27 Dec 2020; MEMO: Turkey will bring in structural reforms to break the "triangle of evil" of interest rates, inflation and exchange rates, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday, adding Ankara was determined to form a system based on production and employment, reports Reuters.
27 Dec 2020; MEMO: Iran has extended a night-time traffic curfew to 330 lower-risk cities in an effort to sustain a recent fall in the number of new coronavirus infections and deaths, state television reported on Saturday, as reported by Reuters.
Alireza Raisi, spokesman for the national coronavirus task force, said on state TV that a curfew running from 9 pm to 4 am, already in place in 108 so-called "orange" or medium-risk cities, will be extended to lower-risk "yellow" cities.
Tehran, Dec 27 (AP-PTI) A series of avalanches in Iran killed 10 people in a mountainous area north of the capital, state TV reported on Sunday.
The report said rescue teams were searching for a number of missing people after the avalanches struck in four different areas. State TV aired footage of emergency crews using a helicopter to search for those missing and injured.
Dubai, Dec 27 (AP-PTI) The Persian Gulf state of Oman has launched its COVID-19 inoculation campaign, with the sultanate's health minister receiving the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
State-run media reported that the first batch of 15,600 doses was flown in industrial freezers to Muscat International Airport last week to vaccinate a priority group of older adults, health care workers and those with underlying health conditions starting on Sunday.
GAZA, Dec 27 (NNN-WAFA) – The Islamic Hamas Movement condemned yesterday, Israeli aerial attacks, damaging a children’s hospital in Gaza city.
Hazem Qassem, the spokesman of the Islamic movement that rules the besieged coastal enclave, said, the Israeli attack on Gaza “is a barbaric aggression.”
“The airstrikes and bombings terrified civilians, and the shrapnel of the missiles hit a children’s hospital and a rehabilitation centre for disabled people.”
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey’s parliament passed a law on Sunday that would ramp up oversight of foundations and associations and, according to rights groups including Amnesty International, risks limiting the freedoms of civil society organisations.
The law allows the interior minister to replace members of organisations who are being investigated for terrorism charges, while the interior ministry can also apply to courts to halt the groups’ activities under the new law. International organisations will also be included under the law and penalised accordingly.
DUBAI (Reuters) - Gulf Arab foreign ministers will hold a virtual meeting hosted by Bahrain on Sunday ahead of an annual summit to discuss steps towards ending a diplomatic row that has undermined regional stability and thwarted Washington’s efforts to form a united front against Iran.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain severed diplomatic ties with Qatar in 2017, accusing it of backing “terrorist” groups. Doha denies the charge and accuses its neighbours of seeking to curtail its sovereignty.
ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar warned on Sunday that the forces of Khalifa Haftar and their supporters based in eastern Libya would be viewed as “legitimate targets” if they attempted to attack Turkish forces in the region.
Turkey is the main foreign backer of Libya’s internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) based in Tripoli, which for years has been fighting Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA). The LNA is backed by Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.
TEHRAN, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of climbers rose to ten after heavy snowfall in the northern heights of Iranian capital Tehran, Mehdi Valipour, head of the Red Crescent Rescue and Relief Organization of Iran, announced Saturday.
The search operation for other missing climbers is currently stopped due to unfavorable weather conditions, Valipour was quoted as saying by Iranian Student News Agency.
He said that some missing people have been rescued by Red Crescent rescuers, but he did not specify the exact number.
ISTANBUL (AP) — An earthquake with a 5.3 magnitude shook Elazig province in eastern Turkey on Sunday.
Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu tweeted there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
The quake struck at 09:37 a.m. (0637 GMT), Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate said. It was felt in several neighboring provinces.
Turkey is crisscrossed by major fault lines and earthquakes are frequent.
In January, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Elazig, killing 41 people in that province and neighboring Malatya.
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