.

The source said Fidan had held separate calls with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, and US officials, without elaborating further.


Iran Minister Says US, Israeli Strikes Caused 'Heavy Damage' to Water, Energy Infrastructure

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. (Reuters)
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Iran Minister Says US, Israeli Strikes Caused 'Heavy Damage' to Water, Energy Infrastructure

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. (Reuters)

Iran's critical water and energy infrastructure have suffered extensive damage due to US and Israeli strikes on tens of thousands of civilian sites, officials said on Sunday.

Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran on February 28, killing the Islamic republic's supreme leader and sparking a war that has since spread across the Middle East.

"The country's vital water and electricity infrastructure has suffered heavy damage following terrorist and cyber attacks by the United States and the Zionist regime," said energy minister Abbas Aliabadi, according to ISNA news agency, AFP reported.

"The attacks targeted dozens of water transmission and treatment facilities and destroyed parts of critical water supply networks," he noted, adding that efforts were under way to repair the damage.

Iran's Red Crescent chief Pirhossein Kolivand said the total number of damaged civilian sites "has reached 81,365 based on the latest field assessments".

He said the figure includes residential and commercial units, schools, medical centers and vehicles.

"Behind every damaged unit stands a family, a life, a memory, a livelihood, and a future that has collapsed beneath the rubble of war and violence," he added.

AFP has not been able to access sites or verify the figures outside of the Iranian capital, but journalists in Tehran have reported damage to multiple residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure.

More than 1,200 Iranians have been killed in US and Israeli strikes, according to the latest toll from Iran's health ministry on March 8, which could not be independently verified.

On Sunday, ISNA news agency reported that strikes had damaged a hospital in the southern city of Ahvaz, in Khuzestan province.

Other media, including Fars news agency, showed images of rescuers pulling bodies from the rubble of destroyed buildings in the northern city of Tabriz.

It was not immediately clear when those strikes took place.

Earlier on Sunday, US President Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran's power plants if it failed to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.

Traffic through the vital strait -- through which 20 percent of the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes -- has been brought to a near-standstill since the start of the war.

Iranian forces have attacked multiple vessels, saying they failed to heed "warnings" against transiting the waterway.

In recent days, Iran has allowed some vessels from countries it considers friendly to pass, while warning it would block ships from countries it says have joined the "aggression" against it.

In response to Trump, Iran threatened to target energy infrastructure and desalination plants across the region.

 

 

 


Israel PM Visits Town Hit by Iran Strike, Vows to Target Guards Leaders

03 March 2026, Israel, Palmachim Airbase: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) visits the Palmachim Airbase accompanied by Minister of Defense israel Katz (R) and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (L). Photo: Maayan Toaf/GPO via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
03 March 2026, Israel, Palmachim Airbase: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) visits the Palmachim Airbase accompanied by Minister of Defense israel Katz (R) and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (L). Photo: Maayan Toaf/GPO via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Israel PM Visits Town Hit by Iran Strike, Vows to Target Guards Leaders

03 March 2026, Israel, Palmachim Airbase: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) visits the Palmachim Airbase accompanied by Minister of Defense israel Katz (R) and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (L). Photo: Maayan Toaf/GPO via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
03 March 2026, Israel, Palmachim Airbase: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) visits the Palmachim Airbase accompanied by Minister of Defense israel Katz (R) and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (L). Photo: Maayan Toaf/GPO via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday to pursue senior commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guards "personally", during a visit to a town struck by an Iranian missile the previous day.

"We're going after the regime. We're going after the IRGC, this criminal gang," Netanyahu said, as he inspected the damage in the southern Israeli town of Arad, AFP reported.

"We're going after them personally, their leaders, their installations, their economic assets. We're going after them personally."

The second town struck by an Iranian missile on Saturday was Dimona, widely believed to house Israel's undeclared nuclear arsenal.

Nestled in the Negev desert, Dimona sustained extensive damage from a direct hit.

On Sunday, Netanyahu visited the town, urging residents to heed instructions from the military's Home Front Command and take shelter immediately whenever sirens warn of incoming missiles.

"The whole nation is a frontline, the entire home front is a frontline. And when we're at the frontline, we carry out these orders," Netanyahu said.

"So please do this -- and this is an order."